Day 26 – The girls adapted well to the change of locale, even though there’s much more activity (cars & people) at this campground than previously. Are they getting used to this lifestyle, too? Temperature at 6 a.m. was 45 degrees; it’s supposed to be cooler today and tomorrow. Headed out at 10:15 for a day outside while the weather is good – supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow – going to scout the wildlife refuges in the area, and there are many!
Wow! What a day! We went first to Ace Basin National Estuarine Research Reserve. This place is so big that there are two National Wildlife Refuge visitor centers within; we went to the Eastern one which was closer. They are closed for renovations. This was a problem we found all day – there was a terrible hurricane which hit here hard last October and this whole area was damaged by the flooding and high winds. We found maps online of wildlife drives within the Ace Basin Reserve. These were open. But before proceeding, we decided since we were already halfway there, we should head South to Edisto Island, then come back to Ace Basin on the way back to the campground.
Rhododendron are in bloom; went thru small towns – you blink and they’re gone. Churches everywhere; tiny old post office. Bar-B-Que restaurants (shacks), fish sold from roadside carts/shacks, sweetgrass baskets and boiled peanuts sold along the road.
Went down Steamboat Landing Road to check out the boat launch – dirt road lined with oak trees offering a canopy cover. Talked to a local woman who said we should go to Botany Bay Plantation and do the drive-thru tour.
SO glad we ran into her! This was a short distance from the boat launch and we wouldn’t have known about it otherwise. We spent hours there and incredibly, it was free. Two plantations were once there, we walked around the site of one, got pictures of the old ice house which was still standing.
We followed a tour chart as we drove, stopping at each numbered sign. The beach area was closed while they continue to clean up from the hurricane, but the rest of the drive was open. Birds, trees, flowers, creeks, swamps, dikes, rice fields, trails, alligator…….yes, alligator! From the dike, looking into the swamp near the lake, there’s something very large swimming at a decent clip; this was definitely not a bird. We were not close at all but Rob took a picture and zoomed in we could see, yes, definitely an alligator.
From the drive, there was a nice area to launch a kayak and we thought about coming back tomorrow if the weather forecast was wrong about the wind and rain. Drove South from Botany Bay and stopped at Edisto Beach State Park. This is a nice area. Toured the campground, “Live Oak Campground” – the inland part was open and we picked up a map for future use – we would stay there if we come back to this area. The beach camping was closed; the hurricane destroyed the campground and they are working to fix it so that they can again accept reservations. Stopped at Edisto State Beach to have our Jersey Mike sandwiches. Lots of people going to the beach. Got a tide chart in case we do go kayaking tomorrow.
Drove back up North, then West to the scenic drive within the Ace Basic Reserve, and following the instructions from the internet drive tour, took a small road deep into the swamplands, marshlands, woods, etc. Stopped at the wildlife viewing platforms as instructed, then turned into the entrance to Bear Island Wildline Management Area. And hark! Another driving tour, and it’s free. We spent several more hours here – wonderful place! So many different birds and a total surprise: an armadillo.
We decided we better head back to the campground since we’d been gone all day, so we didn’t finish the Ace Basin scenic drive; I mean hadn’t we already seen everything? As we get towards the beginning of the drive and the bigger highway, there’s a car pulled over. We looked to see what she was looking at and saw several large white things in the swamp, moving slowly away from the road. Rob is out of the car heading over with his camera. They are really large birds and they are a distance away. The birds are quite shy and keep ducking behind trees. Rob gets some pictures and back at the campground we looked them up from zooming in on the pictures. They are endangered Wood Storks.
Got back to the campground at 6:15 p.m. The high today was 62 degrees, sunny and breezy. A great day. We are exhausted and go to bed early, visions of wildlife in our heads.