Meet Congaree NP & How to Miss Your Flight
Hey there, Travellers,
Welcome to October, the month in which pumpkins take over supermarkets and Instagram feeds alike, and suddenly everyone takes an interest in all things spooky.
And honestly, we at Jack's are no different. October heralds the beginning of Spooky Lake Month, which is really just a great excuse to learn about slightly eerie bodies of water around the globe. Past faves include the never-ending tales about Siberia's Lake Baikal and the Great Blue Hole, a massive sinkhole in Belize's barrier reef.
But we're not just into spooky lakes. We love anywhere with a fascinating (and slightly haunted) history - La Paz's Witch Market, Barcelona's chilling anti-aircraft tunnels, basically anywhere in Scotland...
I want to know where in the world you would recommend for our next eerie encounter! Drop your tips in the comments.
Happy travels and safe landings,
Katy - Editor of The Detour
Passport to the Parks: Congaree National Park
By Olivia
A San Diego native, Olivia left home three years ago to live on the road. Since then, she's had homebases everywhere from Quebec to England to New Orleans, but she always ends up back on the West Coast. When she's not hiking through the desert or the woods, she can usually be found exploring her current city and scoping out the best bars and coffee shops.
Since the first US National Park was established in 1872, sixty-two others have popped up, ranging from cacti-covered corners of the desert to huge swathes of Alaskan wilderness to colorful coral reefs in Florida.
Each one does things a little differently, and this series is our chance to break them down. Today, we’re meeting Congaree National Park!
This patch of forested wetland is the smallest park we’ve covered so far and one of the country’s least visited, despite being right outside South Carolina’s state capital. While it might not have the same jaw-dropping vistas as the iconic hotspots, there’s a kind of quiet beauty here that somehow feels even more wild.
“1996 Congaree Swamped” by anoldent, CC BY-SA 2.0
As the popular parks get busier and busier, it feels like the right time to pay closer attention to the smaller, less crowded names on the register. While places like Zion and Yosemite can sometimes function more like theme parks, Congaree is mostly about winding through the swampy scenery until you feel like you’re in a Southern fairytale.
So pack your fishing rod and your bug spray, and let’s find out why this patch of wetlands deserves to be appreciated and protected.
Quick Facts about Congaree National Park:
- Established: 2003
- Size: 41.7 square miles (108 km²)
- Location: Central South Carolina
- Nearby towns: Columbia is right outside (30 minutes by car), but Charleston, Charlotte, and Augusta are all within two hours’ drive.
- Closest airports: Columbia (CAE), though international visitors will likely find better routes into Charlotte (CLT) or Charleston (CHS).
- Best time to visit: spring or fall
- Biggest highlights: ancient trees and one very special light show
Despite its relatively low visitor numbers, Congaree might actually be one of the best examples of the National Park system in action. The Eastern United States used to be covered in old-growth forests similar to some regions of the West, but due to incessant logging, almost all of those trees are gone, and the landscapes irreparably changed.
Congaree’s trees, many of which are centuries old, almost went the same way. The area was logged intermittently for eighty years, but thanks to conservation groups in the 20th century, it was given the legal statuses it needed to stay under the blanket of NPS protection.
This means that when you visit Congaree, you’re visiting one of the last remnants of the East Coast’s ancient landscape. And it only exists because of the National Parks system!
While frequently referred to as a “swamp,” the technical name for Congaree’s landscape is “old growth bottomland hardwood forest.” That basically means it’s a really old woodland that exists on a floodplain — thus the swampy, Jurassic Park-esque scenery.
One of the best ways to make the most of Congaree’s unusual environment is to paddle down Cedar Creek in a canoe or kayak. This waterway winds through most of the park, allowing you to glide past those ancient trees while spotting river otters, turtles, and the occasional alligator.
The park doesn’t rent out boats, so you have two options: show up with your own (rented or brought from home) and fly solo, or join a tour group. If you choose the former, be sure to keep an eye on the water levels — they vary a lot and can greatly impact your experience.
“1996 Congaree High Water” by anoldent, CC BY-SA 2.0
If you’d rather keep to dry land, pick a hiking trail or two! Most visitors do the Boardwalk Trail, which is about 2.6 miles (4.2 km) long and loops around through the most popular corner of the park on a wheelchair- and stroller-friendly wooden path. It’s the easiest way to experience the forest, so if you’ve only popped by Congaree for an afternoon, this is where you should head.
For a more challenging hike, you have plenty of options. Pick one of the longer, quieter routes like the 7-mile (11.2 km) Oakridge Trail, and you might even notice some wild turkeys gobbling among the cypress trees.
Speaking of birds, Congaree is kind of a birder’s paradise, with around 200 different species to spot. Ornithologically minded visitors should definitely pack their binoculars and head for Kingsnake Trail, where you’ll find the most diverse flora and fauna. Keep an eye out for hawks, woodpeckers, owls, storks, and dozens of other feathered friends. My personal favorite has to be the anhinga, with its long, snake-like neck.
Despite the sheer quantity of birds in Congaree, their most popular flying animal is actually much smaller. Visit during a specific period in spring, and you might not believe your eyes.
No, those aren’t LEDs — the woods are lighting up with fireflies!
Tales of Flights Gone By
You know you’re a real traveler when those nightmares about being back in school and not having your homework turn into dreams about missed flights.
