Written by Sarah Turner

CORE Outdoors will leave students with no excuse to stay cooped up in their dorms during the next couple weekends with a kayaking trip on March 2 and a horseback riding trip on March 9.

“Kayaking the Okefenokee” is a day trip where students will walk a nature trail scattered with Venus fly traps, kayak an alligator-filled swamp and explore an abandoned island.

Students will be taking a van around 10 a.m. to Stephen C. Foster State Park, where they will push off into the canal that leads into the main Okefenokee channel.

“Along the way, we will see fauna such as alligators, king fishers  and turtles coexisting within the bountiful flora such as lily pads, cattails, Cyprus trees and Spanish moss,” Rebecca Tucker, team leader, said.

Students will be taught how to kayak so students of any level experience are welcome to come on the trip. Students will not be camping so for most of the day students can expect to remain in their kayak.

The ride to the swamp should take around 50 minutes to an hour. Students must pay $25 and staff must pay $30 to attend the trip.

“This trip is a great advantage to take a breather from college stressors as well as experience one of Georgia’s natural wonders that many have yet to see,” Tucker said.

A week later students will have another opportunity to get out of Valdosta.

Ranch Life Horseback Riding will take students to a ranch just north of Valdosta. The group trail ride should last about an hour. The ride will go through an open prairie, woods and a small creek.

While this is the first time CORE is taking students to this particular ranch, Sean Wilkinson, rental center and trips manager, said that their horseback riding trips are some of the more popular trips that CORE hosts.

“It’s a good way to get away from real life for a little bit,” Wilkinson said. “It’s just hanging out with a bunch of awesome new people out on a ranch, eating lunch and riding horses.”

Students must pay $40 and staff must pay $45 to attend. No prior experience is needed for this trip.

If interested students either go by the CORE office on the first floor of Sustella parking deck or contact them at core@valdosta.edu to get signed up.