Naples: Honey badgers!!

As I previously said, Ayk lucked out with his new job, which sends him all over the place. And since I work from home, I usually join him. I work when he works, and I take off time when he takes off time. It works beautifully.

Our first work trip together was in November 2012. Ayk’s job had an annual conference in Bonita Springs, Florida, just south of Naples. Of course I was excited to go see the beaches when it was winter in Maryland, but that’s not the main reason I was so giddy for that trip.

Remember how heartbroken I was after I couldn’t see the honey badger at the San Diego Zoo? I said I would see them, and see them I did. Not far from Ayk’s conference was the Naples Zoo, which is home to three adorable (yes, adorable) honey badgers.

When Ayk surprised me with the good news, I had a near Kristin Bell sloth meltdown. I managed to hold back the water works, since we were at a restaurant at the time. I actually did get a little choked up when I saw them in real life. Ha, like those ferocious beasts would care enough to pass the Kleenex.

Wrestling and running around—it’s what they do. It was tricky getting a non-blurry shot. They looked like speedy skunks from a distance.

Eating everything in sight is their favorite pastime.

Lunchtime! Just kidding. This venomous treat was just a few exhibits over.

Sure they’re ferocious, but they’re so adorable when they want to be. The darker coat one is the male; the other two are females.

Helplessly pawing for the honey coated nuts. Squee! I die.

They’re just begging for a cuddle buddy... until you remember their razor sharp claws can shred you if you pet them. They don’t care. Speaking of, the guy who made the honey badger don't care viral video actually made a video for the Naples Zoo, at his insistence. The zookeeper said his sassy voice isn't how he talks in real life. Bummer.

Scheming her escape, most likely. Before they were sent to the Naples, this trio was featured in a Utah zoo, where they broke out a few times. Here there’s a layer of concrete below the dirt. Let’s see if that’ll contain them.

Squint and you can see a badger hanging around/ attempting an escape in the little fenced off den.

A day or two before we got there, the honey badger keeper (aka my dream job) put a palm tree for them to claw at. They dug out the entire inside in one afternoon.

Wait, is it clawing its way out?

Nope, just tuckered out from all the running. Aww! The black pulp you see next to the tree is what they clawed out. Crazy critters.

Group shot with the honey badger from a safe distance.

And a close up, just in case.

We got a video (actually lots of videos) of the honey badgers running around, wrestling, and eating. Apologies in advance for this super sucky camera quality. The gears make an annoying noise whenever I zoomed in or out. Just ignore it and listen to the squee-inducing grunts.

Everglades: Gators (with more Geriatrics)

Another reason the boats were slow other than for the geriatrics is because they make too much noise for the gators.  In case you do want to see some gators without the thrill of a fan boat, the park rangers give you directions to a road parallel to a river filled with leathery, snappy faces.  No, and I don’t mean the geriatrics from the previous post.  Bonus points if you get that reference.

That gator was less than 10 yards away from us.  I rolled up our window.

Meanwhile, this dumbass, who coincidentally has the same red Corolla we did, opened their car door to get a better view of the gators.  The gator is that little brown bump in the lower right corner.  Two questions for this Darwin Award Nominee.  First, we saw how slowly geriatrics move after the infamous soda incident; what chances do you have of surviving when that fast critter comes charging toward you?  Second, how does taking one step out of the car improve your picture shot when you could just press “zoom”?

This gator started swimming over to us then dipped under water half way.  We didn’t see it resurface for at least three minutes.  I bet it wanted to get its revenge for its sibling that became our tasty gator cheesecake.  

That's right.  Swim away.

A lively hood ornament.

Dinner was ready for us when we came back to Ft. Lauderdale.  I got some pictures of everyone shacked up there, except for Chris.  He was being a punk.

Bill, my step-mom's dad

Mary, Chris's mom.  She was staying with them while her house was being renovated.

Ken, one of their friends, with Brie.

Brie being hyper.

Pinot with his mustache.

Carlsbad Caverns 2

It's really worth overcoming the irrational fear that the cavern is going to devour you.  For a second, you feel like you're on a different planet. Here's more, if you haven't gotten your fill yet.

I guess I'm fairly jittery, because most of my pictures didn't turn out that well in the low light (note: any light you see is artificial; otherwise, it'd be pitch black).  Ayk took over as photographer and took these awesome pictures.

 

Lion's Tail

There is actually no color on this stalagmite, but merely what my camera and editing software felt it should look like.  With a little imagination, it looks like an enchanting island with tiers of trees where little creatures live.

Now this just looks like a boob.

Ladder to the Bottomless Pit

Me shimmying on the trail to alleviate boredom.  Ayk asked me why I got so bored, considering how beautiful the caverns are.  My explanation: We couldn't speak above a whisper and he had the audio tour guide; I just had to shimmy.

Another enchanted forest

Definitely our favorite picture from the caverns.

Another lion's tail

A Broadway light director designed the lighting in the caverns.  Can't you tell?  FABULOUS!

 

The most difficult part about editing these pictures: determining which side was up and which side was down.  However, we are fairly confident that no sideways pictures sneaked their way in.