Miami, Florida

Paul:
We arrived in Miami in the afternoon and got the train and bus to our hostel in Fort Lauderdale. When we got off the bus, we struggled to find our hostel but a friendly local helped us out with directions and even gave us a lift in his convertible. Very helpful.

Our hostel was just a short walk from the beach, but we took advantage of being back in a developed country by heading for the local supermarket for some quality food. The choice was just staggering, but we managed to keep our food prchases to the bare minimum (kind of).

Next day we explored the local area. Fort Lauderdale is massive and we ended up walking our poor little feet off but still only made it half way to the town centre. So, we got on the bus and headed to the science museum which was great fun and included flight simulators and even a mission to Mars simulator. I had fun pretending to be 10 years old again.

We came across a strange guy fron Texas in the bus station with a badge which read "God bless America" who delighted in telling us "Gaad Ah Lurve that Tony Blair" once he found out we were English. According to him, the only people saving the world from the 'terrusts' is that Tony Blair and George W of course. Fortunately another good old boy from Arkansas took up the conversation with him so we could escape.

Next day was good fun. We rented a car and drove into the Everglades for a fan boat ride. It took me a while to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road, but it was god to have the freedom a car gives you. The fan boat was basically a tin boat with a couple of big V8 engines attaced to a couple of ceiling fans.

But the boat sped across the water at huge speed and made lots of noise. Tremendous! Probably not very carbon neutral, but good fun. We saw a few alligators including one huge one (about nine foot long) which came right up to the side of the boat!

Next we headed to the Florida Keys which is a series of islands linked by a long main road about 100 miles long. We stopped for lunch by the water and then stopped at a place called Holiday Island.

The Island was pretty busy as it was a Sunday afternoon. We got there just in time for the bikini contest. This was not just a series of girls parading on stage, oh no. Each girl got 2 minutes to shake her booty down to the ground. Great stuff. Some of the Bikinis were pretty scanty including one which was basically a one inch strip of material which looped over the shoulders just about covered the important bits.

So our first trip to the good old US of A was pretty good fun and not quite as full of wierdos as expected. Next stop Mexico