Trip Report 2004 (days 14 & 15)
[u]Wednesday, 5th May 2004 (Day 14):</u> On this day, we planned to go to Silver Springs, a place that we had somehow missed on 4 previous visits. Everyone was keen on going to the place and I warned them that an early start would be imperative, given the driving distance involved. Most guidebooks claim that 'you can do Silver Springs in a good half day'; this is probably true if you keep up a theme park pace. But in my opinion, one of the reasons for including SS in the itinerary was to give ourselves a chance to slow down a bit and this, combined with the fact that the park was at least 90 minutes drive away made me decide that we should allocate the full day (10am to 5pm, the opening hours) for the visits. Events were to prove me right.
We started out at 8:15am; going to SS from the US27 villas is easy. We just drove north on the US27 till Ocala and turned into SR40 where indicated. Silver Springs is about 6 miles further on the right, just past the Wild Waters park. Parking is good and close to the main entrance. We had remembered that at SS they do not allow any outside food or drink except bottled water. (The catering facilities within the park are adequate.)
The traffic on US27 was light to moderate and we reached the park just before the opening time of 10am. It was a glorious sunny day and there were only a few cars, though more were arriving by the minute. After the entrance formalities, we took a look at the Springside Mall near the entrance (where most of the shops and eateries are) but decided to leave it for later. We went straight to the main attraction, the Glass Bottom Boats that gives visitors a glimpse of the seven springs that give the park its name and the associated marine life. The Captain of our boat, complete in his white uniform, looked like Hollywood's beau ideal to play a retired naval officer. He regaled us with old stories as we set out and I must admit that the 20-minute cruise was well worth it. The view through the boat's glass bottom is very good, (but photography would be largely a futile exercise) and we saw all the springs and several varieties of fish and other creatures. There wsas even a small alligator that sped past our boat close to the surface, bringing in a few yells from the passengers. All in all, a nice relaxing ride and thoroughly recommended.
Following the map clockwise, we went towards Doolitle's Petting Zoo; this path is superbly landscaped (including a small rock garden) and provides several excellent photographic opportunities. Then my niece and others had a good time petting the goats and small deer, which seemed to tolerate our presence rather better than in other animal parks. Nearby was a Giraffe enclosure with two excellent specimens that seemed very friendly. Also here is the World of Bears with several different varities of bear living in a large 2-acre sanctuary. There is sometimes a 'live-performance' by the bears and although this particular event was not operating on this day, it did not deter us from enjoying viewing the animals in a naturalistic habitat.
There is a playground nearby called 'KIds Ahoy' with the usual Ferris Wheel, Carousel, climbs, slides etc. Perhaps because there were relatively few children, this was closed too, but we did not miss much. We went throgh a nice shop called Jungle Junction selling good souvenirs to the Jeep Safari. This is another 15 to 20 minute ride through the forest filled with exotic animals and birds. It is less bouncy than AK's Kiliminjaro Safari and there are many photo opportunities; we saw antelopes, marmosets, tapirs etc. On one occasion, the jeep suddenly drove into what the guide described as an 'alligator pond' but we did not see anything beyond a few murky shadows underwater.
Nearby was the Silver River Showcase arena with the daily Birds of Prey show; it was scheduled for 2:15pm and we reckoned that we had time for quick lunch. We huuried back to a Pizza place near the pl
