Cape Coral etcetera

On the following day, we drove across Florida to the Gulf Coast to Cape Coral, where our friends, the Niedermänner, Hugis, and Grebs, had already taken possession of our home for the upcoming days. The modest estate has four bedrooms - all with their own bathroom - a living/dining room the size of a small gymnasium, a billiard room, a double garage for three cars, and of course, a swimming pool, which, as is customary in Florida, is enclosed in a kind of screened-in tent. This prevents the entry of all kinds of pests as well as communal bathing with alligators or other reptiles. Unfortunately, these "papilioramas" are definitely not mosquito-proof, but more on that later. Not to be forgotten is our own boat dock on the canal.

We took it pretty easy in the coming days. Of course, bikes were also a must in this vacation, and we took a trip to Pine Island. However, the options and sights on the island itself are rather limited, so the journey was mainly the goal. A raid on a nearby shopping outlet and a detour to Fort Myers were also part of the itinerary. After all, we had to enjoy the luxurious accommodation a bit more. On Sunday, we also rented a boat - we had to make proper use of the boat dock. With skipper Bär, we then took a great trip through the island world to Fort Myers Beach and were able to take a plunge in the Gulf of Mexico in the meantime. It was a very comfortable week.

Of course, there is also a downside: whether we owe this to the beautiful location directly across from the nature reserve with its mangrove forests or the papiliorama is poorly constructed, could not be conclusively proven. The fact is that I have about 100 mosquito bites myself, which feel more like sand flea bites (itching 10 times as much and healing at the earliest after two weeks). The fact that in all the CVSes, Walgreens, Publixes, and whatever they are called, with their endless shelves full of painkillers, skin and adult treatment products, proteins, and vitamins, there is not a single insect repellent that even comes close to doing justice to the damned local beasts (Aedes Bestialis Vulgaris), has not necessarily improved the situation. In addition, it must be mentioned in this context that all the bites were distributed exclusively to Sybille, Céline, and me, with me being by far the biggest sprinkles cake. Once again, solidarity seems to be a foreign word!

Yesterday, our group of Nachsächsilüüte mostly dissolved. The Niedermanns and Grebs will stay in Cape Coral until Wednesday, the Hugis have moved on to Orlando with its parks, and we drove to Fort Lauderdale last night, where we squeezed in an overnight stay before our flight today.

Here's a little treat about the innovative methods of squeezing some extra money out of Florida travelers. In both Miami and Lauderdale, in addition to the 15 different sales and government taxes, a "mandatory resort fee" is now also charged. For "only" $35, you get beach chairs and towels. There are also actually 2 bottles of water included. This is especially rewarding if, like us, you only stay for one night and have no time for the beach or if it rains heavily like yesterday. Apparently, there are no limits to commercial creativity.

Now we're on the plane to Colombia and looking forward to new horizons.

Are you too? Then we'll read each other again soon in this blog.

I'm also curious to find out who has received the most mosquito bites after I left Cape Coral.