TRIP SCHEDULE
 

February TBA, 2010

February TBA, 2010

7 days/6 nights, $1195.00 per person


The Everglades is one of the most amazing and biodiverse places on Earth. Flourishing with exotic plant and wildlife, this destination promises to be unique and intriguing. Being the largest subtropical region in the United States, the Everglades has a variety of ecosystems including freshwater swamps, brackish and salt-water mangrove estuaries, and white sandy beaches.



Expect to witness breathtaking natural sights daily. You travel through the mangrove rivers out into the expanse of the Gulf of Mexico jumping between Keys to observe many threatened and endangered species without disrupting the fragile balance of their habitats. Manatee and dolphin swim with the kayaks, birds watch curiously as you paddle by.

An abundance of wildlife is not the only reason to visit the Everglades, as it is rich in culture and history. The earliest settlers of the area can be traced back more than 11,000 years. Inhabited originally by native cultures of the Tequesta and Calusa, the Miccosukees and the Seminoles still call the Everglades home. The native cultures referred to the areas as "Pa-hay-okee" meaning "Grassy Water". Spanish explorers called the land "El Laguno del Espiritu Santo" meaning "The Lagoon of the Holy Spirit." Europeans were the first to sight the area as "ever glades" and the name as we know it today became official in 1823 with the printing of Turner Maps.

Participants on this trip have, for years, hailed it as a magical place of unforgettable experiences. Our challenge always becomes luring them back to "civilization". Come with us and learn more about the biodiversity of plant and wildlife, rich culture and history, struggles with man, and fragile balance in one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
(click here for past everglades trip photos)

contact Pirate Queen Paddling now to learn more about this adventure

Okefenokee most closely translates as "Land of Trembling Earth" as it was known to Indigenous People who inhabited the region as early as 2500 B.C. The last tribe to seek sanctuary in the swamp, the Seminoles, conducted raids on settlers in surrounding areas in what culminated with the Okefenokee's Second Seminole War (1838-1842).  After the Indians were forcibly removed, more than 431 million board feet of timber was harvested by 1927 when logging operations ceased and the reign of the legendary Queen of the Okefenokee, Lydia Smith Stone Crews ended. 

The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1937, encompasses approximately 396,000 acres. The swamp is one of the oldest and most well preserved freshwater areas in America, extending 38 miles north to south and 25 miles east to west. The swamp is a vast bog inside a huge, saucer-shaped depression that was once a part of the ocean floor. It now lies 103-128 feet above main sea level and contains numerous islands and lakes along with vast areas of non-forested terrain inhabited by a great diversity of reptiles, birds, mammals, and amphibians. 

The Okefenokee is rich in history and wildlife. With more than 621 species of plants and ongoing research activity on species from bacteria to black bears, the Okefenokee's management has sucessfully preserved one of the most unique regions in the United States. This trip explores the inner most parts of the Okefenokee while camping from the hatches of your kayak along the lakes and cypress forests within the swamp during April when wading bird rookeries are active, sandhill crane chicks hatch, and the insect eating pitcher plants are in bloom.

contact Pirate Queen Paddling now to learn more about this adventure