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The Urban JungleGo beyond the Hummers and the nightclubs to see Miami’s real wild side.
While my friends and I breakfast on strong Cuban coffee and sweet pastelitos, dogs kick up sand, thrilled to be let loose before the tourists descend. South Beach at 5 a.m. is at its quietest, but it’s still very much alive. Magnificent frigate birds circle overhead as dolphins poke through the water. Beside me, two dewy-skinned surfers chat amiably about crumbly waves versus left-hander waves versus dumping waves. They’re used to rising early: South Beach, a drained mangrove swamp upholstered with Bahamian sand, might have great surf, but they still haven’t found a way to schedule the tides. Warmed by the north-running Gulf Stream current to an average temperature of 24°C, the subtropical city of Miami rests on a flat plain, cupped by Biscayne Bay to the east and the Everglades National Park to the west. While its love affair with urbanism is strong, natural beauty is an equal player in the Miami sense of self. Residents know that, in the end, Mother Nature makes the rules: Hurricanes big and small visit almost every autumn, and the unfettered excess of South Beach is equalled by the untamed world of the Everglades that lies just outside the city limits. |
