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The Okefenokee swamp ("Land of the trembling earth" in native american) is located at the border of Florida. 43800 acres of peat-filled wetland which are protected under the title of National Wildlife Refuge. I haven't seen many swamps, especially large ones, so I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to see one; especially since it's far better to see it during winter. During summer it's simple, you get eaten alive by mosquitoes. Even with the cool temperatures, I still went home with a "Florida State Bird" bite, so I don't even want to think about it when it's hot.
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We rented a canoe at the welcome center of the Steven Foster State Park. There are several entrances to the swamp, we picked the western one. For about twenty dollars we got 4 hours on the water, paddles and life jacket.
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There is a little approach chanel allowing to practice the paddle.
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After that, we found ourselves on Billy's Lake. A quiet and dark (because of the tanins) spread of water .
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The lake and the swamp in general are borded with beautiful cyprus.
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We came across all sorts of interesting animals. We saw many egrets but they are difficult to capture on camera, herons, a type of local stork, and...
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Well, the typical thing of the Southern swamp: a gator. It's the biggest we saw that day. My man would have had me believe that it was a youth. Yeah right, I don't think so. The thing is, we also got pretty close with our canoe, and I was upfront. Hubby kept on saying we were safe in our big canoe but I wasn't feeling all that brave. I was told that when there is good weather you can see many more. As for me, the three we saw were enough, not so sure how I would have felt surrounded by them. And yes, I know they were there, we just couldn't see them in the water.
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To compare with it, here is a youngling, far smaller and far more to my liking!
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We took our lunch break at Billy's Island were one can see the remains of the logging at the beginning of the century as well as a small cemetary. 600 people lived on the island at its height.
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In 2007, a huge wildfire started in the area burning 600 000 acres. Traces of it are still visible. It's hard to imagine a tree burning while its roots are in the water, and yet...
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After returning the canoe, we went on a stroll on the small trail at the entrance of the park where we encountered some less than fearful deers.
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There are numerous chanels on the swamp which made us want to do a multiday trip. I think it could be fun to do in the spring, before the summer heat but during the flower blooms.