The way your heart sinks when you look at the clock and realize you overslept. That creeping despair that slowly overtakes you as you sit in traffic on the way to the airport. Missed flight misery comes in many forms, each more brutal than the last.
There is one upside, though: sometimes you get a really great anecdote out of it! We asked the Jack’s Facebook Community for your best missed flight stories, and you guys came through with some heartbreaking gems.
We’d like to think an appearance in The Detour makes the whole experience worthwhile.
Community member Dee started us off:
“Feb last year I turned up to the airport and gave my passport to board the plane only to open it up and find out I had my mothers one. My heart dropped. Had to pay £130 to get another flight from another city.”
We can’t help but wonder, would it have been worse if they took a look at the picture and waved you through? It’s always good to have confirmation that you look too young to be mistaken for your mother. Hopefully that took a little of the sting out.
Dee’s follow-up tale is a lot sweeter:
“Years ago my mother and aunt booked a holiday and they were so engrossed in laughter and chat sitting next to the gate that they didn’t see the plane board and missed it, I had to find them another holiday for them to go on that day.”
If that’s not the sign of a great travel partner, we don’t know what is. And it’s good to know we aren’t the only ones who get conscripted into booking flights for our parents.
Next, Valentin reminded us that a lost holiday isn’t the worst-case scenario here:
“I missed my own wedding as the flight from Gatwick to Sofia was cancelled due to suspected damage on the aircraft caused by the fuel truck. As they kept investigating I spent 48 hours at a Gatwick hotel drinking beer and playing cards with other passengers. My future wife managed to reschedule the wedding. When I arrived I was treated as a celebrity in the register office as the staff there all thought that I had changed my mind and I would not come at all. We are now happily married for 22 years.”
Yeah, we’ll take a missed flight over a missed wedding any day.
Meanwhile, the award for “least predictable delay” goes to Harry:
“I booked a return ticket on an airline that got banned from the local airspace during the middle of my trip. The airline told us they couldn’t tell us if the flight was cancelled or not, so no idea if I missed it or not. Had to book a new ticket last minute via the most random airport I ever flew through.”
Fun fact: travel insurance policies usually don’t pay out for cancellations caused by acts of war. Something to keep in mind if you plan on booking a flight with Etihad or Qatar Airways in the near future.
Celia and Gary's stories, on the other hand, were a lot more preventable:
“Missed a flight from Jakarta to Yogyakarta a couple of years ago. Turns out Jakarta has two airports…..who knew?!!” - Celia
“I turned up at the airport for a 7pm flight that left at 7am.” - Gary
This is why experienced travelers neurotically check and recheck every little detail before a flight. Sure, it might be a pain to pull up your boarding pass every five minutes, but at least you can feel confident you haven’t missed anything. While we’re at it, we’re also adding “Make sure you have your own passport and not your mom’s” to our pre-flight checklist.
Finally, our own Navigator Katy shared a saga with a happy ending:
“I'd been living in Madrid one summer and it was so hot in my apartment that I couldn't sleep. I had a flight to catch, and of course, I eventually fell asleep about 2 hours before I had to get up to head to the airport. I slept through my alarm and woke up with about an hour until my flight. I hopped in a taxi and managed to get to the airport mere minutes before the flight departed, so while I couldn't board, at least I was able to just pay KLM €50 for a flight change instead of having to buy a whole new one.”
That rebooking fee is always going to be less costly than buying a whole new ticket, so if you’ve missed your flights, make a beeline for the carrier’s customer service desk and start preparing your pitch for mercy. Here are a few more tips:
- If you haven’t reached the airport yet but you know you’re not going to make it in time, give the airline a call ASAP. An early heads-up gives them time to offer your seat to someone waiting on standby, and they might reward you with a free rebook.
- Your odds of successfully rebooking a missed flight depend pretty heavily on who you talk to and how you go about it. If the worker at the customer support desk doesn’t like the cut of your jib, you might have to start all over with a new ticket.
- Some airlines have an unofficial “flat tire rule” allowing you to be rebooked free of charge as long as you arrive at the airport within two hours of the missed departure time. It’s worth checking online to see if you’re flying with one of those.
- Even if you won’t arrive in time to rebook the ticket, you should still contact the airline and let them know what happened. Sometimes missing your outbound flight will cause the carrier to cancel your reservation for the return trip too, and buying a new one-way ticket can be a lot cheaper than having to replace both legs.
Got any harrowing missed flight experiences of your own, Travelers? Drop them in the comments or just head to the Facebook community page to join in the conversation.
Pick of the Clicks
All the important (or silly, or strange) news from around the web this month.
- Air Canada just added a whopping 31 new routes, including far-off destinations like Ecuador and Tenerife. Meanwhile, WestJet is dropping routes that they only introduced this year.
- Following intense storms, Bangkok has been declared a disaster zone due to flooding. The airports are still functional, but more than a little hectic, with an ongoing backlog of more than 5000 pieces of luggage. Remember to pack that spare underwear in your carry-on.
- Traveling between the UK and Ireland by ferry? A controversial policy change means you’ll now need to pack your passport.
- The world’s cleanest airline was just announced! You might have an easier time guessing who didn’t win.
- And finally, folks, the results are in: Alaska’s fattest bear has been crowned, and he truly is a chunky king!