Weeki Wachee means "Little Springs" in the Seminole Indian language. It is a warm springs located about 50miles north of Tampa. The Weeki wachee river is about 6miles long and goes from the springs down to the Gulf of Mexico. This is one of the few places where you have good chances to spot manatees in the wild. They are very sensitive to cold and stay near warm springs in winter such as the Weeki Wachee.
The manatee is the nicest animal you could imagine, slow and harmless, looks like a big sea teddy bear! If you don't know what a manatee is, check here.

Unfortunately, I did not see any manatees that day. It was low tide when I paddled the river and I am guessing the water level was too low for them to swim comfortably. They average 10ft (3m) in length and weigh about half a ton. There are only between 2000 and 3000 manatees left in Florida, it is a relatively small number, compared to over a million alligators, so spotting a manatee is never a guarantee anyways...

The weeki wachee is developped on its downstream third and untouched on the upstream 2/3. I posted a few pictures yesterday of the upstream part. A small tropical paradise awaits you at every turn! Turtles, exotic birds and even alligators, even though I actually did not see any either.
The lower third is not too bad, it is mostly houses build on one side of the river like the one below. I can't believe people live here, I am so jalous!!!

Click to enlarge

There is a very extensive canal and river network in this area that looks as important as the road one and it seems like everybody has a boat in its backyard!