In Key Largo you can find several hotels with a pool (just use the restroom, put on your swimsuit under your clothes, walk past the reception area and say that you want a quick look around the hotel – then jump in).
The final stop is in Florida City, the first gasoline station after we leave Key Largo. The drive takes about 20 minutes from that Key Largo pool, much of it on a straight corridor of mangroves on both sides of the asphalt ribbon. Drive with your headlights on, just to remind the drivers in the opposite direction that you are coming! When you reach Florida City, turn left and follow the signs to the Everglades National Park. It will be closed by sunset, but our destination is called "Robert is Here" – that's what is painted on the roof of the vegetable stand next to the road. Grab a cup of pressed sugar cane juice or a "batido" (literally "the beaten drink") which is frozen yogurt shake with fruit. My favorite is papaya or banana and Robert has 20 other tropical fruits to try. Behind the store are lots of alligators, snakes and iguanas (in cages), so have a tour before we return to civilization (Miami is just 35 minutes away, with a delicious plate of black beans and rice waiting on Calle Ocho at Versailles or La Carreta restaurants on Calle Ocho, South West 8th Street).
I hope you will join me again on a tour of the Keys.
Ready to book your accommodation now? Visit our Hotels page (or our Hostels page).