Lulls and Limbos

The past few weeks have been hard - bureaucratic nightmares, a nightmare scenario of endless documents and lawyer-dependence. But things SEEM to be finally happening and I am almost daring to believe that matters will get resolved soon and I can get on with the rest of my life....just a couple more weeks to wait and see. Fingers crossed, everyone.

A Buddha for me.....

This has once again tipped me over the edge deep into my travel addiction! At the detailed planning stage (to be confirmed in two weeks) is a longed-for return to California and Arizona, visiting friends, breathing in once more the desert air, geology-spotting and maybe more whales off Monterey. I just can't wait to get there. Plans include a few new places - especially a ride through Death Valley! Hope we come out the other end. I've also just written to my friends in Kerala to see if I can visit - and the summer should, if all goes to plan, with a fabulous painting course in Ireland and a trip to the UK. Then 2015 will arrive quickly enough - and lots of ideas bubbling away!

A Buddha for friends...

 Art-wise I think I am a bit too tensed up waiting to paint very well.....but I have done a couple more Buddhas and hoping to paint some portraits, too. It's a bit of a vicious circle, though, as I need to practise to get better, and I still can't work out why I constantly get so distracted! This is daft, as the more I worry about it, the less painting becomes pleasurable and free...so I need to have a little chat with myself about this. So I'll leave it there for now - in the land of limbo....but hopefully the way out is crystallising in some neon glow just ahead, just out of reach.....

WIP........change background and add lots more texture and do eyes....

Land of Posers

Park Central Hotel

Finally, Miami. I hadn't known what to expect and, not being a city-lover, was not really very enthusiastic - I was still very sad after leaving Islamorada. The entry into downtown Miami is actually spectacular - a white-towered skyline even more amazing-looking than in Miami Vice, quite beautiful in its own monumental fashion. Miami is all about sea and sky - I would like to see the city mid-thunderstorm, flashes of lightning bouncing off the skyscrapers and splitting the vast sky. However, I drove onward to my very historic art deco hotel right on Miami Beach.

 Despite its slight shabbiness and need for authentic restoration, Park Central was a great place to be, especially at night when the hotels glow in neon colours. The centre of poser paradise. If you want to flaunt - flaunt wealth, sex, success or your unique made-to-spec classic car or Bentley, then this is the place to be. Land of gold chains, diamante dresses and giant over-the-top cocktails. I found it interesting for a day or two, but wouldn't want to stay any longer. If I was rich, beautiful and twenty-somehting once more, then I would probably love it!

I did the usual tourist stuff - harbour tour, city tour, a walk on Miami Beach and so on...but then there was nothing else. So I decided to go on a very special trip for my last day - a spectacular finale - a trip to the Bahamas! Only on my return did I realise that I had just sailed right through the Bermuda Triangle and lived to tell the tale. No alien encounters, sadly, to perk this blog up a notch.  After a three and a half hour boat ride, then half an hour by coach, we were deposited at a recently built tourist resort - which hadn't quite got it right. A nasty, scary walk down a shaded, lonely path to the beach, a mass of wooden huts full of locals all selling EXACTLY the same stuff - sadly mostly made in China, very predictable scarves, bags and tourist tat. I was glad I went but it wasn't a patch on the Keys!

Bahamas beach

As always, the day was partly spoilt by the fact that I was flying the next day - I have almost managed to conquer my terror, which had so cruelly stopped me from travelling all my life until I finally plucked up the courage four years ago. I still get very nervous, bad-tempered and agitated the day before. But it all went well and I got back to Portugal without a hitch. I'd had a fantastic time....made so by the hospitality of my friends in Tampa, by the fascinating wildlife and Islamorada, where I could very easily live out the rest of my life, binoculars in one hand and a cocktail in the other......

Dolphin Friends

This holiday was already making huge inroads into my bucket list, but all my life I had wanted to swim with dolphins, and it was hard to take in that the moment had come. I set off over the never-ending Seven-mile Bridge, seemingly disappearing into infinity, to arrive at the Dolphin Research Centre.

