Feel free to interpret this topic as a paddling destination that was better than you expected or worse than you expected, or one (or more) of each.
I was quite disappointed in the Okefenokee Swamp when I first paddled it from the east entrance near Folkston, Georgia, in 1984. My disappointment was probably affected by my high expectations and erroneous mental images of the swamp. The east entrance begins with a long slog up a straight artificial canal, which branches off into various water trails and dead ends. It's all flat, not much scenery, not much interesting vegetation where I was, and I saw almost no wildlife. There was nowhere to land except an occasional chickee platform. Boring. I never went back to that east (main) entrance again until 2010.
The west entrance to the swamp from Fargo, Georgia, is much more interesting to me with lots of cypress and tupelo trees and alligators, plus some interesting dry land.
About 20 years ago, a canoe outfitter near Colleton State Park on the Edisto River in South Carolina (something Kennedy) advised me to forget about the Okefenokee and go to the Sparkleberry Swamp at Rimini, SC, instead. He said it was like the difference between Olive Oyl and Helen of Troy.
Truth!
The Sparkleberry Swamp far exceeded my expectations and is one of my favorite five places of all time that I have paddled. The Okefenokee wouldn't make any of my lists other than a never-again list. (Maybe the internals of the Okefenokee are more interesting, but the thought of camping on chickees turns me off.)
I was quite disappointed in the Okefenokee Swamp when I first paddled it from the east entrance near Folkston, Georgia, in 1984. My disappointment was probably affected by my high expectations and erroneous mental images of the swamp. The east entrance begins with a long slog up a straight artificial canal, which branches off into various water trails and dead ends. It's all flat, not much scenery, not much interesting vegetation where I was, and I saw almost no wildlife. There was nowhere to land except an occasional chickee platform. Boring. I never went back to that east (main) entrance again until 2010.
The west entrance to the swamp from Fargo, Georgia, is much more interesting to me with lots of cypress and tupelo trees and alligators, plus some interesting dry land.
About 20 years ago, a canoe outfitter near Colleton State Park on the Edisto River in South Carolina (something Kennedy) advised me to forget about the Okefenokee and go to the Sparkleberry Swamp at Rimini, SC, instead. He said it was like the difference between Olive Oyl and Helen of Troy.
Truth!
The Sparkleberry Swamp far exceeded my expectations and is one of my favorite five places of all time that I have paddled. The Okefenokee wouldn't make any of my lists other than a never-again list. (Maybe the internals of the Okefenokee are more interesting, but the thought of camping on chickees turns me off.)