Day 43–North Port with Donna & Wayne - Big Cat Habitat–Sarasota

Jewel has made herself quite comfortable in her new environment and has really endeared herself to Donna & Wayne. She is a love bug and is training them to do her bidding. LOL. She has been enjoying her walks in the neighborhood, especially since we don’t have to dodge traffic.

In the afternoon we went to the Big Cat Habitat in Sarasota. Founded by Kay Rosaire, it is a non-profit safe haven for big cats, bears and other animals in need. She began rescuing big cats in 1987. Not all of the cats were rescued from the wild. Many had been privately owned and for one reason or another the owners were unable to keep the cats. There are also bears, monkeys and birds at the habitat. And they are acquiring six elephants as well.

We arrived a little early so had to wait to get in. There was only us and a few other people when we arrived so we all thought it would be a quiet day at the habitat. It was a little difficult getting good pictures because all of the animals were behind double fences. We first stopped to take a look at the bears. There were several different species of bears  and all seemed happy enjoying the water features in there pens.

 

                                                      

                                                                                               

Next we were impressed by the beautiful birds.

 

             

We then checked out the Cats. There were lots of them and all quite beautiful.

 

 

         

 

And the monkeys who were quite raucous , throwing food back at the people watching them!!!

   

Included in the price of admission was a big top show. We had arrived early  ahead of the crowd so were all surprised when the show arena filled to capacity so quickly.

       

The first act was a rather out of control monkey. Although his trainer kept emphasizing all the things he could do he mostly jus wanted to jump and play. He moved so fast we were unable to get a good picture  of him through the bars of the cage.

Then the cats came out with their trainer. Not sure if any of us would want to be in the cage with them but he appeared super comfortable. The cats put on  a nice performance and everyone seemed pleased with the show.

  

On the way out we stopped to look at the bears once again. Ron paid the volunteer $1 so I could feed the bear a marshmallow. Notice the stick used to get the treat to the bear.

   

It was a fun and interesting day at the habitat.

Back at the house Donna prepared for dinner. She had invited friends for dinner and we were looking forward to a good evening. We got to meet  their friends from Florida, had a delicious dinner by Chef Donna and spent the evening talking and laughing.

       

We had a great day and evening once again and looking forward to another fun day with our  friends.

Day 41 Club Naples RV Resort, Naples Botanical Gardens

Well, we were up and out the door by 10:30 am planning on taking in the Naples Zoo. When we arrived the place was packed with no parking spaces so we had to quickly change our plans. Instead we went to the Naples Botanical Gardens. It was a good choice on such a beautiful day.

As we walked through the parking lot we spotted one lone flower on a pretty bare tree. The flower was gorgeous with several buds surrounding it. Entering the gardens there were many different plants in bloom and sculptures were on display throughout the gardens by ZimSculpt an artist from Zimbabwe. You can purchase the sculpture  below for  just $7.800.00

             

There were several separate gardens throughout the park each providing different species of trees and flowers.

           

We were inspired by the beauty of the gardens.  The weather in Florida is certainly conducive to such such a variety of species blooming year round.

Throughout the gardens we admired the many sculptures.

               

We walked through the Brazilian Garden and found some interesting trees and  flowers. One tree in particular caught our attention – The Dancing Tree! It looked to us that if anyone fell into or touched that tree they would be the one doing the dancing! Yes those are thorns on the trunk and limbs of the tree. OUCH!

          

On the other end of the spectrum the Acehmea Chocolate was quite pretty and seemed less lethal. LOL

 

The Burl Marx Plaza in the Brazilian Garden was also quite spectacular with its waterfall , mosaic art wall and beautiful water lilies.

       

                                                                                                                                           

Next we walked through the Caribbean Garden with yet again another group of unusual trees, beautiful plants,  flowers  and the Caribbean Chattel House. We especially liked the miniature cactus growing out of the rock! We were quite impressed with the many different species of plants in the gardens.

                                                                  

 

                                                                                  

Next we viewed the  water garden with its variety of water lilies, sculptures and birds.

            

The Asian Garden with its Thai Pavilion Pergola was also quite pretty.

                                                                                                                                          

We spent several hours touring the gardens and really enjoyed the day. After we completed the garden tours we stopped at the butterfly house and luckily did get a great picture of butterflies. They were swarming around so we didn’t think we would get a good picture but Ron did! Go Ron!!!!

                                                                                          

 

We truly enjoyed the day. Although we had been looking forward to the Zoo the Botanical Gardens was a pleasant surprise.

                                                                                                                                           

 

After we left the gardens we took a ride into town to check out the Naples Pier. Generally  piers are  located along busy strips with restaurants and shops. Not in Naples. It is a little off the beaten track surrounded by private neighborhoods with lovely homes.

There was a warning posted for red tide and the recommendation not to swim in the water.

   

The homes in the area were really pretty any of which I wouldn’t mind owning. I really like the one on the left.

   

Then there was the home being built overlooking the ocean with the water feature out back.

Well, since there were no restaurants in the immediate area and it was 3:30 pm  we opted to head back to the MH and hopefully find a restaurant along the way. Well, that was a joke – no real choices except Cracker Barrel. Although Cracker Barrel is very popular we are not crazy about it. Since I really didn’t want to cook we stopped and as usual got a meal that was marginally OK. We decided that we wouldn’t be eating at Cracker barrel again any time soon.

Back at the MH we settled in for the evening and I worked at getting caught up on the blog. I didn’t realize I was so far behind because the days go so quickly. Our plan for Tuesday is to stop for a quick  visit to see our friends Donna and Wayne from Berkley/North Port. Ron and I had spent several days trying to book a CG in their area but have run into stone walls. Either they are fully booked are too far away or have gotten really bad reviews and look a  little sketchy. Donna and Wayne have offered to have us park on the lawn in front of their house (did that last time). We’re still  looking and so far no good options. We plan on continuing our search and hopefully will be able to secure a CG in the area.