Santee State Park or Gator Hunting

Well, warmer weather is here and you know
what that means for my husband and I...
Nature Trips and Kayaking.
If that bores you or just doesn't interest you - stop reading here.
But if you enjoy living vicariously through someone else's adventures
or you love nature
or you love kayaking
or you love alligators -
Read On!

Here is one photo for you stitchers out there that always looking for patterns on things.
This is a photo of the under side of the roof on an activity building
at Santee State Park in Santee SC.
It has several nests (Martin's) in the corners of the timbers.
The birds were sitting on side timbers
watching us as we snapped pictures and watched them.

We saw so much wildlife at the park, it was unbelievable!
A lot of deers...
Big deers, tiny deers
deers with big racks (antler, that is...)
Here's a night shot where a "family" was going back to their tent...
mom, dad and three kids.
Look at them...going in through the "Do Not Enter" road!
Some animals just don't follow rules well.

Even the sky was beautiful! This was shot on the way out of the Santee Wildlife Refuge.

What an Awesome place to visit if you love observing wildlife and nature!

We were in the "Cuddo Unit".

They have a "Wildlife Drive" that has an accompanying Interpretive Guide with it.

As you drive along (it is a 7.5 mile road), you will pass numbered signs that you reference in the guide. It gives great information about the area that you're in or about the animals that you will likely see.

The guide did mention we might see Wild Turkeys.

It didn't say that they would jump out on the road in front of us, running 20 miles per hour as we lagged behind.

Nor did it mention that the original three turkeys would be joined by three more of their friends.

And run for about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile before jumping off the side of the road.

We didn't follow them the entire time. We stopped and just watched them continue to run.

It must have been a neighborhood jog night.

The first day that we were there we went for a short kayak trip in Lake Marion.

We wanted to take a peek at the cypress forest that stands in the middle of the lake.

According to the park brochure "Lake Marion is a 110,00 acre lake that is more shallow, full of stumps and trees (including a deciduous cypress forest gracing the middle of the lake across from the park) and is adjacent to thousands of acres of pristine, secluded wetlands and forest."

I'll post photos of that, along with the up close interaction with several alligators we met...

How close? you ask.

Very close...