Covering more than 650 square miles (1,684 square kilometers), the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia is a strange, eerie place. The name comes from the Seminole term ecunnau finocau, or trembling earth. The land in the swamp is actually not land at all, but peat bogs floating on the surface of the swamp water. Their unstable state meant travelers through the swamp often stepped on shaky land the Seminoles' "trembling earth." Huge, 80-foot (24-meter) cypress trees loom over the water.

Below are wax myrtle, black gum, red maple, and bay trees. Bamboo and a variety of berry bushes are also common. Among the more unusual plant life is the pitcher plant, a "meat-eating" plant that lures insects into its center, then digests them. Wild orchids, called rose pogonias, and purple pickerelweed provide a dash of color in the dark swamp.

Visitors can camp in the swamp or take canoe trips through certain areas. These sights and sounds are typical: alligators sunning themselves on small rises, bullfrogs croaking, crickets chirping, and bald eagles soaring overhead. However, the dangers of the swamp are very real. There are 35 types of snakes in the swamp, and five of them are deadly.

These include the black water moccasin or cottonmouth, the coral snake, and three types of rattlesnakes. Alligators share the water's edge with Florida softshell turtles, common snapping turtles, and the 150-pound (68-kilogram) alligator snapping turtle. What land there is supports black bear, white-tailed deer, foxes, wild boar, otters, mink, weasels, and the strange swimming marsh rabbits.

The swamp has some 60 lakes and ponds where herons, cranes, egrets, red-tailed hawks, and bald eagles compete for food. Surprisingly, the water, though very dark in color, is drinkable. In the 1700's, sailors often filled their water barrels with  Okefenokee water because it stayed fresh longer. Peat dissolved in the water colors it, but also acts as a purifier. Because the water is so dark, people are fooled into thinking the swamp is very deep. This is not true. Most areas of the Okefenokee are no more than five feet deep.

The Okefenokee was made a national wildlife refuge in 1937. This has saved many of the animals, forests, and birds from hunting and lumbering. The Okefenokee is still a very primitive, isolated region, filled with the mystery of every swamp and the legends of a Native American culture.

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