"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in
its net of wonder forever."—Jacques Cousteau

April 30 - Welaka, FL

Bryant's Wharf Public Dock

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." ―George Bernard Shaw

When we were in Welaka a few weeks ago a local man told us about several places we should explore. We didn't take time to see those places on our first visit, but we did today. We took the dinghy down and headed north to check out Welaka Spring first. The spring was very small and unimpressive, but the area around it was very pretty. Our next stop was Mud Spring. It’s located in Welaka State Forest, we took our dinghy through Little Lake George and up Mud Creek, but it can also be accessed along a hiking trail. There is a nice picnic area around the spring and the spring forms a pool that you can swim in. Both springs we saw today were very small compared to the other springs we’ve visited.

On the way back to the boat we rode up Bear Creek to the Oklawaha River. Both were beautiful and lush...we felt like we were in a jungle. It looks so jungle like, that filmmakers used an area close by to film Tarzan movies during the 1930s and 40s. Locals have told us there are monkeys in the area, descendants of those that got loose during filming. We were also told today by a couple that they see monkeys around the Mud Spring area regularly...but we didn’t see any today.

We're still waiting on the storms that are moving this way. We've gotten afternoon showers the past few days but then it clears up...nothing like they're getting north of here. This evening we had quite a few visitors on the dock; everyone was interested in the boat and where we'd been. One young lady I was visiting with even gave us a pie...the people in Welaka are very nice.

Welaka Spring
Mud Spring entrance from Mud Creek
Mud Spring
One of the trails around Mud Spring 
Bear Creek
 
A map of the area we explored today.
This little guy was hanging around the boat this evening. He even came closer when I started talking to him.

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