Nature Adventures

NAO Newsworthy

Swamp Girls

By Carol Patterson

“They (the men) wanted to burp and tell bad jokes and I think I made them uncomfortable,” remarked Kathie Livingston, founder of Nature Adventures Outfitters, on her reasons for starting a women’sonly paddling group. “Sometimes women want to get away from their responsibilities and just enjoy themselves,” she observes, “I started the meet-up a month ago and I’ve had over forty women sign up already.” The women who join have partners, friends and family so it’s not for lack of a regular paddling partner that many find themselves on the women’s outing. They want the  (read full article)

Paddle Shem Creek for a Different Point of View

By Marie McAden

Standing on the top deck of Red’s Icehouse on Shem Creek — Mount Pleasant’s party central — one cannot appreciate the diversity of wildlife found in this seafood-rich coastal environment.

No, I’m not talking about the crowds of visitors enjoying frosty mugs of beer and steamed oysters on the festive waterfront. I mean real wildlife like dolphins, manatees, sea turtles, otters and shore birds.

The historic 2.5-mile creek — home to the local shrimping fleet — offers easy access to Charleston Harbor and an important sea bird sanctuary protected by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

On a recent visit to Charleston, I decided to forgo the “tree house” view from Red’s and get out on the water for a different perspective of Shem Creek. A guided three-hour trip with Nature Adventures Kayak and Canoe Outfitters was just the ticket.

Owner Kathie Livingston and I set out from the outfitters’ boat ramp across from Reds, passing the colorful shrimp boats that line the waterway just past the restaurants and bars. Within minutes, we were at the mouth of the creek looking at the northwest tip of Crab Bank Seabird Sanctuary, a 22-acre sandpit island used as nesting grounds by a number of shorebirds, including brown pelicans, black skimmers, laughing gulls, American oystercatchers, willets, great egrets, ibis, tricolored herons and the state threatened species, Wilson’s plover.  (read full article)