HOME > VACATIONS > 2001 > CAY SAL BANK > MIAMI
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Sea Fever : Cay Sal Bank, Bahamas : Trip Report
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Around Miami

We spent a couple days before and several days after our live-a-board in Miami, specifically South Beach. There we hung out, ate great food and visited some of the local sites. Our favorite site near Miami was Lion Country Safari a little over an hour drive from Miami. It was amazing!

Renting a car is pretty much a must if you plan on being in the Miami area more than a day. It's pretty hard to get around otherwise. In our case we wanted to rent a car that would hold 5 people plus dive gear. A regular car won't do, mini-vans were impossible to come by, so we settled on a Volvo V70 Wagon. We were absolutely amazed that we were able to fit 5 adults fairly comfortably, ALL their gear AND be able to close all the doors and hatch! Heck, we were prepared to strap stuff to the roof but that turned to not be necessary!

Click on thumbnail for a full-size picture

We stayed at the Beacon Hotel right on Ocean Drive.
It was amazing that all our dive gear fit in the back of the Volvo.
Even the passengers seemed relatively comfortable.

Lion Country Safari

Lion Country Safari is north west of Ft. Lauderdale and a reasonable drive from Miami. This outdoor zoo lets the animals (well most actually) roam free and you drive through with your car. Melanie had been to a real safari in South Africa earlier in the year and said that even though nothing beats the real thing, this was surprisingly close.

Most of these pictures were taken with my camcorder with some of Mark's photos thrown in. Some were dark and grainy because a storm came through and it got pretty dark for a while. We were also there late in the afternoon. We were actually the last to leave the park and had to be asked to leave because we were there after closing. For the most part I don't remember what all this stuff was as I put this page together several weeks after the trip. If you do know what animals are in these pictures please E-mail me.

Click on thumbnail for a full-size picture

Swamp Tour

One day we drove out to the swamp to check out a Swamp Tour. I don't even remember the name of it any more. The airboat ride was REALLY loud and we only saw one small Alligator in the wild. We really didn't feel it was worth it.

Afterwards we went to the Alligator petting zoo where Melanie and Lily got to pet a baby Alligator. Yes, Lily also picked up this coon skin hat at the giftshop there. Her excuse was that she read in a fashion magazine that they're very in. Uh huh.


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Next Section: Check out the references section for links to all the sites mentioned here as well as some helpful books.
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