We first visited the Carolina Lowlands, between Hilton Head and Charleston, about two years ago. We liked it so much that we went there again this year. We’ll be going again.

Things didn’t start out all that well this time. We’d reserved and paid for a campsite at Goodsam.com, but when we got there we found that it was someone’s back yard with no toilets or anything really. It was just a back yard, an untidy backyard.

We checked the website and confirmed it said that the “campground” had toilets and asked for a refund. That wasn’t going to happen. We talked to the young lady in the house. She couldn’t do anything for us and referred us to someone else. That person said they couldn’t do refunds and gave us another phone number. The person at that number said she was busy and would call us back.

Right.

She never called back. We’re never going to get a refund, and we’re never again going to use Goodsam.com.

We got a motel room.

Things improved. We had a nice dinner at a place called Fishcamp in Port Royal. We’d been there on our previous visit, and we knew the food would be great. Even better, it’s very close to a rookery at Cypress Wetlands. This place is full of birds, turtles, and alligators, and it works really well at sunset.

The next morning. We’d arranged for a sunrise photo tour with Eric Horan of Lowcountry Safaris. That was great. Eric is a good guy, and he knows photography, marshes, and tides. We met him at Hunting Island just before sunrise. He took us to great spots with lots of birds and the best light for bird pictures. We’ll go out with him again the next time we get there.

We got a lot of pictures and still haven’t processed them all. Here’s a shot that Joyce took:

Eric also gave us some ideas for good places to go on our own. We followed up on all of his tips, and we were not disappointed.

We took a nap, got some food, and did some exploring throughout the day. That evening we were back at Hunting Island for sunset shots. By then, the no-see-ums were out in force. That was no problem for me, but Joyce got chewed up pretty badly.

We had a great sunset, and even while being chewed up, Joyce got some great shots. Here’s one:

Eric told us about The Boneyard on Hunting Island. It’s a very photogenic beach with lots of dead trees in the sand. We got there a bit late the next morning and ran from the parking lot to the beach. The sky was boring, and we were late. This is best shot I was able to get:

We’ll be back, on time and looking for a better sunrise, probably next year. We spent most of the day exploring the ACE Basin. This is a low-lying area that includes the Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto rivers.

We ran into some police training in the woods. They had dogs and rifles, and were running around the woods looking a lot like I did playing cops-and-robbers as a kid. We gave them plenty of room, but not before talking to them and getting a tip on where to find plenty of alligators.

That evening, our final evening, we were back at the Cypress Wetlands:

It was a great trip. We highly recommend the area and Eric Horan. We’ll be back.

South Carolina Lowlands

Tennessee Sandhill Cranes

Cataloochee Valley Elk