Okefenokee & Satilla Expeditions LLC

07/07/2025

Beautiful views in an incredible wetland await- your summer morning kayak tour of Okefenokee is waiting for you! Get in touch at okefenokee-satilla.com 😎

06/07/2025

Ever wonder how the Swampers of Okefenok dealt with bugs? Here's one very organic method the Chessers used to deal with flies in the house:

"It was the way of the swamp people to be observant of the nature of animals, the weather, insects, etc. and they were enterprising in their solutions to their problems involving these natural forces. For example, flies and mosquitoes were controlled by using items that were found around any home.

A limb broken from a "myrkle" bush [myrtle bush] (or any other leafy shrub) was hung from the ceiling and each evening it became a "roosting place" for the flies that had pestered the family during the day. After dark, when the flies had lit on the limb, two people, using an open burlap sack, slowly brought it up and surrounded the limb.

They shook the branch to make the flies fall to the bottom of the sack and when all the insects were freed from the leaves, they held the top of the sack tightly and lowered it, leaving the limb hanging from the ceiling and the sack filled with buzzing insects. Then they beat the sack on the floor until they could hear no more insect sounds and then emptied sometimes two handfuls of dead flies out into the yard."

- an excerpt from "Settlers of the Okefenokee" by Lois B. Mays

Pictured: the Chesser homestead on Chesser Island in Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

05/07/2025

It was a b-e-a-utiful morning for a prairie paddle tour in Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge! While I was heading out of the Refuge after the tour, I came across this little fella crossing the entrance road- a baby gopher tortoise! When driving in and out of Okefenokee NWR please slow down and keep your eyes open for these little guys. If you were going fast past it it would just look like a nub of a pinecone. I helped the baby across, with a thorough scolding to be careful when crossing the road.

Visit the Swamp with us on one of our guided tours: www.okefenokee-satilla.com

30/06/2025

A camper in Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge once noted in a campsite log book, “A place out of time – great respite from the world.”

Well said!

29/06/2025

Thank you to these two adventurous ladies from the state of Bavaria, Germany who kayaked in Okefenokee with me this morning! And a big congratulations to them, as they told me they just graduated medical school together and are road tripping in America to celebrate! They loved experiencing the Swamp up close and personal. Have fun and safe travels, y'all! 🙌

Morning kayak trips happening throughout the summer, email [email protected] or visit okefenokee-satilla.com to book or reserve fall trip dates!

26/06/2025

"Billy's Lake, the largest body of open water in the swamp, is some three and a half miles long and some 100 to 250 yards wide. ... I shall never forget the sheer beauty of Billy's Lake as I saw it one fine October morning on my first visit to the Okefinokee. Its surface was as placid as a huge plate glass mirror. The slender, grayish-colored shafts of the bordering cypresses seemed to project both upwards towards the sky and downward into the dark depths." - William C. Grimm, 1940s description of Billy's Lake

Billy's Lake is certainly one of my favorite places in the Swamp to relax and soak in the peace of nature. What's yours?

22/06/2025

It was a hot but beautiful morning in Okefenokee today! My guest from Atlanta loved seeing the orchids (water spider bog orchids and grass pinks) and carnivorous plants (Okefenokee giant hooded pitcher plants and spoon-leaved sundews) as we paddled along our prairie trail.

Request your private, personalized guided trips to enjoy Fall in the Swamp at www.okefenokee-satilla.com! Regular hours resume in October.

20/06/2025

Great news everyone!!

The move puts an immediate halt to a project that scientists and environmentalists had feared could irreparably damage North America’s largest blackwater swamp.

16/06/2025

It may be the off season, but we're still adventuring! This great couple from Baden-Württemberg, Germany joined me this morning for a prairie exploration on the east side of the fabulous Okefenokee Swamp.

We were treated to all manner of wonders from delicate grass-pink orchids to fuzzy-headed fledgling green herons. Getting out before noon is imperative for an enjoyable trip at this time of year, so we ended our trip before the sun beat down too hard. Safe travels y'all, and enjoy those boiled peanuts!

Request a morning swamp expedition this summer or get your fall date requests in with your friendly local naturalist at okefenokee-satilla.com!

09/06/2025

Please sign! Our Satilla needs you!

Prevent Poultry Facility Development by the Satilla River in Douglas, GA

08/06/2025

A guided, outfitted morning paddle trip on one of our beautiful rivers around the Okefenokee Swamp- the Satilla, St. Marys (seen here), or Suwannee will cure what ails ya this summer. Get in touch to book at okefenokee-satilla.com!

25/05/2025

This summer, get thee to your local river and just, be.