Wordless Wednesday

 

Homosassa Hippopotamus (and More)

Last year in late October, The Colonel and I took a little trip to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. I had never been there, but The Colonel had been when he was a youngster. He remembered the distinctive sign that welcomed us to the park.

When I was checking out the place on-line, I saw some mention about an "Underwater Fishbowl". A must-see while at Homosassa Springs. Here is the sign that told us all about it.

I just had to experience that. It was one of the first things we did at the park. The Fish Bowl was on the underside of an observation platform/deck.

As The Colonel and I made our way along the walkway we spied a manatee nearby and a school of fish swimming by.

We took the steps down to the Fish Bowl's observation windows and saw the same manatee from a different angle.

I was glad to have experienced the Fish Bowl, even if the aged and algae-slimed windows made the underwater mammal and fish a bit fuzzy at times.

We climbed back up the stairs and walked away from the Fish Bowl. The spring water was clear and beautiful. I think the manatee was following us.

The wildlife park is home to many animals. We saw Roseate Spoonbills, a Green Heron, Alligators and a host of other animals.

But of all the animals I enjoyed seeing, Lucifer, or Lu, the Hippopotamus was my favorite.

 

When The Colonel and I first saw Lu he was swimming around in his pool. He was very graceful as he swam around.

 

Lu, an African Hippopotamus, was born on January 26, 1960 at the San Diego Zoo. He weighed 90 pounds at birth and now weighs 6,000 pounds. He eats a daily diet of 15 pounds of alfalfa hay, 4 scoops of herbivore diet (does Purina make Hippo Chow) and a 5-gallon bucket of vegetables and fruit.

 

Lu has lived at Homosassa Springs since 1964. He was one of Ivan Tors' animal actors. Lu was in the Daktari movie and television series of the 1960s as well as the movie, Cowboys in Africa .

 

 

Some of the other Ivan Tors animal actors were: Clarence the Cross-eyed Lion on Daktari, the dolphins on Flipper and the black bear on Gentle Ben. I used to love watching all three of these television shows when I was young.

 

 

 

I especially liked Flipper. One year for Christmas I asked for a Flipper Punch-Me. A Punch-Me was an inflated, vinyl character with a weighted bottom. When punched, it would bounce back but not hit back.

 

 

 

I loved my Flipper Punch-Me! I never wanted to punch it and definitely did not want any of my siblings to either. I would take Flipper to bed with me at night and try to tuck him in next to me (we were roughly the same size) but because of his weighted bottom, Flipper would pop right back up and take the blankets with him.

 

I did not have my beloved Flipper Punch-Me for very long, one of my little brothers punched a hole in him. I was devastated! My mother tried to find a replacement Flipper but never could. She found a clown Punch-Me that I never liked or played with...she did not understand that it was not the punching aspect of the toy I missed or wanted. It was Flipper, my beloved Flipper I wanted back :( 

 

Back to Lu...Lu eventually came out of the water (a feat we did not witness because we had gone to have lunch at the diner in the park...the hamburgers were DELICIOUS!!!) and was napping in the warm sunshine.

 

 

The Colonel and I were mindful of the "splash zone" signs that were posted near Lu's enclosure. Apparently hippos have a tendency to broadcast their feces with their tail-sweeps.

 

LU'S DANGER ZONE

 

 

 Thank goodness Lu was napping. He eventually opened his eyes for us...but his tail never moved.

 

 

 

 

The Colonel and I had enjoyed our time at Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park and it was now time to take our leave. We waited for the same pontoon boat that brought us along the Homosassa River to the park (visitors can take a boat ride or tram ride to and from the parking area to the park). 

 

 

The boat ride back was again leisurely and pretty. We saw turtles along the way.

 

 

I enjoy taking these mini vacations with The Colonel. I would definitely go back to the Homosassa Springs area. I liked seeing an animal star that I used to watch on television when I was young...made me feel like a kid again...almost.





Wordless Wednesday

Opa! Getting in Touch with My Greek DNA

It still continues to surprise me to know that I carry among the strands of my genetic makeup, Greek DNA (According to NatGeo Geno 2.0, my Primary Reference Population is German on my mother's side and Danish on my father's side. Greek is my Second Reference Population on both sides). Now it makes sense why I really needed to start shaving my legs long before sixth-grade (but was not allowed to).

A mean-spirited boy in my sixth-grade class tripped over my legs that were extended beyond the front of my desk. He then loudly exclaimed, to the entire class, that he had just tripped over the legs of a gorilla! I was mortified. I went home after school and shaved my legs without telling my mom. I remember getting a few nicks and cuts that day, but my legs were no longer those of a "gorilla".

The Colonel and I took a mini-vacation back in October of last year and one of the places we visited was Tarpon Springs, Florida. It has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the United States. It is known for its sponge industry.

In 1905, John M. Cocoris introduced the first mechanized sponge fishing boat to Tarpon Springs and brought in 500 Greek divers.

 

More immigrants soon followed and businesses were established to serve the Greek community such as restaurants, grocery stores, coffee shops and candy stores.



It is estimated that the sponge industry brings $2 million a year to Tarpon Springs. Its sponges are sold all over the world.

Tourism has replaced sponging as Tarpon Springs' major economic activity. Thousands of visitors each year come to the city to enjoy the outdoors, visit the sponge docks, see professional divers in action and experience Greek culture that still permeates the city.   Visitors come to walk Dodecanese Boulevard and visit its unique Greek shops, buy sponges and feast at restaurants that serve traditional Greek food. Many of the shops are owned and operated by the descendants of the city's first Greek immigrants. Tourists bring around $20 million to Tarpon Springs each year.   As a couple of these tourists, The Colonel and I walked along the sponge docks and saw some of the sponge boats.             We visited the Spongeorama Sponge Factory, watched an informative film about sponge diving/fishing, walked through the little sponge diving museum (The Colonel had been to Tarpon Springs as a youth and the dioramas were the same ones, now a little termite-ridden and faded) and bought a sponge to bathe with.     We asked the Greek woman working at the Spongeorama Sponge Factory where the best place to eat was and she said Yianni's (we think she owned or some of her family owned Yianni's because their ads were all over the film about sponge diving/fishing). We took her at her word and ate lunch at Yianni's.   And Opa, aren't we glad we took her advice! The food was extremely delicious and the service was friendly and fast. The Colonel and I both had a starter of Avgolemono Soup, aka Greek Chicken Lemon Soup. Our main dishes were of Chicken Souvlaki with Greek Oven Potatoes. We had never had the potatoes before and were very taken with them, so much so, that we had to find a recipe and make them for ourselves when we returned home (they tasted good, but not as good as Yianni's).     After our very filling and satisfying lunch we walked along Dodecanese Boulevard and did some shopping. We saw this nice bronze statue that honored the Greek Sponge Divers. There was even a movie filmed in Tarpon Springs about sponge divers; Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953). I think I may see if it is on Netflix and watch it sometime.        It is nice to know that Tarpon Springs is not too far of a drive from my home...just in case I want to get in touch with my Greek DNA...and those mouth-watering Greek Oven Potatoes, Opa!