Indians, alligators and 'Hidden Florida' at last

Naples, Sunday 1 March

After an hour trying to sleep with the thumping music downstairs and across the street, I creep along the corridor in my shorts and t shirt to a quieter room, where I am in the land of nod almost as soon as my head has hit the pillow.
Almost as soon as I have said 'white rabbits', I am on my way for the 100 mile drive to the Billie Swamp Safari at the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation.
For the first time in over two weeks, I actually enjoy the drive. The I75 across 'Alligator Alley' to Fort Lauderdale has a very nice surface, there's not one of the hideous billboards that have plagued me for a fortnight. The road runs through some absolutely delightful and unspoiled natural countryside. There's a toll of $2.50, but it's a small price to pay for such an excellent road.
There's a BBC World Service documentary on my Sirius satellite radio about child preachers, featuring an 11 year old in Miami, who has been ordained since he was 6. My former BBC colleague, Christopher Morris, seems quite bemused by it all. It could only happen here.
The 30 minute drive north to the reservation itself is a sheer delight. It's a single lane road which twists and turns through totally unspoiled countryside. As it's still before 9am, there's not another soul in sight, apart from an occasional fisherman.
I am booked onto an airboat tour, which is incredible. Effectively, a huge aeroplane propeller thrusts these lightweight boats at breakneck speed through the Everglades. Our pilot is the very experienced Glenn Wilsey, who has featured on TV actually swimming with alligators. As we stop to see the creatures close up, he tells us not to do the same and teaches us, in his words, 'more of the real story in 5 minutes than we can learn in a lifetime'.
Another boat stops to feed some pigs, one of which is immediately, in a flash, attacked by a 'gator and has to be beaten off. Amazing.
Apparently they are very good eating and low in cholesterol. The 'gators, not the pigs!
Cathy is my driver for a fascinating drive in a 'swamp buggy', through the mangroves. it's dry season, so the water level is down by 3 or 4 feet, but we seen more wildlife in an hour than I have seen in several years. From ostrich, bison, buffalo and raccoons to vultures, Scottish red deer and much more. Last night Cathy even saw a panther. There's a Seminole village of Chickees, their word for homes. By building their homes on stilts, the local adapted to their surroundings much better than the white man, which is one reason the Seminole tribe was able to survive. Chickees are designed to let the smoke of a campfire out of the sides, rather than the top, which has the effect of disseminating the smoke and smell and thus not giving away the location.
Cathy is great fun, and responds with gusto to a load of cub scouts from Pack 183, among some 1500 who have been camping on the reservation this weekend.
There are a lot of fallen trees, victims of Hurricane Wilma which passed right through here in the Autumn of 2005.
One guest asks what 'the large pestle and mortar is used for'. Cathy asks what he means. 'The stick in the hole', says the man. It's for grinding corn.
Soon after, I watch a local man 'wrestling' with an alligator. It's really a way of bringing them under control, but quite scary even to watch. He's apparently been doing this since he was 7!
For this special weekend, there are battle re-enactments between the Americans and the Seminoles. I am particularly impressed with the colourful costumes of the Indians and watch as the rituals of preparing for war are completed.
Thereafter, amid much bangs of guns and whooping, the battle itself takes place. Most impressive, leading to a victory for the Seminoles who, historically, were never defeated. Now I wonder how many American children know that?
Back at my hotel, the Naples Patriotic Society have a late afternoon session with some nice jazz music underneath my window. They end with the Star Spangled Banner. It's the first time in over two weeks I have seen the ever-present baseball caps being removed.

PLANNING AND PACKING

Three more sleeps before departure, so my bags are almost packed, or at least I have decided what needs to be in them. I am always prone to taking far too much of everything, so I have been pretty ruthless about reducing the load. But the travel kettle HAS to be included and it’s amazing just how much paraphernalia needs to be taken just to ensure that I have the wherewithal to have a decent cup of tea on my travels.

Some years ago, I took the lead from a much-travelled friend who has what he calls his ‘running away bag’. There are huge advantages to be able to just pick that up, knowing that everything a man could possible require en-route has been pre-sorted.

At least, that’s the theory.

For a start, I’ll be travelling on three different airlines within a 48 hour period, all of whom have different regulations about what is permitted in their cabin. To avoid any doubt, and also the potential that my checked in luggage won’t arrive at the same time and place as me, I will carry on board all essentials for at least 3 days. But one airline will allow that case to be 10KG, one 23KG and one seems to tell me that, ‘as long as I can lift it without assistance’, then that’s fine.

Well I can, but only just.

I’ve just turned down a lunch appointment, despite the fact that it’s gloriously sunny outside and I really do need a break from the fairly intense planning I have now being doing over the past three weeks.

