Miami, Florida

I was super excited for Miami and it was even better than I had imagined. I stayed at a hostel in South Beach and the hostels each night put on free drinks and take you out to the bars. There was an Australian girl, Chrissy, staying in my room who had already been there for a few days so introduced me to some of the other people at the hostel. We all went out with the hostel that night and a group of 12 of us became pretty close and ended up hanging out for the next few days. The weather was amazing and it was so nice to go to the beach and swim in the sea again! 

A couple of people in the group planned on going to the Everglades where there is a national park and you can do tours to see alligators, crocodiles, snakes etc. They had also heard about a hostel in the Everglades so they planned to stay for the night. They asked me if I wanted to go but I was hesitant because I had already paid for two more nights at the hostel in South Beach which I couldn’t refund. In the end I decided it was too good of an opportunity to pass up and lots of us decided it was a good idea so a group of 10 of us ended up going together. Five Australians, two Swedish, one Dutch, one English and one American. The hostel was amazing – there were nets and hammocks in the trees, a pond with a waterfall that you could swim in and lounges outside. We went on an Everglades tour run by the hostel which included a walk to see alligators, kayaking through the mangroves (where luckily we didn’t see any alligators and snakes) and then a walk through the bush to see more alligators and snakes. I think the tour guide was getting really annoyed at us because we had all become very close and rowdy. Some of the group decided to stay at the hostel for one more night but some of us had to head back to South Beach. A lot of us had only known each other for a couple of days but it was really sad to say goodbye to everyone. Luckily I have been able to catch up with a few people since Miami. 

Being in Miami felt more like what I imagine Central and South America to be like. It is a little bit expensive but I definitely recommend going to Miami one day. There are loads of awesome photos so check out my Facebook!

 Miami Hostel in South Beach

 South Beach

 Hostel in the Everglades

 Hostel in the Everglades

 Everglades National Park

Kayaking through the mangroves