Really?! A cycle path with alligators... we moved along it with focus and some speed. As we crossed a low bridge over a brook there was a truly ginormous alligator swimming towards us, though not deliberately at us. We didn't stop to stare... The next day we encountered a younger, sleeping gator by the side of the road in the Ding Darling Reserve. This time we took a moment with it before heading off into the mangroves and the boardwalk around the ancient shell mounds of the Calusa Indians. A long, black racer snake added some extra excitement to the stroll. 'This is the tropics, dear', ringing in my ear as the response of choice from hotel staff.
