Botana Bay Heritage Preserve Wildlife Management Area

On the coast of South Carolina lies Edisto Island, a largely forested marshland interspersed with tidal creeks. On the island we find the 1,860-hectare Botany Bay area. In the past, the finest Sea Island cotton was grown on the plantations here, but now it is a park for the preservation of nature and cultural heritage. If you are observant, you can spot deer, snakes (some venomous), alligators, lizards, herons, seagulls, sea turtles, oysters, blue crabs, ghost crabs and raccoons.

From the car park near Pockoy Island, a footpath leads south to the Atlantic Ocean. From there, you cross flat marshland teeming with fiddler crabs and birds before reaching the beach after 750 metres. And it completely knocks our socks off. On the one hand, we can understand why it is called "Boneyard Beach". Not only is the beach littered with fallen, white tree trunks that have been bleached by the sun, there are also a few weathered specimens in the water. On the other hand, there is also a bizarre, ghostly beauty to this unspoilt place. We stroll along the white sandy beach, between shells and dead wood and take a look at the directly neighbouring, dense maritime palm forest. There's no question that you have to watch out for driftwood and roots here, but you shouldn't miss out on a detour into the sea.

After our trip to the beach, we take a walk through the plantation forest. On the well-maintained paths here, you can make a 10-kilometre loop and pass the ruins of the plantation and its outbuildings, walk along paths lined with pine needles, past ponds and centuries-old green oaks with lianas and Spanish moss. What a contrast to Boneyard Beach!