Into the wild

Stopping off for breakfast on a tropical island sounds like bliss. It isn't far from it either, other than the nearby road. The heat is is already tremendous and the scenery of this Key is gorgeous.


Entering the nearby Everglades National Park the road seems just above the water and the seemingly endless marsh land all around us. The Everglades is the third biggest mainland national park in America and is full of all sorts of marine and bird wildlife but my main interest is spotting some alligators. A short walk along a boardwalk almost instantly gives me a glimpse of a couple of alligators ready to pounce on a wary bird.
As the walk continues it leads out onto a large pond that at first sight seemed quiet and empty. That was until we started to look more closely and spotted around 10 alligators smoothly moving through the water hardly creating a ripple and then dipping out of view beneath. A couple of gators rest and yawn a few feet away from us in the shade of trees. Some of the gators are huge, not somewhere you'd want to go for a swim no matter how hot it felt!


We consider camping and wander why no-one else has bothered, after all the weather is fine for it so we decide to pitch the tent. This is when we discover the reason the place is deserted, the bugs instantly gather round. All that stagnant water and heat mean a classic breeding ground for the little blighters. We pack up and drive on.


We end up driving further than expected and arrive in Miami late in the evening. I begin to think more and more about the end of the trip with only a week left till we fly home. With little left to see we have to sell the car within the week and to fund the last few days as money has almost run out. Maybe I shouldn't have left it till the last week to sell the car.