We had a cool Uber Driver, who was really interested in famous South Africans, he was a real hoot. At Fort Lauderdale airport we had a long wait in the queue, it appeared that most of the people were Cubans and OMG did they have luggage like I never seen before. It was a serious concern that we would be able to take off. Check in and security (we again had all been tsa approved) was easy and we had great seats upfront. Still it was a 2 hour process. Apparently Americans are not that welcome in Cuba – something to do with Trump (surprising that), so luckily we are traveling on SA and British Passports. Still, we had been briefed on what to say if asked for our reasons for visiting Cuba – we are there to learn about the people and culture and to support them, we are not tourists. We also have pounds as currency, as US Dollars and credit cards are not accepted.

It was a short ¾ hour flight to Havana, with the Jet Blue plane making some really strange noises, as we landed the whole plane clapped. Gray and I thought it was because we had made it without crashing but apparently it’s a thing here.

It was another 2 hours of customs and baggage claim, in a very old airport, in need of some TLC, however the guys were treated to security guards with mini skirts and fish net stockings. After this lengthy process we headed into the waiting area where we met Enrique, our tour guide and Michael, our taxi driver. Fortunately both spoke English as the only language spoken in Cuba is the official language of Spanish.

We were welcomed into Cuba with a downpour which continued throughout our ride into Havana. It had been recommended that we do a home stay rather than stay in a hotel as the hotels are expensive and not always that clean. Also we wanted to embrace the full cultural experience. However, as we arrived at our accommodation we thought we were on an ‘Idiot’s Abroad’ series, the entrance to our accommodation for the next 3 nights looked like a place we would have found in Hillbrow. Gray said the look on our faces was priceless. Thankfully, our first floor apartment had been redone and was totally incongruent to the outside. We have two air conditioned bedrooms, on suite and an open plan kitchen, dining room and lounge. Maria, the upstairs neighbour was there to meet us. We had no idea what she was saying to us but she finished her flourished speech with a big smile and left.

We then went to one of the hotels on the waterfront and exchanged our money into cucs and pesos. Enrique had recommended a Jazz Bar, so we went there for a drink. It was on the third floor of the local mall, which was definitely no Sandton City (sorry Kirst, you would never survive here). They served us the strongest mojitos I have ever had and Jean and I were useless after one, so we ordered another. We then took a stroll around the area, which is dilapidated and a sad testament to better days. However, you feel safe and the people are happy and friendly.

We walked back to the waterfront, the Malecon, clearly a place where the social scene is and for lovers to sit on the wall overlooking the sea. We had more cocktails at a little restaurant – watching the sunset and the beautiful old American cars, that are such an integral part of Cuban culture.

We found a gem of a restaurant for dinner. Casa Mia was new and trendy, the staff were amazing and the food was delicious.

A great start to our Cuban stay.

We had a nice lie in this morning and breakfast on the Diesel’s patio. Thanks for running down to the shops and buying delicious fruit, especially the cherries, and yoghurt.

It was a beautiful day and a really pleasant journey back along the US1 through all the Florida Keys. Thanks Wayne for the comfortable drive.

We popped into the local supermarket, the choices here are insane. How do you choose from 8 different types of garlic bread?

Armed with supplies we set off to Tree Tops Park near the Diesel’s house in Davey. This beautiful park, and again like everything else in the US is huge. It is the burial ground of the Seminole and has forest areas with giant trees and fern like vegetation. There are lilly filled lakes, flanked by walkways. There are grassed areas surrounded by picnic and barbecue sites.

We found a lovely picnic spot under the trees to shade us from the sun and give us some reprieve from the heat. We had our first braai in the States. South African men know how to braai. Ribs, steak, chicken sosaties (kale salad for my healthy friend), wine for the girls and beer for the boys – what a treat (the kale salad and chosen garlic bread) was enjoyed by all.

One small issue with our camp site, it was close to the road, which meant entertainment. Every oke with a turbo suoped up car used the park as a race track. I thought I was back in Brakpan.

After lunch we went for a short walk through the forest area to a wooden look out point, a +/- 20m high tree house structure, with a spectacular view of the surrounding forest.

Back home and it was pack up time for our Cuba trip.

Another kak day in the US!!!

Key West is an island city, part of the Florida Keys archipelago. It is also America’s southern most point. Last year this time we visited Africa’s southernmost tip. It is a beautiful place with pastel-hued, conch-style houses and amazing big, old trees.

We spent the morning exploring this interesting and beautiful place, it definitely has a coastal holiday vibe and feel, the people are all so chilled.

We went on a tour of Ernest Hemingway’s house and gardens. It was fascinating hearing about the life story of this of this author, whose book ‘The old man and the sea’ we studied at school. This book was probably written in the study we visited. The house is also famous for the polydactyl (six clawed) cats that still wander around the property.

