Day 262 - 266, Miami to Key West

Day 262, 80 km

I left Leos's and Dave's house at 11 am. I did some sightseeing in Hollywood and Miami and found a lot of phone repair shops. I hoped somebody could help me to install google maps again but nobody could...

 From the bridges to the outermost islands I saw a lot of luxurious yachts.

 And the beaches were wonderful. But the weather was cold and windy.

 Here I tried to "frame" a picture with my bicycle.

 In Miami they had a strange bus/train going on rubber wheels  on bridges over the roads. Often two cars were attached to each other.

 The whole day I rode through urban areas,

until I in the evening reached south Miami. There I had an address from wwoof.org which I wanted to check. I thought I had come to an organic bakery but actually I had come to a guy called Sanford, who was the father of the friend of the baker. He let me sleep in his garden which was one acre (about 0,4 ha) and looked like a jungle.

Day 263, 70km

Next morning Sanford showed me his garden. He had several ponds with fish.

 Some of them he ate, some of them he only had because they were beautiful.

He also had a lot of different trees, many of them with tropical fruits like bananas,

and Star Fruits

 They tasted delicious!

 He offered me to volunteer in his garden. I told him that I first wanted to go down to Key West, the most southern point of the US and that I then would come back.
He gave me a snorkel and cyclopes so I could investigate the corral reefs.

 After I had left him I decided to see how slowly I could ride. After I had tested to ride as fast as I could the week before, I now wanted to know how often I could stop along the road without getting restless.
In the evening I came to the first island of the Keys. When I saw this sign I considered if it was so wise to plan go wild camping...

 But i found a good safe sleeping place near the visitor center.

Day 264, 80 km

Soon I found an Underwater State Park on one of the coral reefs and stayed there until noon. In the museum I learned to know the difference between Alligators and Crocodiles.

 I used my Cyclopes and investigated a ship wreck from 1715. There was a lot of colorful fish, I am sorry I could not take pictures of them!

 In the afternoon I passed a region with a lot of Coconut Palms.

I bought one but unfortunately I lost it...

 I have to buy another when I pass it again!
The weather became warmer and I had a good tailwind.

 It was a wonderful day and in the evening I found a bay where I was all for myself where I made dinner in the sunset.

 I had heard that the sunsets never were as beautiful as on the Keys.

 And even after the sunset the sky was very beautiful!

Day 265, 115 km

Next day I came to a State Park where I decided to walk through a typical forest of the islands. They call it hammock. There was I Natural Education Path, about 4 km. I thought I could go through forest so I walked my bike through the narrow path.

But this I regretted because I had to go back to where i started and the terrain was very difficult to walk through with a loaded bike.

 But it was a wonderful trip and I learned a lot.

I also biked over many bridges and wondered of the boats were over-motorized.

 Now it was really hot but still there was a good wind.

 When I stopped in the afternoon at a beach I met a German guy called Wilfried. He told me I should not miss the sunset in Key West. He told me that everybody watches it every day and took a lot of pictures of it. And when the sun finally disappeared everybody applauded!
 I decided to ride the last 50 km in three hours and came exactly in time to the sunset-event.

 People already were everywhere along the plazas and docks.

 They were taking a lot of pictures and movies.

And the sunset really was special!

Day 266, 65 km

I decided to take a vacation day. In the morning I woke up already at 3:30 when three roosters sharing the same park as me, crowed loudly.

Then I took a long nap in the sun at a beach. 

I watched how the Pelicans caught fish.

I decided to do some more sightseeing at the harbor. 

 In a museum I learned something about the history of Key West.

  This is a picture of a mangrove shrub north of the island. The water is very shallow almost everywhere.

Now I have come to the most southern point of the US and will slowly go back to Miami.

Here a little about my plans for the next three months:

I just made a reservation on a cruising ship leaving Miami on April 20th and arriving Barcelona on May 1st. Then it is "only" 3200 km to Stockholm, so I plan to be back in Stockholm on the last of May. I also plan to visit some relatives and friends along the way, especially in Paris or Zürich, Köln and Berlin. But not Graz and Vienna this time...

I have not decided yet what I will do eight weeks until the ship is leaving. I think I will do some woofing and maybe even go up to New York when the weather is warmer.