FEATURE | e d i t i o n
More Than a Ride Airboat Tours Offer Lessons in History and Florida Ecology by PAUL CATALA photos by MICHAEL WILSON
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FOR THE PAST SEVEN YEARS, Andy Denton’s life has been skimming along. In 2014, Denton bought Alligator Cove Airboat Nature Tours, which features airboat tours on and around Lake Hatchineha, the Kissimmee River and Lake Kissimmee. It’s the most recent acquisition for the Denton family. Denton’s grandfather Leon Denton bought Camp Mack Fish Camp in Lake Wales — where Alligator Cove is now situated — in 1947. And it’s not just a business venture for Andy Denton, whose family still owns a home in the middle of the approximately 50-acre fish camp. It’s an opportunity for Andy Denton to inform and share with those not familiar with Florida outside of Disney World about “the real Florida.” He grew up in those environments, among the fauna and foliage that make Central Florida and more specifically, the Lake Wales Ridge area, unique. “Where we ride within the state of Florida is pretty unique,” Denton says. 12 | CFAN
“If you go to the Everglades down south, it’s sawgrass, canals. If you go north of Orlando to Lake Toho, you’re going to see development, houses all over. But where we ride — Lake Kissimmee, the Kissimmee River — they’re untouched for 500 years. It’s just a beautiful place to ride; we’re pretty lucky,” says Denton, 54, who bought his first airboat when he was 20 years old. At Alligator Cove, Denton and lifelong friend Dwight “Flame” Keen Jr. pilot the airboats. Keen is part of the locally renowned Zipprer family that still owns property on both sides of the river. Like Denton, he is deeply familiar with the Kissimmee River. Denton and Keen explain how the Kissimmee River and its tributaries functioned before they were “straightened out” in the 1960s. From the Alligator Cove docks, airboat captains Keen and Denton — who learned to pilot boats using his grandfather’s rentals — run the airboat tours. Denton says larger tour boats hold 15 to 25 passengers, his three airboats hold six each and are more accessible to smaller natural areas of the rivers, canals, tributaries and lakes.
“It makes for a more personal and authentic ride. We believe it allows us to get closer to the wildlife, as well,” says Denton, a 1985 graduate of Lake Wales High School who received an agriculture degree from the University of Florida in 1992. “The wildlife sighting and smaller boats get us a lot of repeat business, and the company relies on that.” Among the menagerie of animals that can possibly be encountered during a one-hour airboat ride are alligators, eagles, deer, turkeys, and wild pigs. One of the more unusual sights was an alligator eating another alligator. He says he recently saw an 11-foot gator wandering with a 7-foot gator in its mouth. Other animals on visual parade for guests include cows on the lakeshore, and guests even have been able to witness calves being born in adjacent pastures. Alligator Cove tours also take a lot of birding groups on excursions. “We’ve seen blue herons pulling water snakes right out of the water,” he adds. Although visitors often ask about the possibility of seeing a Florida panther on a Nature Tour, Denton says that has yet to happen. He says FloridaAgNews.com
