The Swamp Park Tour

 

There are four entrances for the public to gain access to the Okefenokee Swamp including the Suwannee Sill Recreation Area in Fargo, Stephen C. Foster State Park in Fargo, Kingfisher Landing in Race Pond, and Suwannee Canal Recreation Area in Folkston, the roadway across from the campground. The Swamp Park in Waycross is a privately owned, non-profit park.

The Okefenokee Swamp Park located at the northern tip of the Swamp. I booked the 3-hour Swamp Experience: Train (11:00 am) - "Eye on Nature" talk (12:00 pm) and Boat tour (1:00 pm)

The Grounds  

Buildings spread out, grounds clean and well maintained.

Walkway over to train and boat launch.

Boat launch area

On the boardwalk around a small pond I searched for animals and found nothing...
until I looked straight down. 

This is one of four or five resident (captive) "animal ambassadors" in the park.

The Train Tour

The only railroad system allowed to operate within the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge opened at the park in 1999, taking visitors on a 1.5-mile journey through the swamp.

Lady Suwannee must be the summertime attraction. The winter version below worked just as well. 

Right on schedule, the train pulled into the "station" for the 11 a.m. tour. This "engine" operated by Ann is not the one you see on the brochure/website. She's been doing it for about a year and a half. She mentioned she was "filling in" for the regular driver. Her passengers were a crowd of three. I was joined by Paul and Vicky visiting from Wisconsin. He was 42 years a high school biology teacher and looked too young for those numbers...unless he'd just retired. (Reality slap: I taught 37 but retired for 22 so that must be the difference)

I asked her if the person she's filling in for was a tall fella, bald with glasses? She said yes, that's Jim.

I responded by telling her I met him two days before on my boat ride in the Wildlife Refuge back in Folkston. We got talking and when I mentioned I was going to visit the Swamp Park he said he and his wife work there as camp workers and that he usually operates the train. His mother-in-law was visiting, so he took the time off. What are the chances?

Speaking of "What are the Chances," if you haven't already checked it out, the link, "What Are The Chances" on the right panel of this blog has my six-year collection of such coincidences, if you care to view them. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Some sights explained along our route. Wagon wheels from carts hauling cypress out of the Swamp

For almost 25 years beginning in 1910 the Okefenokee Swamp was logged for its very old cypress, red bay, and pine trees. President Franklin D. Roosevelt put a stop to it in 1937 when he protected the area from logging. Imagine the number of trees felled when it's been estimated that they totaled over 400 million board feet. 

Moonshine stills for white lightning, corn liquor and perhaps over 600 synonymous terms were another source of income for many in Swamp. This one spotted on the train ride. Another will be seen while on the boat ride. 

I know many of my readers are history lovers and have enjoyed my visits to settlements and villages left intact or re-created for tourists. For you I refer the Secret History of the Okefenokee by Richard Thorton, City Planner and Architect. It's extensive, detailed and good reading for the history buff.

I asked each of the tour guides in both locations about any legends or myths that are associated with the Swamp. I've camped in the Everglades to hear of the Skunk Ape and know about Sasquatch/Big Foot and Yeti. None were mentioned or known in either location.

A Seminole Chickee

A Timucuan Hut

Researching any of the indigenous Native Americans in the country, including the Timucuan, Creeks and Seminole, you once again read about the dark days of American history not found in our history books where those people were forced to move on from their ancestral homelands, killed or enslaved at the hands of government forces. What remains are their artifacts, oral history and way of life many of us would have appreciated, espoused and emulated.

A healthy stand of the Pitcher Plant to be seen again on the boat ride.

The story is the same. The tourist looks on in wonder and amazement. The imagination fills in the story of what it must have been like to create from scratch structures and utensils that, in concert with the environment, yielded an existence for survival. The Swamp (or our northern wilderness) provided everything from food to shelter.

A replica of the Wildes Cabin on Pioneer Island is now a memorial to Maximillian Wildes and those who died with him at the hands of Seminole warriors in the 1838 Wildes Massacre. The structure was dedicated in 1988, marking the 150th anniversary of the last Indian massacre in the state of Georgia.

In the nearby pen were two of the largest hogs I've ever seen. As this one slept peacefully with an occasional snort, all I could think of was bacon; lots and lots of bacon. "But seriously, folks..." As you know, there are very few parts of this creature that aren't prepared one way or another and part of the human diet. Even the hair is used in paint brushes. Read about it HERE. Pretty amazing.  While this one slept...

....this one kept busy foraging in dirt with a calloused snout larger than my fist. It wouldn't even look up for me to capture its pretty face.

A long time since I've seen a "one-holer"

The Nature Talk

At noon, after the train ride, Paul, Vicky and I walked over to the Nature Center and were greeted by Jen who said she had the best job in the world: seeing to the care and well being of the captive Animal Ambassadors of the Park. 