 I chose this place because it seemed so much less commercialised than others - the dolphins took priority and there were only basic facilities for visitors. The dolphins were cared for like family - they had plenty of space, the centre adjoined the ocean - and it was made clear to us that if the dolphins didn't feel like swimming with you, they were free to swim off! It was a massive learning experience too - and, corny though it may sound, every single second of my day there was magical. I hung around for hours after swimming, I didn't want to leave - I had encountered moments of great joy, and felt I had finally got in touch with my inner child. I won't bore you with every detail, suffice to say that I spent at least an hour with them in the water, in a very small group, that they were like friends, full of fun, giggles and loved the attention. Again, just pure, unadulterated joy.

Paradise Found

When I first looked at my itinerary for the Florida Keys, I did not have high hopes for the island of Islamorada. For one thing, I had never heard of it - being a geographer, I wasn't happy about that. Secondly, I couldn't fathom why the agency suggested I spend more time there than in Key West, which seemed about as cool as you can get. It seemed to be an in-between sort of place - near plenty of more interesting looking locations. How wrong I was!

The glass-bottomed boat

I arrived by way of Key Largo. Decided against wandering the town and opted instead for a visit to a coral reef in a glass-bottomed boat. It was a gorgeous day. The sea was the deepest turquoise blue imaginable, the sky likewise. A healthy number of tourists and I boarded the rather neat-looking  stream-lined craft, so excited. Finally I was going to see a coral reef! Then came the warning. 'We have to warn you that the sea is very rough - in fact it is at the top limit in which we are allowed to sail. If you are prone to sea-sickness we recommend another sailing', came forcefully through the speakers, along with kind offers of anti-sickness medication and various precautions. We all decided to go for it! It was an amazing experience...we got to see the reef, lots of brightly coloured fish and even a shark lurking by some brain coral. But it was incredibly rough, the ship lurched in four directions at the same time, seemingly impossible. We were all sitting looking downwards through the window panes in the hull - it was a very dizzying experience. I have sailed bravely several times in storm force gales across the Bay of Biscay. I have been one of about half a dozen only on a UK-Spain sea crossing who was not violently sick. I have eaten dinner whilst glasses and crockery from the bar have crashed to the floor as the ship confronted giant waves. But I have never felt so queasy as in that glass-bottomed boat...so I was secretly quite glad when we got back after three hours of torture!! I kept looking at other people's faces to see if I was the only stoic on board. Everyone looked VERY pale, some singing and cheering as we disembarked! However, it gave me a burning desire to learn to dive, at least to snorkel. This was uppermost in my mind as I drove over spectacular bridges, the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Atlantic on the other, both sparking like topaz.

I was to stay at the Postcard Inn. It was like a small resort with apartments facing the beach, simply but beautifully decorated in pastels and seaside style. There were small private beaches, a heated pool, lots of bars, a marina, shops and diving facilities. But what it had above all else, why it seemed like paradise, was atmosphere. Laid back and unpretentious, within an hour I didn't have a care in the world. I walked around in a swimming costume and robe and flip-flops (rare indeed), I went swimming in a warm sea at sunset, tried out snorkelling and have never felt so good or relaxed in my life. I could stay there for a month and not get bored. Only negative - I had signed up for a diving course, but couldn't it as I hadn't had the foresight to bring a doctor's certificate to say I was okay. However, I did get to overcome one huge fear! I actually put on a wetsuit!!! I hadn't realised...instead of looking like a beached whale, because it is close fitting and tight, I actually looked a stone lighter!! Wow!!! Wish I could wear one to the local Mall! That would show the snotty shop assistants as they tell me with a smirk they don't have that outfit in a an XL......

I don't think I have ever been more reluctant to leave anywhere - but I pressed on to Key West. Another great, great place. I felt as if I was Bob Marley, so laid-back and hung out. Lunched at the Hard Rock Cafe, saw the town from a very expensive Pedicab, enjoyed to the maximum the 'Silver Palms' hotel and loved, loved it. I could, without a doubt, live on the Florida Keys...as long as I could make a quick getaway from an approaching hurricane! The wildlife was stunning, the whole area just gorgeous and unforgettable....and I haven't even mentioned the best day of my life....my dolphin encounter...to come.

