Okefenokee Swamp

On that first trip, we discovered that there were other entrances to the swamp, run by the State Parks Authority. These are much less publicised, less commercialised, and less expensive. The Eastern entrance at the Suwannee Canal, has a three-quarter mile boardwalk through the swamp, ending with an observation tower with panoramic views of the swamp. From the tower, we were extremely lucky to have seen a black bear, apparently a very rare sight, and the only time during any our three visits that we saw one. The bear was some way off, and even with Beattie's 210 mm lens, it is difficult to make out, I guess you will all have to take our word for it!

Our second visit to the Swamp, was over the Thanksgiving weekend, while my parents were visiting. My mother showed no fear of the Aligators; she nearly trod on one unsuspecting juvenile gator, and was warned off with a hiss by an impressive six footer! On that occasion, we took a motor-boat out to get deeper into the swamp. Motor boats are restricted to 10hp, and have access only to certain areas, where the water is sufficiently deep, but given the limited time available it was the best way to experience the swamp interior. As the sun was falling low over the swamp, I took the photograph below, which really captures the beauty and essence of the Okenenokee, the Spanish moss hanging from the cypress trees, the lilly pads, and the dark mirror like water.

The Okefenokee swamp, covers a 600 square mile area of south Georgia near the border with the pan handle part of Florida. The majority of the swamp is designated a National Wildlife Refuge. On our first trip, we knew very little about the swamp, and headed for the Okefenokee Swamp Park, a commercially run visitor and education centre, whose primary purpose I suspect is to gather up all the tourists and satisfy their curiosity in a controlled manner to prevent too much disturbance of the swamp interior. The park did however allow you to hire various water craft for the day, and strike out into the swamp alone. Assuming that they would only allow this if it were entirely safe, we were surprised to encounter a full grown adult alligator, (at least 12 foot we guessed, without getting out a tape!). As you can see from the photograph, we got pretty close.

We took our third and final trip to the Okefenokee in Jaunary. A three day canoe trip, camping out in the swamp itself. Accompanying us on the trip were Larry, a colleague from work, his daughter Candace, and their friend Rick. Our route was a little over 30 miles, we generally paddled for about 6 hours each day. The wind sometimes made the going difficult, but the real test came on the second day, when we were caught in open swamp in a thunderstorm, which started early afternoon, and continued until past midnight. Our open canoes quickly started to fill, and when our cooler began to float, I knew it was time to start bailing!