Thursday, June 21, 2007

Life's "Firsts" in Miami

After my recent trip to Miami Beach, USA, I am convinced that life is too short to not experience as many "firsts" in life as possible! I realized that new adventures and experiences are what keep me feeling young, vibrant and alive.

First stop. Everglades Safari - what most tourists say is a "must see" when you visit Miami. The highlights ... and many "firsts" for me were:

One-of-its-kind airboat ride. Cruising through the swampy area of Miami - THE SOURCE of water for the whole of Florida! (So, did that deter me from drinking the treated tap water at the Loews Miami Beach hotel? NOT!)


Held a baby gator, a very "eeewwwww ..." experience. Gator was quite heavy for a babe.


Someone commented that baby gator looked as uncomfortable as I felt ... perhaps it was thinking about the possibility of ending up as my next handbag!!!! LOL!


Shared a gator sandwich for lunch, but not the one pictured ... that would be too gross! The meat was as tough as stale bread! Yuck!


Next stop was the place I willingly visited due to my interest in marine life - the Miami Seaquarium.

While it may have been very much like SeaWorld, frankly, I don't remember if I have ever been to SeaWorld. I must have ... since I vaguely remember the pool splashes and dolphin performances ... but where, when and with whom? I really can't recall.


Visiting Miami Seaquarium is highly recommended if you are even the slightest bit interested in marine life. You get to observe marine life from a distance before jumping in wetsuit and all.


Apart from the stellar dolphin performances, Lolita the killer whale caused quite a SPLASH that left me drenched on the second row of the arena! Literally dripping wet.


Ah, but getting wet from top to toe was all part of the fun and experience.


Other great performers throughout the three-hour visit were the spinner and flipper dolphins, and the sea lions.


What can I say, they were great ... and very fast, too! So fast that I could not capture it on camera

... except for some short videos:





On Lolita's whale-ing ...

On dolphin spinning ...



Since getting on facebook, it has taken me awhile to post this blog. If you are interested to view the other Miami Beach photos, visit my facebok albums on the Everglades Safari and Miami Seaquarium.


More thoughts on Miami ... later, alligator!

2 comments:

Full Time Mom said...

Man, that looks like fun!!

The Forgetful One! said...

Miami Seaquarium and bathing in Lolita's splash was definitely fun.

Getting burnt in Miami sun while sitting on the airboat at the Everglades Safari was definitely not fun. Furthermore, we only saw baby crocs and gators. None of the huge ones except for the sedated alligator during the gator wrestling show after the boat ride.

Hahaha ... it was obvious there's no resistance in the "wrestling" between gator and man!