Racing through Mangroves and The Everglades

The rest of my time before I sauntered down to the Florida Keys was spent giving full reign to my passion for wildlife and scenery. Had a wild ride in an airboat through mangrove canals. The driver seemed to fluctuate wildly between slow, leisurely glides, then, as soon as he spotted a small lake, cackled cruelly and accelerated crazily, culminating in several wheelies, seemingly in ever-decreasing circles, drenching us well and making sure we all grasped that hairline difference between excitement and stark fear!

Another circle and we happened across a family of racoons - clearly with reliable wristwatches as they knew we were coming, and posing happily for us as the driver gave them tidbits. I held my first alligator that day too! Went for a great ride in the afternoon, down more alligator alleys, through the brown swaying emptiness of the Everglades, and a more stately boat trip around the Thousand Islands.

This was noisy. Pelicans? Gulls? No - a coach load of about fifty raucous Colombians got there first. There are the noisiest people I have ever come across. Oblivious of the few other travellers, they conversed loudly and crudely, blocked views, spoke and laughed over the commentary so we couldn't hear a thing - and generally spoilt things for the rest of us. I was glad when we got back...just one of those experiences that ensures the balance of good and bad is kept in equilibrium!

We visited this fascinating but vulnerable island

It didn't matter anyway - the next day, though I didn't know it yet, I was to discover paradise......

Wandering Wild in Corkscrew Swamp

The weather wasn't really on my side as I headed south for a few days around Sarasota and Naples. Crossing the spectacular Sunshine Skyway Bridge across Tampa Bay, which looked to be a unique experience, was, instead, a foggy, drizzly, traffic-bound crawl....this holiday really was turning out to be the opposite of everything I had planned and anticipated. The hotel in Sarasota wasn't much better - one of those with nothing to offer but a very predictable breakfast served on paper plates with plastic cutlery - lining the main busy highway, gloomy and miserable. Naples was the opposite. I seemed to be in the poshest hotel in town, with gold-plated lift doors, chandeliers and all things over the top. Not for me.  Luckily, I finally had one sunny day to see the glories of the area - long, shell-white beaches, gentle seas, great shopping and quite a cool feel to the place - even a couple of dolphins cruising near the beach in Naples. One day of this is enough for me, however. The binoculars were jiggling about in the case and my bird book kept finding its way to my bedside table, pleading to be needed. Enough of damp Sarasota and horribly pretentious, flashy Naples. I had to see some wildlife.

Like logs as far as the eye could see

 My first great adventure was at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. Serendipity strikes when you least expect it. Just as I arrived, at an odd hour, I spied a huge tractor-like jeep - which I learned was a swamp buggy, with just a couple of people perched high on top. The driver looked forlorn. She cheered up a lot when I showed interest and offered me a three-hour ride in the buggy 'to places the public don't see'. How could I resist? We eventually found another couple of very enthusiastic bird watchers and set off. This jeep is such fun. We crashed through metre-deep swamp, gurgled our way through swathes of mud, and eased our path through several different swamp habitats, most of the varieties to be found in Florida, in our quest  to see wildlife. We were rewarded with more than I could ever have imagined!

Wood Stork

Alligators lurked and eyed us from the murk, some draped fashionably with swamp weeds. Turtles lazed like yellow and green plates on the ponds, whilst I saw birds that at last required checking in the bird book. Wood storks with strange gnarled heads, owls who were happy to stare us out, graceful spoonbills, my sister birds with their flashes of neon pink, hawks, birds with funny names like grackles and shrikes...it was just amazing and I learnt loads. This is when I am in an almost Zen-like state of excitement, just like when I am painting. I live in the moment, lose track of time and reach a sublime level of happiness. It's what I live for and love.

Travel journaling is hard work. No time for any fancy arty stuff (though I always have a caseful of materials!) - just got to get it all down. Luckily the US is the best place possible for information. Visitors centres, to be found anywhere of interest, are packed with information, guides and all sorts of goodies. Local tourist centres are also excellent. My trusty Pogo mini printer works almost constantly after dinner, getting red hot. Many a night I am struggling to finish and fighting sleep - but I never, ever regret the extra effort. It's always worth it - I can relive my experiences over and over again, especially on gloomy rainy days like today in Lousada.