DREAM ADVENTURE 27: Visit Florida
There's a lot I want to do in Florida. South Beach would be an awesome town to explore with the big nightlife scene. And the beach. Perhaps swimming with the dolphins?
Then, of course, there is Disney World, Universal Studios, Sea World and all the other Disney affiliated parks: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks
Five day tickets to Disney World are about $70 a day for a 5 day pass to any park with the Park Hopper and Water Park offers included coming to about $250 for the 5 days.
"Where humans are caged and the monkeys run wild!
Visitors today are immediately welcome by the Java monkey troop, now numbering in the 80’s. The Java monkeys forage through the Jungle eating natural foods. This experience with the monkeys continues to be a highlight of Monkey Jungle. The Java monkey is a skilled diver in the wild, collecting crabs and other shellfish along the riverbanks and mangrove swamps. Scheduled feedings at MONKEY JUNGLE show off these water skills as animals dive into a pool to receive fruit from the guides.
As part of the park’s continuing effort to promote the understanding of primates, MONKEY JUNGLE has given a new look introducing audiences to the lifestyle of the orangutan. Always unpredictable, the audience often witnesses impromptu acts by these lovable apes.
A total of 30 species of primates are represented at MONKEY JUNGLE including gibbons, guenons and spider monkeys. The Golden Lion Tamarin is native to the Brazilian jungle. Threatened with extinction, MONKEY JUNGLE proudly participates in an international effort to save the tiny creature."
Visit the Miami Zoo, with over 2,000 animals and more than 1,200 plants.
After all that city entertainment, I'd definitely want to visit the Everglades. The Everglades are subtropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large watershed. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee. Water leaving the lake in the wet season forms a slow-moving river 60 miles (97 km) wide and over 100 miles (160 km) long, flowing southward across a limestone shelf to Florida Bay at the southern end of the state. Writer Marjory Stoneman Douglas popularized the term "River of Grass" to describe the sawgrass marshes, part of a complex system of interdependent ecosystems that include cypress swamps, the estuarine mangrove forests of the Ten Thousand Islands, tropical hardwood hammocks, pine rockland, and the marine environment of Florida Bay.
How could one go to Florida without checking them out. Maybe not Bear Grylls style but kayaking would be AMAZING, hiking and of course I'd have to go visit the alligator farm!
If I've piqued your interest, check out the National Park Service website for the Everglades.
From October to May in Key West and Miami, you can learn to kiteboard.Check it out for yourself at TheKiteHouse.com. I think if I added any pictures of kiteboarding in Florida it'd make all the other things look way less awesome in comparision.
Last but certainly not any less epic, CAVE DIVING!
"Few people ever witness the strange sights of these underwater chambers—fossils, sunlight beaming in from holes in the cave ceilings, and even ancient mastodon tusks—because the only way to see it all is by donning a mask and flippers. Cave diving is rife with potential dangers. The good news is beyond good training, all it really necessitates is a little nerve.
Test the waters at Ginnie Springs Cavern, a beginner cave that Jacques Cousteau once described as “visibility forever.” It requires only an open-water diver certification. From an aquamarine, cypress-lined pool, descend and enter a chamber called the Ballroom, 130 feet (40 meters) long and 55 feet (17 meters) deep. There you can see water’s artwork in the limestone formations and feel the force of 30-plus million gallons of water per day pouring out of the inner cave entrance.
To graduate to the 6.5 miles (10 kilometers) of passageways in the Devil’s cave system, take a cavern or cave certification course at Ginnie Springs. Claustrophobes be forewarned: The tiniest swim-throughs require divers to take off their tanks to squeeze through. But the reward of these contortions is witnessing a vast watery underworld, some of which still remains unmapped." - National Geographic
photo by Nat Geo photographer Wes C. Skiles
I can't think of Florida without thinking of Will Smith's song Miami... I'd definitely have to rock that while getting ready to go out.
