Bulls Island in the Cape Romaine National Wildlife Refuge

Today we took the Bulls Island Ferry, run by Coastal Expeditions, to Bulls Island for a day of hiking and sight seeing.  Reservations are required, and it is $55 per person.  This is the only way to get to this island, which is part of the Cape Romaine National Wildlife Refuge.  Personal watercraft are not allowed.  We had a big agenda for this island, since this will probably be our only chance to visit it.  It is a wonderful place to see nature at its finest in this vast salt marsh area.

From our campground, it was only about a 15 minute drive to the very long pier where we would catch the ferry.  

This is the boat that we would be taking out.

Jacque was our incredibly knowledgeable guide.  There wasn’t a question that she couldn’t answer.

And Albo was our captain.  He was absolutely hilarious, with the most dry sense of humor.

We saw so much wildlife, even before setting foot on the island, including dolphins.

This is a map of the island.  We chose to go to the observation tower first, then cut through the jungle to the boneyard, and then walk down the beach to the meeting spot.

Steve taking a good look (and a picture) at the island map before heading out.

The oak trees on the island are huge and beautiful!

Our walk to the observation tower was beautiful!  And our hope at the observation tower is to see an alligator in the wild.

When we reached the salt marshes, we knew we were getting close to the observation tower.  

Our first glimpses from the tower.  It was really beautiful and really still out here.  Only the sounds of nature.

And then, there it was, the alligator we had been hoping to see.  It was so exciting!  It was about 8 or 9 feet long, and so graceful I the water.

After about 20 minutes at the observation deck, we head back to the trail to make our way over to the boneyard.  Instead of silence this time, there were alligators bellowing on both sides of our trail.  We couldn’t see them, but we could certainly hear them.  It was a bit Erie.  We backtracked to a trail called alligator alley and then continued to the beach.  Once again the views were amazing. 

An alligator slide, right across our trail.

We walked for about an hour to get from the observation tower to the boneyard.  The boneyard is a tree graveyard that is left behind as the island moves.  All of these salt marsh islands are constantly moving, and as the ocean slowly takes over, the trees eventually die and are left behind on the beach.  It is quite a sight to see.  At high tide, these trees are completely under water and have been the demise of many boats throughout history.

On our way back to the dock to catch the ferry, we came across this baby alligator warming itself in the afternoon sun.

After our ferry ride back, we stopped at the only restaurant for miles and had some local seafood.  This time we treated ourselves to the fried fare, which we don’t usually do.  It wasn’t as good as the fresh seafood we have been eating, but still a treat.

This would be our final treat for this trip.  We will be heading home tomorrow.  What a fun experience this trip has been.  This was our first ever chance to see the east coast salt marshes up close and personal, and what a treat it was!