A Swamp Safari

The attraction, east of Naples off Alligator Alley, provides visitors with an opportunity to spend a couple of hours, a full day or overnight on the 2,200-acre spread within the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation.

You'll find no condos, golf courses or pools here. Instead of a leisurely ride over the greens in a golf cart, expect to clamber onto high-riding swamp buggies for rollicking trips through cypress heads and wetlands. From their elevated vantage point, sharp-eyed humans may spot some of the area's wild inhabitants, such as hogs, hawks, deer, even the rare and endangered Florida panther. Night rides are apt to prove more lively, as many animals laze away hot summer days, feeding and socializing after dark.

For yet another perspective, try an air boat ride or walk along a cypress dome boardwalk nature trail. Take in educational alligator and snake shows or spend time bird watching.

The safari's full-service restaurant, the Swamp Water Café, serves up ultra-casual dining and a menu that features Seminole specialties such as fry bread with honey, gator nuggets and frog legs. Those who opt for the overnight stay sleep in chickee huts complete with thatched roofs. (There are small ones built for two and larger ones that sleep eight to 12.) End the evening with campfire storytelling, hearing tales the Seminoles have passed down from generation to generation.

Billie Swamp Safari, on the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation. From Naples, take Interstate 75 east to exit 49 (at the Mobil Service Plaza), then go north 19 miles to the park entrance. Day packages (including a swamp buggy ecotour, airboat ride and the alligator and snake shows) run from $24 (for children) to $38. Add on the night stay, and it's $52 for kids and $99 for adults. Call (800) 949-6101 or (863) 983-6101 or visit www.seminoletribe.com.