There are water faucets everywhere with potable water for the horses. The water is high in iron and contains sulfur but after going through our numerous filters it was clear and odourless. There are miles and miles of well-marked trails for both horses and pedestrians.
We saw quite a bit of wildlife on those trails. The photos above show a boardwalk trail that ended to a lookout over a marsh area. The marsh was overgrown at this time of year so nothing there to see but the trees surrounding the area sported different kinds of air plants which was interesting. There were even ferns growing on the trunks of the trees.
And what a nice surprise to see a baby alligator by the side of the road. He's all green for the algae. Such a cute face!
The Dupuis Equestrian Campground is one large area and you just park where you want. There are signs to separate the equestrian camping from the non-equestrian (I think mostly for safety). While we were there a lot of people came to camp with their horses. Really nice to see them riding off on the trails. I spoke to a couple of girls that had just come back from riding and they said they rode 14 miles that day. They also told me about a special ride that is organized every year called Lake to Sea which goes on for 3 days and they ride about 25 miles a day. We also noticed some jumps here and there on the side of the trails and they were all marked by a small white flag on a peg. The jumps were small but solid - they could not be knocked down which made me wonder about the safety especially as some riders might attempt them with horses that had never jumped before.
What we really enjoyed about Dupuis were the company of the other campers. All of them really good people. Some we had already met at Hickory Hammock but we made new friends. Our neighbors Joan and Ray were a lot of fun and we were always invited to Happy Hour with the "gang" - a bunch who spend winter in Florida but try to stay only at free campgrounds. Some have been doing it for a long time and know all the good spots. We were about 6 Canadians, 3 of which were from Quebec. It was nice for me to get to speak French a little bit with those folks. We learned a lot about solar energy and how to dry camp successfully (which we don't because we are not equipped to do so). We might have to bite the bullet and do another unanticipated purchase and splurge on a portable solar panel. We like to park our rig in the shade so the portable would be better for us. Our neighbours had a generator which they ran every evening for about 3 hours while they watched TV and used their ceiling fan and could have lights on. The solar panel would only trickle charge our small battery so all it would do is prevent the fridge from alerting us that the battery is dying (even though it's running on propane it still uses some electricity) and having to idle the truck for 30 minutes or so to recharge. Our problem is that the battery sometimes chooses to die in the middle of the night which is not very nice for Glen who volunteers to go start the truck but also most probably an annoyance for our neighbours although nobody said anything.
Dupuis also has a washroom and a hot shower - my first time showering with spiders looking at me. It also has a dump so we could empty all our tanks before hitting the road instead of carrying that extra weight - every pound counts for saving gas!
A little break during one of our walks. Even Cheeka is happy to rest!
Even though we enjoyed Dupuis, we were happy to leave and go for two weeks to Peace River Thousand Trails Campground where we were going to have full hook-ups!
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