I developed a fear of alligators at the exact moment I ran over one with a canoe. Our guide Al had taken us deep into the Florida Everglades to paddle down a prairie.

He had seemed very unconcerned by the big reptiles moving stealthily in the water, and didn't even panic when we Tim and I hit one with our canoe.

I panicked. I nearly died. The collision made a dull thud and then I could feel the alligator thrashing around beneath the canoe. I turned around and there was its scary face and shiny chompers falling back into the water near the canoe's end.

I was relieved but I still wanted our group to get out of the gator's territory and back to the safety of the van.

Of course things like that are so much more amusing when they happen to others and within 10 minutes a flying mullet jumped up and almost slapped another girl in the face.

She totally freaked out and screamed like crazy and I tried to stifle a giggle. But then at least I had someone else screaming that we should go ashore. She and I began paddling furiously towards the parked van.

Florida is famous for its beautiful beaches, the Kennedy Space Center, its gigantic theme parks and Daytona racetrack.

But I loved the peace and quiet of the Everglades National Park, an area which the state has argued over for years.

It is considered the most endangered park in the United States after politicians spent years trying to drain the Everglades to make more land available. Since then environmentalists have been fighting to restore them, the home to thousands of species.

After two days in the national park, it was hard to believe the wildlife there is threatened, because there were so many birds and reptiles to see. Alligators are plentiful all over the Everglades and you can see the endangered American crocodiles.

I fell in love with the beautiful herons, ospreys and hawks and was amused by the cheeky black crows waiting to steal all of our belongings, much like those naughty keas.

But my dreams of running into (well not literally, not like that poor alligator) a manatee never came true. I was fascinated by Florida's favourite mammal but a manatee-shaped letterbox in Key West was all I was able to see. Maybe next time.

Check out more photos from my trip in my Flickr album.

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Read more of Kelly's blogs.