Kayak - Manatees and Monkeys, Silver Spring 2/25/20

Manatees and Monkeys at Silver Springs River 2/25/20                                    6.5 miles
Put in at Silver Springs Park, Take out at Ray Wayside Park
Temperature between 72-75 degrees, Avg Speed 2.6 mph, Moving Time 2:33, Elapsed Time 3:31
Me, Scotty, Dick

We left O'Leno State Park campground with predictions of rain so we weren't real sure of what to expect.  We drove straight to Silver Springs and Dick stopped along the way.  Once we got to the park, we realized the rain may not come until 1:00 so we unloaded the 3 boats.  Scotty drove and met Dick at the take-out, and then they both came back to meet me.  We did a leisurely slow paddle around the head springs and were able to look down into the springs.  There were loons and several other birds in this area.  As we started down the river, we did see a few alligators.  We were definitely taking our time, until we met a couple in a canoe and they told us there were manatees below the.  Sure enough, there were probably about 10 manatees swimming around.  So of course, we paddled around for quite awhile observing and taking photos of these magnificent creatures.  They are literally the size of our boats.  One came up near by my kayak and I was able to reach out and touch it's back. It surprised me as it felt rough.  With much reluctance, we left the manatees to continue our paddle down the river.  There was a slight drizzle, but nothing to worry about.  And then we came across a man who said there were monkeys at the next turn in the river.  With much excitement, we quickened our pace and sure enough, there were monkeys everywhere!  They were up in the trees, on the ground, climbing the tree trunks and all sizes, mamas & papas and babies.  They were watching us as much as we were observing them, except that we were the ones with the cameras.  I'm not sure they were too happy to have us there as they were shaking the trees and squawking, and one peed in front of me - or maybe it was just Mother Nature calling!  We were thrilled to see the monkeys as this was our fourth time on the river, yet our first time to see them.  Now that we've seen the monkeys, we've decided that we can skip coming here and conquer other rivers.  Although, this is really a great river for seeing wildlife.  We got out at Ray Wayside Park and headed to the Silver Springs Campground.  We set up camp quickly before the heavy rain was predicted and at four o-clock - still no rain.  With camp set up, we headed to dinner at Mojos which was really great.  We each had a meal that included their Cuban pork and a Mojo sauce.  The sauce was very tasty, something I may have to research and make.  Scotty and I had margaritas, we all 3 enjoyed our dinners and all agreed it was the best day ever!