Here she points out the missing tail piece this two-year old resident lost after a not-so-nice encounter with one of its siblings. They heal quickly.

Once taken out of its plastic container, it squirmed wildly until she tucked the tail under her arm and got it nestled on her forearm. The warmth of her arm quieted it right down for the duration of her talk. 

Touching and feeling all her specimens was part of her presentation. Vicky was okay with them all (turtles, the little gator and the kingsnake).

We were reminded that, as "cute" as this youngster was, avoiding its razor sharp teeth was a must. As I touched I realized the value of its skin and why it is popular in making shoes and handbags.

The kingsnake. It is non venomous and valuable for eliminating pests in the environment. They eat other snakes, including venomous snakes. They have developed a hunting technique to avoid being bitten by clamping down on the jaws of the venomous prey, but even if bitten, they are immune to the venom. They also eat amphibians, turtle eggs, lizards, and small mammals, which they kill by constriction.

I did not get photos of two other resident species she spoke about so I'm borrowing their look-alikes from the web: a box turtle and a gopher tortoise. Though quite similar in appearance there are many differences between the two. Note the claws and muscular arms of the gopher tortoise. They burrow tunnels up to 30' in length. Follow the links if interested. (ha ha) 

Eastern Box Turtle

 Gopher Tortoise

 

The Boat Tour 

There are 120 miles of water trails in the Okefenokee Swamp that can be enjoyed by boaters and paddlers. The size of our Carolina Skiff kept us on the main channel during the 1.5 mile journey.

Tour guide today was Alan. Bright, energetic, totally into his job, the Swamp and sharing facts and stories all along the way. Most of the seventeen folks on this tour were from the Georgia area including a home-schooled group on a field trip. I was the only Yankee but assured them I wasn't a damn Yankee. (Comment below if you know the difference.) Got a laugh when the fella in front of me turned and said, "Well, bless your heart." (Comment below if you know the real meaning [to a southerner] of that southern phrase.)

Another moonshine still seen along the narrow waterway that easily accommodated our flat boat. During the Civil War, the United States government formed the Internal Revenue Service to collect taxes on “luxuries,” including alcohol and tobacco. Many moonshiners refused to pay the tax and continued operating their stills. In the 1870s, federal agencies started going after the moonshiners in North Georgia, and in 1920 Prohibition was enacted, which meant consuming alcohol was illegal.

The infamous cat-and-mouse moonshiner versus revenuer car chases through the North Georgia mountains reached is peak in the 1930s and ’40s, giving birth to a new type of industry, stock car racing, which would lead to the formation of NASCAR. Alan shared the fact the these moonshiners were ingenious in trying to avoid the 'revenuers' by building their stills on rafts. This way, they were never in the same spot for very long. Want to make your own moonshine at home? Here's a 40 second video on how to do it in 3 easy steps.

Once again, the Pitcher Plant

This mound is an alligator nest. Alan gave her a name and she's one of three females that "belong" to the apex alpha male, Obadiah who you'll meet soon. The American alligator lives about 50-60 years and are about 10-12 years old before reproducing. Females lay up to 20-60 eggs, 10% of which survive. Courtship begins in May, breeding and egg laying in June-July. 65 days later babies indicate their readiness to hatch by emitting high pitched squeaks from within their shell. Once hatched, sometimes with the help of mother, she will carry them to the water and will care for and protect them for up to two years. Here's video clip of an alligator's method of warning others.

The reflective properties of the undisturbed black water fascinated me.

At one point we docked and hiked into the Swamp to Skull Lake.

This 90' steel tower replaced the wooden 75' wooden tower in 1965.

Many animal skulls nailed to surrounding trees.
We were once alive
Like you are now.
But we complained
And hollered any how.
So love each day.
Don't pass it by
Sooner or later
You too will die!

Alan described in great detail witnessing Obediah maintaining his alpha status with other male competitors for the territory and the females within. "Not a pretty site." These confrontations will begin in March. By the time they emerge from their winter dormancy, they'll be hungry and aggressive. A fascinating story teller.

On our way back there was Obadiah basking in the warm sun. 

Huge. How long? How does one measure the length?

You ESTIMATE, key word, ESTIMATE the distance in inches from the bridge of the snout just ahead of the eyes to its tip. This is about the length in feet. Obadiah is about 13' long.

As I drove out of the park, my last glimpse of a great creature left me with renewed respect and admiration for an animal that's been around for 6 million years and lived among the dinosaurs.

If you've made it this far, I'll agree with you that I sorta got carried away with the Okefenokee Swamp, one of the seven wonders of Georgia.. Once you start digging for information, the tangents are endless, fascinating and worthy of sharing. That along with a love for writing, plenty of time on my hands and the eagerness to share make for long blog posts...some may find it worthwhile as well.

Until we meet again in Daytona, stay happy, healthy and safe.