Congaree National Park

Saturday 18 May
We had less miles to cover today, and we realized that Congaree National Park was pretty close to where we were staying the night in Sumter South Carolina. We had learned about this park from Jen and Laura who had visited it earlier in the year. The park was established to protect the largest intact expanse of old growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the southeastern United States. Waters from the Congaree and Wateree Rivers sweep through the floodplain, carrying nutrients and sediments that nourish and rejuvenate the ecosystem and support the growth of national and state champion trees. Since it is located in the flood plain, it floods fairly regularly, usually about ten times a year. Fortunately, there is quite a long boardwalk, about 2.7 miles I believe, and so we were able to explore today with dry feet! On one of the days Jen and Laura were there, even a section of the boardwalk was under water! Another way to explore is by canoe/kayak, but there wasn’t time for that today. As you can see from my collage, we also saw quite a bit of wildlife, an alligator, a snake, curled up on top of a small tree - we were looking down on it from the boardwalk, and a brightly coloured skink.
We reached our overnight campground about 5pm, and whilst this one was also a KOA, this one was quite different, much more space, and it was only about half full, if that. It was also located by a reservoir, so once we had set the camper up, we went for a walk around the campground. (See extra). They also offered freshly made pizza, which we took advantage of, and it was very good. So a nice relaxing evening.