Sapelo Island - the one that never got written

The main target of my March 2010 trip to Southern Georgia somehow never found its way here. Being stuck at a not so far flung destination – Melbourne, 747 with cracked windscreen, no other flight this evening – is the first opportunity time-wise to add the finishing touch to the account of that incredible journey.

I first heard about Sapelo Island from an American friend in NZ. A unique, isolated island culture of freed slaves, Scottish settlers and a language spoken nowhere else on the planet. Sounded intriguing.

Having chased tales of the Scottish diaspora as a hobby for many years, the chance to explore an obscure one was too good to miss. The jump off point is not far north of Darien on what looks like the middle but is in fact the edge of the swamp. The boat leaves early (9am) and only residents or visitors booked on tours are allowed on.

It’s worth looking for tours run by locals for the culture and history, but its hard to find details before you get there. God Dr Buzzard and the Bolito Man by Sapelo resident Cornelia Bailey is a fair substitute. The lady herself was standing outside the local store, talking to folks and signing copies of her book, which was out of stock on the island.

Not quite the metropolis! Sapelo used to be owned by a fair minded Scotsman called Spalding, who moved on when the end of slavery made his farming operation unsustainable. The population has declined slowly since various communities descended from freed slaves owned and lived in different parts of the island. A hedonistic tobacco baron bought land and built a fancy house there early in the 20^th century, and slowly squeezed the black population into one area, Hog Hammock.

The contrast remains remarkable, between tidy, modest wooden houses and the folly of the rich man now used for conferences and group accommodation.

Apart from those still occupied, a few ruins and a lighthouse still stand on the island. The stories of old African American villages, churches and graveyards are off bounds for most of the tours, so left to the imagination to illustrate.

As for the language, culture and ethnicity of the residents, these ute stickers say it all. Gullah and Geechee are the two West African cultures brought here en masse, prized for skills in rice cultivation, and more or less undiluted because of the isolation.

Of the Scottish connection, little remains beyond stories and these super healthy looking thistles that clearly weren’t grown in their native climate!