But various computer systems are not allowing me to do what should take me moments and I feel the stress levels mounting. Oh how I long for those days when you simply turned up and took off!

On my last trip to the States, I had such a grilling from the man at the immigration desk that I vowed never to return. I felt especially aggrieved that I was there as a Naval Reserve Officer, had a multiple entry Visa and was being treated like the dirt on the smarmy shoes he no doubt was wearing.

Now, you have to fill up a special form online before you travel, which allows you to fly but not necessarily to get in. The link from British Airways to the Department of Homeland Security seems to have been broken for the past 48 hours and even BA can’t update the fact I’m not now staying at the hotel I originally entered into the system. Clearly I am an alien and, Santa Claus having brought me the entire series of the X Files, I am almost beginning to believe.

I have not so far been hugely impressed with BA, especially their new rules regarding seat allocation. While I can pre-book my seat at the time of reservation on almost any other airline anywhere in the world, unless I have a BA Platinum or Gold card, I can’t now choose my seat until 24 hours before the flight. Before you ask, I’m flying in the Club World cabin. But I expect that, in an attempt to win friends, the same rules now apply to First Class, as well.

I was planning to ask a friend to book my seat, as I’ll be in mid-air en route to London when online seat allocation opens, but the lady in the call centre was unable to access the Business Class cabin plan when I called, so I will probably end up near the toilet or the galley.

I’m highly unamused, but it’s best not to complain too much as the company is largely funding the trip.

.

I have been surrounded by guide books and maps for about a fortnight. I am not a slave to what they say but, as a contributor to several, I do like to compare notes. Unusually, I am without my Rough Guide as the Spanish distributor has run out and I won’t actually take delivery of my copy until I arrive in London.

But Lonely Planet and the Insight Guide and map have been very useful indeed in putting everything into context. Mind you, the very glossy Insight Guide alone weighs nearly a kilogram and its’ bulk may mean it becomes a casualty of the swingeing cuts I am making to my luggage.

The guides bring me up with a bit of a jolt. I had no real idea that Florida was quite so big and diverse. Early on, I’ll almost be within touching distance of New Orleans, for heavens’ sake! I’ve visited the Sunshine State several times, but not criss-crossed it as I will be doing over the next month.

One book I will be leaving at home is the excellent Bradt guide to USA by rail. I SO wanted to get about by Amtrak. But, despite a flurry of emails to both Amtrak and their main sales agent, I have had no joy in adding any rail to my itinerary.

Most disappointing.

Meeting the brief and understanding the media

I am in the fortunate position of receiving more invitations to travel than I know what to do with. The trouble is, of course, that when you are young and have the energy to stay on the go for virtually 24/7, you don't have the opportunities that come with experience and reputation. Now I am 55, I like to pace my travels so that there is a bit of recovery time in between.
When you are on an actual trip, especially one that is being laid on by a PR company or a tourism department, they very rarely take note of that, trying to make sure you see as much of their product as you can in the time available.
I have made it clear on more occasions than I care to mention that, when you have an editorial brief to provide a certain number of words, photographs or minutes of air-time, giving you too much information can be totally counter-productive. Just as I teach in my media training courses, losing focus of the main issues means that, all too often, the main messages are buried in the forest. Hence PR's and directors of tourism can be disappointed by what finally appears. I must fly the flag of the journalist. 99% of the time, getting things wrong is not their fault!
The intention of 'Hidden Florida' is to encourage the vast numbers of folk who are not remotely interested in family holidays and theme parks to discover a part of the USA that has a history, culture and climate that is well worth discovering.
As somebody who has spent over thirty years of his life working in the media full time, with fifteen more 'dabbling' in the subject, I probably understand the beast more than most. So I'll be very interested to see both how well Visit Florida manages to stick to the requested topics and just how often, through 'chinese whispers' and otherwise, I am sent to experience things which are not remotely of interest.
I am always particular to ensure that I communicate the requirements in advance. However, many PR people seem to have their 'standard tour' that they dish out to visitors and, often, you have to really stamp your feet to get them away from that. All too often, the regular tour does not remotely fit in with what the journalist actually wants. If only people trying to promote products and services to the media remembered that the key of a successful campaign is to: Think audience.
Endless facts and figures, statistics, the minutiae of historical trivia all have their part to play - if the information is valid to a brief. But if you have 1 minute of air time, 500 words, or six photographs to capture the essence of a destination, how often is all of that absolutely necessary? I would contend, almost never! Quite different if, perhaps, you are writing a book.....
Sometimes, of course, the communication breakdown between the journalist's requirements and the delivered goods, can be blamed on language difficulties.
In trying to discover 'Hidden Florida', there can be no such excuse.