Yin and Yang at Manatee Springs

Slow and fast are the Yin and Yang of our travels. Oftentimes we have difficulty striking the right balance between the two. Move too fast and we risk burnout. Move too slow and we get antsy.  Four days at Manatee Springs State Park risked staying too long. We covered its most interesting areas in the first couple of hours. But the advantage of spending time with a place is that you can discover things others might miss. By the time we left for good, we had such familiarity with the park that we knew where the deer liked to feed, where the turtles liked to sun themselves, and where the snakes liked to hide.

Every time we undertook the short hike from our campground we saw something different. Initially, we were captivated by the beauty of the fresh water spring. An average of 100 million gallons of crystal clear water bubbles up from underground aquifers every day and fills the turquoise-hued pool shown above. At a constant temperature of 72° the water is perfect for swimming, snorkeling, diving, and, during the cold winter months, attracting the park’s namesake manatee. Runoff from the spring meanders through hardwood wetlands before emptying in the Suwannee River. A pleasant boardwalk follows the stream for its entire length.

We were a little disappointed that we didn’t see more manatees. The potential to swim with the giant ‘sea cows’ in the deepwater pool is a major draw. Unfortunately, near drought conditions left water levels too low and above average temperatures gave the manatee other warm water options. So two solid months of perfect weather does have a downside. Our only sighting occurred in the river where they’d occasionally come up to expose their snouts for a deep breath before submerging again. It was a bit like our whale watching tour, only without the seasickness.

On day three we ran into Indiana Jones and his troupe of Canadian biology students who, instead of spending spring break getting drunk and naked, spent it planting trees and antagonizing wild reptiles. I wasn’t sure who to be more afraid of, the snake or this group of guys with obviously impaired judgment. Here they’re seen putting the cart before the horse, which in this case, means picking up a snake, and then consulting a book to identify it.

Elsewhere, the circle of life was on full display as a different snake worked to consume an unfortunate squirrel. It’s a sad sight, but snakes need to eat too. And I’d no more wish for the snake to die of starvation than I wish for a squirrel to be eaten. But one or the other must happen. Life is hard and life in the wild is particularly so. Harder still was watching another squirrel observe from nearby. We couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking. Was he mourning the loss of a friend? It appeared so, to us.

Yin and Yang. Life and death. Balance is hard.