Our third stop, and my second new country on this trip, was Santo Tomas, Guatemala. Here, my husband and I went on different excursions. I chose a visit to Las Escobas Springs Reserve, which is part of the Cerro San Gil Protected Area, one of the last remaining tracts of very humid tropical forests within Central America. The Nature Conservancy and its partner, Fundación para el Desarrollo y la Conservación (FUNDAECO), are working to conserve this incredibly important rainforest.
Travel
Belize City
After Cozumel, we cruised overnight and arrived in Belize City the next morning. Here, we boarded a bus for a guided tour of the city. Unfortunately, we also witnessed a terrible accident: Continue reading
Cozumel (Mexico)
After boarding our cruise ship in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Friday night, we had a day at sea before our first stop on Sunday. Cozumel is Mexico’s largest Caribbean island, located east of Playa del Carmen, and is famed for scuba diving. Cozumel is an entirely touristic destination; as our guide explained, the inhabitants produce “nothing but smiles and babies.”
Florida Everglades
Since we had a few days in Miami, we knew we had to visit the Everglades. We originally booked a motorboat tour but that got cancelled and so the operator rebooked us on a tour of the Ten Thousand Islands for bird and dolphin watching (cool!), as well shell collecting (yawn). This required an early start (6am) and long drive (2 hours) but once the sun started to rise it was lovely.
Superblue Miami
After Wynwood Walls, we continued our arty afternoon at Superblue, an interactive art experience that I discovered while researching things to do in Miami. I’d purchased tickets for 3:40pm but we arrived about half an hour early and they let us in no problem.
There were 5 installations. Continue reading
Wynwood Walls, Miami, FL
Wynwood Walls is “Miami’s Original Street Art Museum.” I can’t remember exactly how I found out about it, only that I did while researching things to do in Miami and that it immediately went to the top of my list. I’m a huge fan of street art – the outdoorsiness, the colors, the distinctive lettering … I just love it. Continue reading