Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge

A trail of white sand leads through a sea of bright green ferns to a wildlife observation platform at Martin's Lake. From there, the 10-kilometre round trip to the north-west starts, where you can experience the concentrated biodiversity of the Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge (190 bird species, 42 mammal species, 41 reptile species, 25 amphibian species, 62 species of butterflies and moths, 56 indigenous bee species and more than 800 plant species).

As on the excursion to Table Rock Mountain in north-west South Carolina, we find charred tree remains from controlled fires, which are necessary in this habitat with pyrophytes (plants adapted to fire). We walk among flatland hardwoods, upland pitch pines, and open pine grasslands crisscrossed by (sometimes dry) streams. The needles and cones of the swamp pine can grow 20 to 45 centimetres long and large, a strange sight for Central Europeans. With a bit of luck, you may also encounter the two rarest animals in this habitat: The "pine-oak tree frog" and the cocard woodpecker are at home in this terrain. It's also not uncommon to see lizards as quick as an arrow, deer leaping away, lots of different birds, huge red dragonflies and yellow butterflies the size of a handspan.