We had lunch at Bo’s, a really quirky eating shack made up of cool bits and pieces with chickens running around. I decided on the calamari rather than the chicken. It was delicious.

From there we headed to the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum. Mel was the treasure hunter who found the Atocha, a sunken Spanish vessel full of valuable treasure. It was a really fascinating visit.

After ice creams we headed down to the beach to one of the open aired, rustic harbor pubs. We listened to some old dudes playing country & western – I hope they have day jobs. We played a round of pool (the Diesel’s won) before boarding the ‘Moonshine’, an old naval vessel for a sunset cruise.

We set off at 6:30 and returned just before 9. We witnessed the most spectacular sunset, I thought we had amazing sunsets in Africa but this was brilliant. We sailed around a US Navy Seal Base and to the southern most tip – ‘0 Mile’. There were lots of boats out and people on the shore enjoying the sun go down.

Thanks Wayne and Jean for for this unforgettable experience and bringing us to this wonderful part of the world.

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Today we embarked on a four hour car trip down the US1 from Miami to Key West. It was a beautiful drive, starting with views of the Everglades moving along the straight concrete highway over the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, interspersed with mangrove swamps. The long bridges over the water are a feat of engineering excellence.

We passed through a number of keys; Key Largo, India Key, Duck Key, Marathon, Sugarloaf and so on… some big, some small, some smart, some trailer park but all with their own coastal character.

At Key West we booked into our hotel, the Havana Cabana, it has been revamped after being damaged in the latest hurricane. It has a quirky Cuban flavor with a beautiful swimming pool. We started our stay with pina coladas, mojitas and beers around the pool and then a nice swim.

In the evening we headed into town and walked along the waterfront which was busy, vibey and not without entertainment. We watched a super strange Mr Cat Man (definitely a few smarties short) do a show with his cats. Then we had drinks watching a another spectacular sun set before going to dinner at a wonderful little restaurant.

The day started with an hour of water aerobics. I think Jean and I did more talking than exercise. Even the pool water is hot at this time of the year but is was great.

We took a drive towards south Miami. Our first stop was the Wynwood area where we visited Wynwood Walls. Wynwood

It was pretty much an abandoned industrial neighborhood with a high crime rate. It has now been transformed into an art haven for street artists, who use the exterior walls as giant canvases. The area is full of people from all over the world, exploring the art galleries, restaurants and quirky shops, like ‘Cars & Guitars. We spent a delightful couple of hours there before heading to South Beach.

South Beach is an experience. The Beach itself is beautiful with pristine white sand and blue sea. Ocean Drive is a glamorous scene with a big party vibe, fast fancy cars and lots of plastic from the boobs to the credit cards. The people are fascinating, definitely a haven for plastic surgeons and jewelers. The strip is full of shops, restaurants and bars.

We had dinner at Joe’s Stone Crab, obviously we had the crab. I can see why this restaurant has been serving hundreds of customers every night for 104 years. The food was amazing. Best and biggest crab claws I have ever tasted.

The sunset on the way home was one giant orange ball, another beautiful day with Gray and wonderful friends.

This morning was spent at Fort Lauderdale Beach. Perfect beach weather, hot and sunny. The area is beautiful, it reminds me of Umhlanga Rocks. Jean, Gray and I spent a good two hours bobbing in the warm Atlantic Ocean. It’s not a surfing beach, there are no waves here.

It’s so hot here, when Gray got out the air conditioned car his glasses misted up.

From the beach we headed off to the Apple Shop to buy my new iPad and home for lunch. I’m so excited to have a working device at last.

In the late afternoon we headed off to M*** Fish Camp, not even the GPS could find this place. Eventually we found the rocky road and then had to trek deeper along waterways and long grass to the airboat, gator watching, fishing and camping camp. We didn’t have to wonder for long about where the hell we were, we were warmly welcomed and soon settled on the airboat. The air boat, a contraption with seats, no sides and a giant propeller/fan on the back. We shot across the river over the road and headed deep into the Everglades. Our pilot was Old Grandpa Marshall, we were pretty sure he had married his sister and his folks must have been first cousins but he was salt of the earth and seemed really knowledgeable about the area. He took us to the ‘rarest flowers’in the world, the male and female spider lilly. After showing us one he promptly reversed over it. We googled it and discovered that you can buy them at the local nursery. I asked him about bird that had flown past and he informed me it was a brown one, just like the black ones back at camp. Wonder how much of what he told us was real.

The Everglades is a natural region of tropical wetlands in the southern portion of Florida. It has some really interesting biomes, made up largely of marshy area of saw grass and reeds. The Seminole Tribe of the area, unfortunately no longer exist, but aptly gave the large body of water the name ‘River of Grass’. We entered mangrove and cypress swamps to access one of the many islands in the Everglades.

The Everglades are also full of lilly pads, unfortunately as the sun was setting the lillies were closed.

