The Gullah-Geechee: descendants of West African slaves that had lived on the islands off the coast of Georgia relatively undisturbed for the last two hundred years. Excited to visit a new location and discover a strange new culture a mere three hour drive from Gainesville, we put our canoes into the water at 11:00 PM on a Friday night and set out for Sapelo Island.
We ended up paddling through treacherously choppy waters, sleeping on a mound of oyster shells, paddling through a labyrinth of grass, being scolded by Department of Natural Resources officers, trekking through knee deep mud, hitchhiking with drunken frat guys, getting scolded by the DNR some more, night hiking on the beach, getting scolded again, and yes, finally making contact with the Gullah-Geechee people.
Although the island is only open to 'residents or guests of residents', I highly recommend it as an adventure destination. If you can manage to sneak past the compulsively controlling DNR officers, you'll find a relatively pristine environment and some awesome people.
Trip Members: Frank, Mariantu, Carrie, Holly, Andrew, some as-of-yet unidentified guy
