I had my third experience with alligators recently, this time in South Carolina, at Cypress Gardens in Moncks Corner, near Charleston. I'd previously seen them in Louisiana and in Florida. Alligators are found along the Atlantic coast as far north as northern North Carolina and along the Gulf coast as far west as Texas. It is still a big thrill for me. We took out a small row boat with canoe paddles into a cypress swamp and had a great time, first learning how to coordinate our paddling, then getting good looks at turtles and alligators. The first alligator we saw was smallish and resting on a small mound of land near some turtles.
I was at the back of the boat and did not have as good a view as Judy, who was at the front. I stood up in the boat to take a picture and got the following photo just as the alligator splashed in the water because of my movement.
I was surprised by the quickness and speed of the alligators response. The second alligator we saw was resting among lilly pads
covered with green muck.
The alligator itself was also covered with the muck which made for great camouflage.
The third and largest alligator was out on dry ground sunning itself.
Some spring I would love to go to the south and spend a lot more time in the swamp viewing wildlife and experiencing that terrain that is so very different from what I have been around all of my life.
What a blast. Anyone going to Charleston needs to go to Cypress Gardens.
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