From there we headed through the some of the hundreds of sawgrass tributaries to a small river clearing, trusting grandpapa Marshal knew the way. Here we stopped to fish and watch the spectacular sunset, with its pink and purple hues. Gray caught reeds and lilly pads, Wayne caught an alligator, which Grandpa Marshal chastised, by hitting her on the head with his hat, for taking the fish bait, I took pics (my fishing skills left much to be desired) and Jean won fisherman of the day (for her amazing technical skills) but unfortunately we had no fish for dinner.

We returned to Hill Billy fish camp after the sun had set with Gray and Wayne having taken turns at the helm. Between them and Marshal I’m surprised we made it back at all.

What an amazing experience, it’s a day we will talk about for years to come.

It was an early wake up call, 5:30am. Robert, our Mr Uber, his second day on the job, like most native New Orleans was full of tales of Hurricane Katrina. Twelve years on and the impact of this terrible natural disaster is still fresh to those who live here.

For some obscure reason we had been tsa approved (a security clearance for US citizens who travel frequently), this meant we bypassed the security queues and so had a two hour lounge wait for our 9:15 flight to Miami.

It was a pleasant two hour flight but the best part was being fetched by my BFF at the the airport. Jean and I have been friends since we were 6 years old, we sat next to each other in Mrs Brett’s class in Grade 1. From the airport she took us to the Miami Dolphins Training Centre. The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team and her husband, Wayne, runs the sports science department. He took us on a tour of this amazing facility with indoor and outdoor fields, gyms, conference rooms, an ice chamber, power nap pods, a salt water flotation pod and so so much more. It was mind blowing and we were so fortunate to have been afforded this experience.

We settled down in their beautiful home, had a bite to eat and got some washing done. It is so nice to be in a home environment after living out of suitcases and hotels.

In the late afternoon we went for a boat cruise along Fort Lauderdale’s riverfront and marina. Wow, this is the home to the rich and famous. On both sides of the waterways are big and beautiful mansions with huge ocean going yachts. I got a chance to skipper the boat, it was great fun and bonus – I didn’t crash into anything.

After the cruise we went to Pelican Landing restaurant for a sunset dinner. The restaurant is situated in the harbor amongst these amazing boats and yachts and is in the perfect spot for the most spectacular sunsets, which we were fortunate to see. Our fish taco’s, pelican burgers and Chardonnay were pretty great as well.

Everything is air conditioned, the hotels, shops, restaurants and cars. As you walk into the street, this wave of heat hits you. It was around 30 degrees today but with the heavy cloud cover the humidity was hectic and the real feel was 35.

We walked down the the harbour and were pretty sweaty when we arrived. We bought tickets for the steam boat and explored the area. We boarded the Natchez at 11:00 and as the old steamer headed down the Mississippi, towards the Gulf of Mexico, the heavens opened. The rain continued throughout our two hour trip. The banks of the Mississippi around New Orleans are mainly industrial with us passing sugar and oil refineries. It is amazing how big this river really is (third largest in the world) and we passed many big ships and passenger liners. On the way back we had a jazz band entertaining us.

As we docked the rain stopped and we ambled back through the French Quarter, stopping in at some of the quaint shops.

For dinner we went to Mr B’s Bistro, definitely more upmarket than Desire with Doleres. Gray had shrimp and grits and I, being less adventurous had the salmon. We have loved the cuisine here.

New Orleans, a Louisiana city on the Mississippi River, is a melting pot of French, African and American cultures. We experienced the city today tourist style, on the Hop On – Hop Off Bus.

It is a city of old and new with an interesting history. They have the Garden District with beautiful old plantation type mansions. They have the business district with typical office buildings. There are no tall high rises here as it’s about 75m to bed rock before they start putting in foundations. Then there is the French Quarter.

We hopped off at the French Market with its numerous colourful stalls and ambled around the French Quarter. We crossed over the tram lines and walked along the Mississippi. New Orleans is certainly different to the US cities that we have visited up north. It is not as big, or as clean and has lots of beggars and hobos (reminds me of home).

To celebrate Fathers Day we went to a wonderful fish restaurant, GW Fins. I had the scallibut (grilled scallops and halibut), and Gray had the seared tuna, it was amazing.

city today tourist style, on the Hop On – Hop Off Bus.

It is a city of old and new with an interesting history. They have the Garden District with beautiful old plantation type mansions. They have the business district with typical office buildings. There are no tall high rises here as it’s about 75m to bed rock before they start putting in foundations. Then there is the French Quarter.

We hopped off at the French Market with its numerous colourful stalls and ambled around the French Quarter. We crossed over the tram lines and walked along the Mississippi. New Orleans is certainly different to the US cities that we have visited up north. It is not as big, or as clean and has lots of beggars and hobos (reminds me of home).

To celebrate Fathers Day we went to a wonderful fish restaurant, GW Fins. I had the scallibut (grilled scallops and halibut), and Gray had the seared tuna, it was amazing.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton