Miami, Florida 22.07

Party in the city where the heat is on, all night on the beach 'till the break of dawn, Welcome to Miami, Bienvenidos a Miami

Hommikul tegin jälle väikese jalutuskäigu vastassuunal eelmise hommikuga. Paralleeltänavale jääb hotell The Villa Casa Casuarina, paiknedes kunagises Versace häärberis, mille trepil kunagine omanik elu kaotas. 

Tänavad olid enamasti tühjad. Madalad majad ja piisavalt rohelust, lisaks pargid. Leidsin paar bengali viigipuud, mis tunduvad koosnevat lõpmatutest tüvedest, mis on tegelikult õhujuured. Lisaks juba eelnevalt mitmeid kordi märgatud võrratult värvilised krotonid. 

Pärast hommikusööki verandal järjekordne suplus, siis auto rooli ja ligi tunniajane sõit viis meid Everglade rahvuspargi põhjaossa, Sawgrassi. Everglades on USA suurim troopiline looduslik park ning kolmas rahvuspark Death Valley ja Yellowstone järel, millest esimene on külastatud, teine äkki kunagi. Pargi põhjaossa jääv Sawgrass alustas kalastuskohana, 1970ndateks pakkus teenust üks hõljuk ja nüüd on sellest saanud üks suurimaid atraktsioone. 

Sawgrass rekreatsioonipargis pakutakse lisaks kalastusele ja matkamisele hõljukisõite rabas ja see oli ainuke reaalne lootus näha ühte 1.3 miljonist Florida alligaatorist. Jah, ma tean, et selle mürina peale ei püsiks ükski gaator paigal aga meie ajaraami silmas pidades oli see suurim võimalus. 

Pileti peab ette broneerima. Ja jälle, pilet maksab 26.95 aga maksud juurde ja saame 30.46 dollarit. Sest miks kohe õige hind panna? Selle eest siis 40-minutiline, kuskil 20-inimesest koosnev grupisõit. 

Juba kohale jõudes märkasime, et taevas muutus järjest süngemaks. Võtsime vihmakeebid autost kaasa. Kuna jõudsime natuke vara, no mitte ametlikult, sest jõudsime enda broneeritud vahemikus, siis nende ajahäda tõttu pidime ikkagi ootama. 

Hõljuki sõitu oodates saab vaadata vangistatud alligaatoreid, meie ainukesed. Siis tegime tuuri suveniiripoes ja kogunesime paadisõiduks. Meie giid ei tekitanud kõige suuremat turvatunnet. Paat tegi korralikku mürinat. Taustal oli näha järjest tumenev taevas. Giid suhtles aeg-ajalt baasiga ning andis teada, et teatud suunal on võimalus edasi liikuda. Nägime kolme lindu, kellest ühest sõitsime ilmselt üle. 

Paat tegi aeg-ajalt loomulikult peatusi, uurisime ringi, kas märkame kuskilt silmi. Aga peale lindude ei õnnestunud märgata ei alligaatoreid, kalu ega kilpkonni. Jah, kahel nädalapäeval on öötuur ka. Seejärel jõudis torm meile järele ning pidime enne 40-minutit tagasi pöörduma. 

Enne minekut käisin veel ühte topsi otsimas, mis peitus õnneks esimeses kohas, kuhu käe sirutasin. Taevas järjest tumenes.  Jõudsin tagasi autosse ja siis avanesid taevaluugid. Seekord sadas korralikult. Kuna oli sobiv aeg lõunasöögiks, siis lühikese sõidu kaugusele jäi Westonis asuv Key Food Supermarket. Jätkuvalt sadas. Parkisime auto ära ja no mis see väike sadu ikka teeb. Uhh.. kui ebamugav oli läbimärjana külmas poes olla. Lasime endale hiiglasuured grillvõikud teha. Alguses oli mõte igaühele oma aga kui esimese suurust nägime, siis piirdusime kahega. 

