5 Easy Paddles: The Everglades and Southern Florida

In an amazing stroke from The Paddle of Serendipity, this reviewer has actually canoed three of the five trips featured in this video. Husband and wife team Bob and Linda Frenette selected day trips to canoe in and around South Florida (as it is properly known, not "Southern Florida"). In addition to the canoe-level videography, the tape contains maps for each locale, information on local outfitters, aerial photography of the Everglades and Keys, and some neat underwater photography. "Make sure you bring your insect repellent," Bob advises in the greatest understatement of the tape. (You don't swat mosquitoes in the Everglades; you rub them off.) The Nine Mile Pond and Florida Bay trips are in the Everglades National Park. The third trip, across open water and around the state historic site at Indian Key, appears to be the most fascinating. A leisurely paddle down the lovely Loxahatchee River is next, followed by a bird-watcher's wonderland on the Hillsborough River near Tampa. Aside from the sometimes hokey humor, and the need for more wildlife identification, this is a good bet for outdoor recreation collections in the Eastern states. An additional new title in the series is Boundary Waters: West. Recommended. Aud: P. (R. Reagan)