Time to move on from Miami today to head to see some Alligators in the Everglades. We check out and go to pick up our car from Avis which very handily is just across the road. No convertible Mustangs available this time unfortunately. Had to settle for a Ford Focus instead. We hit the road driving out across the water towards the Everglades. It's actually not that from from Miami and we are soon on the long straight road heading out across the tropical wetlands with water either side.
I had a place in mind to head to but there was so many places long the way we ended up visiting the Everglades Safari Park instead which ended up being phenomenal value compared to others I was looking at. For $26 we got a 45 min hover craft ride and entry to the park to see load of animals, an alligator show and access to a really nice walk around the park with vista points to see yet more the alligators (notice the theme!)
Our hover craft...
And we are off... Ear plugs in (forgot these bad boys were so loud!)
It is so cool flying across the swamps...
Surprisingly most of the swamp is pretty shallow. At the most it's about 5ft deep with most parts at around 30 cms. Apparently you only need about 15 cms of water for a hovercraft to be able to ride across the water.
It literally is a river of grass...
After our hover craft ride seeing lots of alligators along the way - some pretty close to the side of the boat we are dropped off at the park bit. Unfortunately I got no pictures of the wild alligators on my iPhone as I was using my other camera!)
We have a look around a small zoo with load of different animals before getting to the main event - some whopping great alligators at a show.
Aligators however are not the livliest of animals at the best of times and these stay true to form, only raising their heads when food was on offer. Bit like me on the sun lounger this week!
He did share some interesting facts though such as an aligator can go over 8 months with no food after a big feed, they have two eye lids and there are only two countries on earth that have alligators: the United States and China.
Absolute beast!
After the show we have a walk through the park to see more aligators.
And then it was time to head on further south having very much enjoyed our day in the Everglades.
Americans continue to own ridiculous cars.
As we finished a bit earlier in the Everglades than expected and it's not a place with a great amount of variety to warrant seeing any other parts we decided to head down to Key Largo, the first major stop in the Keys as it was only about an hour away.
A great choice it was too as we found a wonderful place in the glorious sunshine with a live singer belting out some great songs. A blissful way to spend the rest of be afternoon. The place was called Jimmy Johnson's Big Chill.
Unfortunately we didn't hire get the sunset view we hoped as because it is "winter" the sun sets a lot further to the south than usual.
We managed to find a pier though to improve the angle. Well worth it! I do love a good sunset.
This machine was hilarious! Basically it is one of those claw machines that you see at the fair / in arcades but instead of a soft toy there were live lobsters in it!! If you manage to get one it goes down a chute to the kitchen to be cooked.
After the sun went down we head back north to Homestead where we arestaying tonight due to lack of hotel availability in Key Largo / Islamorada. Not too far out of the way though and 45 mins and we were at our very cool little £35 per night hotel called the Floridian Hotel. I must admit I love staying in these random places in random little towns that only consists of big wide roads, hundreds of fast food restaurants, copious CVS/Walgreen pharmacies and some mega department stores. Quintessential America! Our hotel did not dissapoint. Very basic but spot on for a nights sleep.
And if our day could not have got any better we found a cracking traditional American steak house called The Longhorn Steak House (obviously located on a big retail park!) after the hotel recommended it. It was great - although ridiculous portions. I had a whopping great steak that I hadn't seen one of similar size since Argentina. After a stop off at Starbies on the way home we head back to our little motel and settled down for the night.
I think I ate at least 1/8th of this guy.
Hellooooooooo again, Bloooooooooooog! Very excited to wake up this morning and find TWO lovely long entries to savour....definitely the best way to start a weekend!
ReplyDeleteFlying through the Everglades on a hovercraft was gorgeous, and, from my, albeit remote, perspective, really soulful....echoes of Vietnam and Cambodia flooded into my imagination.
That safari place was such a brilliant find- well done! The alligators were monstrous- must have been a little disconcerting to be near them in the hovercraft!! Ohhhhhh....and that colossal frog.....can just imagine Natty recoiling somewhat as that particular beast of the swamps was held aloft for you to photograph.....ewwwwww!!!!
Jimmy Johnson's Big Chill was another gorgeous find!! What a beautiful way to while away an evening- sunset from the jetty with lovely songs being sung live.......the stuff that dreams are made of!!
Poor little lobsters incarcerated in a claw grab machine.....felt sad for them- glad you didn't land any, Beanies!!!
Homestead looked soooo typically American! The hotel was ridiculously cheap, but a lovely experience for you! The Longhorn Steakhouse....yummmmm! Can't top that, after a lovely day in the Everglades!!
Well.....on to the final Miami blog entry now, darlings- the Everglades were fabulous,....lovely photos, Aaronius- thank you for including us in your trip!!! Lots of love, Anonymous Eric xxxxxx