Caw Caw Interpretive center Ravenel

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We decided to spend an extra day in the Charleston area as there I wanted to see an interpretive center that I had read about and I still hadn't had time to see Fort Sumter's visitor center ( we didn't have time for the boat ride out to the fort this time around and it was a little too chilly in January anyway ) Caw Caw Interpretive center was smaller than I had thought but still interesting. Displayed were facts about wildlife in the area and also about rice production done by slaves as the center stands on part of an old rice plantation. They talked about the dangers to slaves that worked on the rice plantation, from malaria to alligators and also about the tools used to produce rice and the process of flooding the fields. Pretty cool stuff but the majority of our time at the center was spent hiking the surrounding trails.
The trails would probably be nicer to see in either the spring or fall but for $1 a person I can't complain...all in all a cheap and fun day out and we finally got to see our first SC alligator!

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Photos

birds in the area
We were not fortunate enough to see any of these of birds on our hike but we did see one lone duck in the waterfowl area shortly after seeing our gator

Water Moccasin
This was aken with a 500mm lens...we didn't get as close as it appears.

reflections
This was near the beginning of the trail and went through more cypress swamp

Gator
My only disappointment here was that Bob had control of the camera and didn't quite get the alligator in focus...it was there however and after taking several shots when it decided to move back into the river we decided to leave...this was also taken with a 500mm lens.The area that this was taken was in the old rice paddies.

Mortar and Pestle
These were some of the tools used to produce rice after harvest

sweet grass baskets
These were called winnowing baskets and were used to separate the grain from the chaff. I mentioned these baskets before in the Boone plantation entry, these are now regarded as artwork and cost lots of money for even a small basket

Draining the fields
This area was interactive and explained how and when the fields were flooded and drained and to what extent. It let you flood fields on the model and drain the water to get it just right for the various seasons.