Highlights:
- Kayaking through saltwater marshes and seeing shell mounds
- Kayaking down blackwater creeks and rivers
- Learning about the history and culture of a completely unique area that has five distinct ecosystems
- Visiting the charming southern city of Charleston SC
- Eating seafood and other Low Country cuisine
The Low Country of South Carolina is a land of sea and creeks, wilderness areas and parks, endangered species and plentiful wildlife. During our week we become intimately familiar with all of its many ecosystems and fascinating human history. And while our itinerary is quite full, there will be time to relax and soak in the natural beauty of our surroundings.
This trip is for: any healthy woman who enjoys kayaking and being outdoors, and wants to see this part of the country. Our guides are expert naturalists who love sharing their knowledge.
Accommodations:
- We will have two four bedroom houses with two baths each. One was built in 1855 and sits right on Jeremy Creek near the Village Museum. The other was built more recently and sits well off the road in a quiet and private setting with a good view of the Cape Romaine Wildlife Refuge. They are within wlking distance and both have large screened porches.
Maximum group size: 12
Trip price: $1575 (deduct $50 for registration by 5/28/07). $300 deposit.
Trip price includes:
- experienced guides who are expert naturalists
- six nights of double occupancy accommodation (some singles are available)
- all meals from lunch on Sunday to lunch the following Saturday except for one lunch in Charleston
- transportation during the trip
- all activities on the itinerary
Trip starts: arrive in Charleston, SC by 12 pm on September 28
Trip ends: We'll have you back to the Charleston airport by 2 pm the last day and you can plan to fly out after 3 pm
More information: a summary of all this information, daily itinerary, packing list, notes on packing list and general information (must have Adobe Acrobat Reader)
For pictures from last year's Low Country trip (which was in the same area but not a kayak trip), click here.
Register for this trip or Contact us for more information
Itinerary
As is true of all adventures, we may follow the itinerayr below exactly, or our itinerary may change because of weather, tides, and group interests.
Sunday: We'll pick you up at the Charleston airport at noon today and head north to Awendaw, less than an hour from Charleston and right on the coast. We'll start our low country adventure with a picnic and a hike in the Santee Coastal Reserve, the Washoo Reserve Woodland/ Marsh trail. Its home to a nice rookery of woodstorks and a beautiful cypress swamp. In fact it is an Important Birding Area: an IBA is nationally recognized as having an a diversity of species and endangered species as well. We will hand you a "Birding list" to check off those we see. Even if you don't think you're a "birder", you'll find that walking with an expert opens you up to a whole new world. We'll then go to our lodging in the charming town of McClellanville, our home base for the trip.
Monday: We'll start the day with the perfect introduction this area: the Sewee Visitor Center. A special intro film will introduce you to the different ecosystems of the forest. From there we'll do a one mile loop hike to the mysterious Indian Shell mounds in the Francis Marion National Forest, once occupied by the Sewee and Coastal Plain Indians. We'll have lunch back at our lodging and then have a Village Museum Tour (it's right next door). It's an incredible little museum with local artifacts from the Native Americans, local residents and Rice Era and will further our understanding of the unique history of this area. That afternoon we'll have our first kayak, a sunset kayak tour that launches right from the dock near one of our houses. Our kayak tour meanders through the saltwater marshes and barrier islands surrounded by the 43,000 acres of the Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge and along the Intracoastal waterway of the South Carolina Coast. We may see dolphins and we'll certainly see numerous wetland shore birds as they paddle through the waters. If we're very lucky, we may even be greeted by Loggerhead Seaturtles.
Tuesday: Our kayak today is in a completely different environment-a blackwater river and swamp. Blackwater river waters are usually clear, but their waters are commonly stained dark brown by organic matter and plant pigments from the wetland plant communities through which they flow. From a distance these rivers look black. The Wambaw Kayak and Canoe Trail is a Nationally Recognized and Designated Trail located in the heart of a Wilderness area in the Francis Marion National Forest. This Beautiful Blackwater Creek is a tributary to the Santee River and was once paddled by the Santee Indians. Giant 1000 year old Bald Cypress trees, Water Oak, Water Ash, Red Maple and Swamp Dogwood shade the black waters, offering spectacular birding and wildlife viewing. That afternon we'll learn more about plantation life and the Rice culture of South Carolina as we visit Hampton Plantation. Built circa 1750, this was an active rice plantation for 200 years; the rice culture and the planation system that depended on slavery shaped much of the culture here. There should also be some free time this afternoon to visit the shops in the town we're staying in.
Wednesday: We can't be this close and not spend a day in Charleston. All our romantic notions of antebellum days-stately homes, courtly manners, and gracious hospitality are facts of everyday life in this old city by the sea. We'll arrive in time for a carriage tour that will help us get oriented to the town and decide what to visit that afternoon. You'll have the entire afternoon spend as you wish: visiting houses, shopping, going to the South Carolina Aquarium etc. We'll then meet up for dinner that night at Hyman's, a Charleston seafood landmark.
Thursday: With our muscles tuned up from the previous days of kayaking, today we'll do a full day kayak in Quenby Creek and Pompion Hill Chapel area. Our tour starts on Quenby Creek and twists along the historic banks of Quenby Plantation. Journeying through abandoned rice fields of wildflowers, we paddle on to the East Branch of the Cooper River where wooden barges once floated rice, cotton, and indigo out to the Charleston Harbor. Halfway through our tour we explore an English church called Pompion Hill Chapel, attended by French Huguenots and European Settlers hundreds of years old. Here we view bald eagles, hawks, egrets, herons, ibis and other wetland shorebirds for miles overlooking the abandoned rice fields while we stop and have lunch. We're also likely to see some alligators; having done breeding and nesting, they are very complacent. It's easy paddling and we can get in as much mileage as we want.
Friday: Today we hike and paddle. We'll start with a lovely kayak through the saltwater marshes of Awendaw Creek. Even at low tide this is a fun filled tidal creek lined with Spartina Cord Grass and Juncus Black Needle Rush. Indian shell rings are also found here and it is the last known area of a village established by the Sewee Indians. We may see dolphins, river otter, alligators and numerous waterfowl as we meander through its twisting and turning bends. We then hike back along the Swamp Fox potion of the Palmetto Trail. About five miles in length, it's quite flat and an easy walk.
Saturday: How do we end this amazing week? With a final short morning kayak before we pack up and leave! We begin our paddle on Jeremy creek, located in the Historic Shrimping Village of McClellanville. As we kayak past historic coastal homes and shrimp boats we head out into the harbor. Islands of spartina, bull rush, and wild rice line the banks of our journey as we paddle through saltwater creeks to see remaining rice trunk gates, still functioning and left from the rice era of the 1700's and 1800's. This pristine wilderness is famous for it's Bulls Bay Oysters and delicious Shrimp. This is a favorite place to paddle for the locals! We'll share a final lunch together and then return to the Charleston Airport by 2 pm.
