Wee took a 3.5 hour Jones Lagoon Paddle Board guided tour after about a 30 minute jet boat ride to get to the lagoon and mangrove forests.
Biscayne National Park
Everglades National Park
We started with a 30 minute airboat tour at Gator Park, with several gators swimming up close. At the park, there were small gators fenced in, as well as some large ones that had just wandered onto the property and were laying about, and we watched a little Wildlife Show about them. We then drove to the Shark Valley Visitor Center for a tram tour – about 2 hours driving around with a guide talking the whole time with info about the everglades and wildlife. We stopped by Robert is Here on the way back to the campground to pick up some weird fruits (one’s supposed to taste like chocolate pudding and another like egg custard).
Turtle Hospital
We visited the Turtle Hospital and learned lots about turtles and how the hospital works to keep them healthy. Most of the turtles they help have “bubble butt” from getting hit by boats – the boat damages the shell and traps air under it so the turtle floats instead of being able to stay submerged. The weather was finally hot so we stopped by the beach at Bahia Honda State Park.
Dry Tortugas National Park
Yesterday we drove about 6 hours down to Sugarloaf Key. We woke up early today to make it to the Yankee Freedom ferry – about a 2.5 hour ferry to the Dry Tortugas National Park. We got a guided tour of Fort Jefferson before wandering around by ourselves. We actually saw a raft of refugees arriving as we were about to depart – a pretty common occurrence as this is the southernmost point. When we got back to the campground that night, there was a big hubbub as there were manatees just chilling at the docks – people were giving it some hose water to play with.
Alva Glen
Finally got to get out and experience the real Scottish weather – went back to Alva to hike through the Alva Glen. My maps steered me wrong again but this time it was 100% worth it because I got to frolic through a field fo sheep and actually made it to my final destination eventually (Smuggler’s Cove). Ended the night going into town for a karaoke night and learned that “Country Roads” is as much if not more popular in the UK.
St. Andrews
Day trip to St. Andrews; luckily we missed the chaos of the big open last week, but there were still some tents set up in a field and you could see the patches of grass where the other hundred tents were. I had an amazing strawberry tart (and hot chocolate) for breakfast; we mostly just walked around shopping and wandering on the beach since none of us could really care less about golf (though literally every other store was a golf store). I did almost have to throw hands with a seagull as it swooped down to get my crumbs as I went to the trash can – I literally almost punched it in the beak before it would leave me alone.
Highland Tour Day 1
This morning we started on our weekend tour to the Isle of Skye; when we started off we were finally getting some of the classic Scottish rain, but it cleared up as we went north so we could see all the mountains and lochs lining the roads. I definitely don’t remember all the names of the mountains we stopped at, but I do know that on the way we drove through the Loch Lommond & Trossachs National Park, and Glenco, and saw the Three Sisters, Glenfinnan Viaduct (Harry Potter bridge), and Eileen Donan Castle. Oh, and I finally saw my Highland cows! We stayed at a hostel in Stromeferry; pretty janky – we could only have power on either the first or second floor and (spoiler  alert) the second night the showers stopped working all together, but you get what you pay for and we were pretty much only there to sleep.
The Back Walk
Walked along the Back Walk trails behind the Stirling Castle. All these areas have loads of small trails going all about, and I’ve found my favorite way of hiking around is to only have the vaguest general idea of where I might want to end up and just see where the random trail I pick takes me – there tends to be some cool statues along the way as well, and sometimes a Beheading Stone. At the bottom of the trail I landed in an open area where I have been told sometimes Highland cows hang out, but there were only sheep today, so the hunt continues. That spot was right next to the King’s Knot which is kind of just an interesting landscaping choice (I read the plaque but can’t remember the actual history behind it). Then for dinner, we walked over to Bridge of Allen again.
William Wallace Monument*
Well, my luggage didn’t make it, but I have arrived to Stirling. I’ve started to meet all the other international students, and a couple of us wandered up to the William Wallace Monument – which is just a 20 min walk from campus; the inside wasn’t open but there’s lots of different trails around the base.
Cork & Limerick
Drove from Galway down to Cork, stopping in Limerick for lunch and seeing King John’s Castle.
