On Friday morning we started our day at the Manatee Lagoon in West Palm Beach. While we were walking along the dock, we saw two adult and one baby manatee as well as many barracudas and other fish. Our second stop was also in West Palm Beach - McCarthy's Wildlife Sanctuary. We had a two hour long guided tour during which we learned about the various animals they have rescued or are in the process of rehabilitating for release back into the wild. They have big cats (jaguar, tiger, liger, lions, lynx, cheetah, and more), primates, birds, reptiles, etc. Oliver liked that their squirrel monkey is named Oliver. We were allowed to pet one of the tortoises and hold a kinkajou, python, tarantula, boa constrictor, and a young alligator. Our third stop was Lion Country Safari. We drove through the safari, rode in pedalboats, played miniature golf, and fed some lorikeets. Extending our trip to West Palm Beach definitely added some driving time to our vacation, but the kids had a blast. We had dinner at Golden Corral and then drove back to Homestead to stay at the same Holiday Inn that we stayed in on Tuesday evening.
On Saturday morning we drove thirty minutes to the John Pennekamp State Park on Key Largo. We spent time at the beach before it was time for us to board a glass bottom boat. The waves were very choppy. We saw two sea turtles and some dolphins off the side of the boat, and we saw a variety of fish, one sea turtle, and one shark through one the windows at the bottom of the boat. After we got back, we spent more time at the beach. Nadia snorkeled most of the time. Around 4:00 we checked in at a beach resort. After putting out suitcases in our room, we made use of the complimentary kayaks and stand-up boards. After getting some pizza for dinner, the kids enjoyed the hammocks, playing some cornhole, and seeing a manatee along the dock.
The weather has been beautiful the past four days - highs in the high 70's and lows in the 60's. It hasn't rained. The rental car company gave us an older vehicle, but we are thankful that we have a minivan (Dodge Caravan) as we definitely prefer a minivan to an SUV, which is what we had when we rented a vehicle in Seattle in August. This van is so old it has a CD player and doesn't have Bluetooth capabilities. Ian is usually the one asking to listen to a story when we're in a vehicle, but Nadia also really likes the book we are listening to on this trip (Keeper of the Lost Cities) so we've been listening to it even though we don't have Bluetooth. This part of Florida reminds me of Canada where everything is in two languages as everything is in English and Spanish down here. On more than one occasion we've been in a business and the employee only spoke Spanish. In terms of fellow tourists, we have heard a LOT of French being spoken. Speaking of Spanish, yesterday I hit my 1,000th day streak on Duolingo yesterday! We shall see how much Spanish I understand while we're in Ecuador.
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