Next Stop: Lake Okeechobee

by FERENC IVANICS
It took us one day to walk to the edge of Miami. One time, we stopped near a watercourse on the border of Miami and the industrial zone surrounding the city to catch our breath. We looked around: “Look, there’s a big fish.”, “Look, there goes a turtle.”... “Look, there’s a small alligator.” Holy crap! Later we realized that alligators are quite common in Florida.



Though the views of the flora and fauna of the region are compelling, we have to stand the weather. With temperatures above a 100 degrees, with humidity above 90% it’s not that we sweat, we’re streaming with sweat.



And it’s rainy season, so it’s not surprising to see and feel heavy thunderstorms almost every afternoon. But we’re zippy guys (and have a schedule to meet) so we walk in rainy weather as well. Humidity and high temperatures have an effect on our feet: our old enemies, blisters are back. I have so many new ones that I need a calculator to count them all.


Never ending swamps, crocodiles, oversized snakes, Florida panthers, this is the Everglades. Unfortunately we saw a few panthers and large alligators run over on the roadways. Or maybe fortunately for us... Some of the alligators can measure 12 feet. The locals use strange swamp boats to move around in the Everglades.



Finding a campsite is not an easy task. Currently we walk on a road that looks almost like a motorway. To our left and right: swamps and lakes. We pray every day to find a small spot to put our tents up. So far we’ve had luck. And people are really friendly around here, once we were invited to sleep on a farm, near the stables, with a roof over our head. It was priceless. Once Mr. Raimon Pruitt, the Palm Beach County Deputy Sheriff helped us find a safe spot. Right now we are at Thomas Krewson’s place, he and his wife are too kind. But yes, sometimes we need to use our new tents, too.


The (Not So) Surprising Enemy: Blisters
New photos on Flickr