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.
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.
There is a little approach chanel allowing to practice the paddle.
After that, we found ourselves on Billy's Lake. A quiet and dark (because of the tanins) spread of water .
The lake and the swamp in general are borded with beautiful cyprus.
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...
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.
To compare with it, here is a youngling, far smaller and far more to my liking!
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.
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...
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.
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.