Seejärel veel pool tunnikest sõitu ja Dolphin kaubanduskeskus, mida reklaamitakse kui Miami suurimat (outlet) keskust. Dolphinis asub üle 240 poe, millest nt ainuüksi Ross on juba gigantne. Õhtusöögi võtsime samuti Dolphinist. Aga see oli ilmselt reisi tagasihoidlikum. Korralikke söögikohti ei olnud, selline kiirtoidu pakkujad. 

Õhtuks tagasi majutusse. Kui esimene päev parkimismajja jõudes eelviimsel korrusel koha leidsime, siis sel päeval randa minnes oli parkimismaja täituvuse tõttu suletud. Seekord leidsime koha juba madalamal ja sellega probleemi ei olnud. Ja päeva lõpuks ikka randa. Sest kui juba Miamis, siis maksimaalselt ookeanis. 

Party in the city where the heat is on, all night on the beach 'till the break of dawn, Welcome to Miami, Bienvenidos a Miami 

In the morning, I took another short walk, this time in the opposite direction to the one the day before. On a parallel street is The Villa Casa Casuarina hotel, located in the former Versace mansion, where its previous owner tragically lost his life on the steps. 

The streets were mostly empty. There were low houses and plenty of greenery, along with parks. I spotted a couple of banyan trees, which seem to consist of endless trunks but are actually air roots. I also came across more of those wonderfully colourful crotons that I'd noticed several times before. 

After breakfast on the veranda, another dip in the ocean, then into the car for an hour’s drive to the northern part of the Everglades National Park, Sawgrass. The Everglades is the largest tropical wilderness in the US and the third-largest national park after Death Valley and Yellowstone – the first of which I’ve visited, and maybe the second one day. Sawgrass, in the northern part of the park, started as a fishing location and, by the 1970s was offering services with just one airboat. Now, it’s become one of the biggest attractions. 

At Sawgrass Recreation Park, alongside fishing and hiking, you can take airboat rides through the swamp, which was our best chance of seeing one of the 1.3 million alligators in Florida. Yes, I know no gator would stay put with all that noise, but given our time frame, it was the best opportunity. 

You have to book tickets in advance. And again, the ticket costs $26.95, but with taxes added, it comes to $30.46. Why not add the tax in the first place? Hmm? That gets you a 40-minute group ride with about 20 people. 

As soon as we arrived, we noticed the sky growing darker. We grabbed the raincoats from the car. We were a bit early – well, not really, as we arrived within our booked time slot – but due to their scheduling issues, we had to wait anyway. 

While waiting for the airboat ride, you can see the captive alligators, which were the only ones we saw. We then had a look around the gift shop and gathered for the boat ride. Our guide didn’t inspire the greatest sense of security. The boat made quite a racket. The sky behind us was visibly darkening. The guide communicated with the base from time to time and informed us that certain directions were still safe to explore. We saw three birds, one of which we probably ran over.

The boat made occasional stops, and we looked around to see if we could spot any eyes peering out from the water. But apart from birds, we didn’t manage to spot any alligators, fish, or turtles. Yes, there’s also a night tour available on two days of the week. Then, the storm caught up with us, and we had to head back before the 40 minutes were up. 

Before leaving, I searched for one more geocache, which I luckily found in the first place I reached for. The sky continued to darken. I made it back to the car just as the heavens opened. This time, the rain was torrential. As it was about lunchtime, we drove a short distance to Key Food Supermarket in Weston. The rain continued to pour. We parked the car, thinking, “What’s a little rain going to do?” Ugh... It was uncomfortable being soaking wet in a cold shop. We ordered enormous grilled sandwiches. Initially, the plan was to get one each, but when we saw the size of the first one, we settled for two between us. 

After another half-hour drive, we arrived at Dolphin Mall, which is advertised as Miami’s largest (outlet) mall. Dolphin has over 240 stores, including Ross, which is already enormous. We also had dinner at the mall. Nothing too exciting.  

In the evening, we returned to our accommodation. On the first day, when we arrived at the parking garage, we found a spot on the second-to-last floor. But on this day, as we headed to the beach, the parking garage was full and closed off. This time, we found a spot on a lower floor, so no problems there. And of course, we ended the day at the beach again – because if you’re in Miami, you make the most of the ocean.