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We love finding unexpected things as we travel around the world, yesterday was a cracker. Finding the USA’s answer to Nessy in Darien Georgia came totally out of the blue and was a delight for all of us.
No, we didn’t actually see her. But we talked to a lady who had a friend who had.
Darien, Georgia lay on our path from Canada to the Keys and we chose to break our road trip here for one night during our USA road trip.
A stroll from our very nice motel, past trees laden with Spanish moss to the Darien tourist information centre brought us a big surprise.
Georgia, Darien in particular, has it’s own version of Nessy, the UK’s famous Loch Ness Monster.
So this is what she looks like, Altie or Altahama Ha in Darien Georgia
Darien Georgia and the USA’s Answer to the Loch Ness Monster
Darien, Georgia is home to the USA’s answer to Nessy. It was one of those road trip stops that happen because you just can’t drive any more.
Chef ( my husband) wanted to carry on and drive through the night, but I’d had enough and it looked like Darien had some great cheap accommodation and some cool-looking outlet shops that I wanted to check out.
We found a bargain hotel on Priceline and as we pulled in we noticed a sign with a drawing of a weird-looking creature pointing to the tourist information office. We had to go.
It turns out that Darien residence have been sighting Altie or Altamaha ha since the 1700s, she’s a creature with her roots in Native American traditions.
The lady in the tourist information office told me there had been recent sightings of a large eel-like creature showing humps above the water.
I found a video.
I have no idea if the USA has other Loch Ness Monster type creatures, I need to Google, do you know? But we’re very glad we stopped in Darien, the shops and hotel were good too.
Onward now from Georgia to Florida and the Keys. This USA road trip has been a real voyage of discovery!
Alyson Long is a British medical scientist who jumped ship to chase dreams. A former Chief Biomedical Scientist at London's West Middlesex Hospital she started in website creation and travel writing in 2011.
Alyson is a full-time blogger and travel writer, a published author, and owns several websites. World Travel Family is the biggest.
A lifetime of wanderlust and over 6 years of full-time travel, plus a separate 12 month gap year, has given Alyson and the family some travel expert smarts to share with you on this world travel site.
Today Alyson still travels extensively to update this site and continue her mission to visit every country, but she's often at home on her farm in Australia.
2 thoughts on “Darien, Georgia and the USA’s Answer to Nessy”
Like the previous commenter I’m really enjoying reading your stories about the US. I’m embarrassed that I’ve traveled more outside my own country than in it! I had no idea we had our own Nessy. Hope you are enjoying our big, beautiful, crazy nation!
It makes me smile every time you post about something in my country I’ve never heard of. THIS is one of those times. =) I used to get most/all of my Christmas shopping done in Darien over a single weekend, when I still lived in the Lowcountry of SC. Would drive down with my mom and take care of it all at once. Been there many times; have never heard of Altamaha ha.
Ps – you got away from SC just in time. There are power outages all over the Lowcountry, trees down, it’s a mess. Actually, I’m listening to the sleet pinging on my door as I type this. =)
Like the previous commenter I’m really enjoying reading your stories about the US. I’m embarrassed that I’ve traveled more outside my own country than in it! I had no idea we had our own Nessy. Hope you are enjoying our big, beautiful, crazy nation!
It makes me smile every time you post about something in my country I’ve never heard of. THIS is one of those times. =) I used to get most/all of my Christmas shopping done in Darien over a single weekend, when I still lived in the Lowcountry of SC. Would drive down with my mom and take care of it all at once. Been there many times; have never heard of Altamaha ha.
Ps – you got away from SC just in time. There are power outages all over the Lowcountry, trees down, it’s a mess. Actually, I’m listening to the sleet pinging on my door as I type this. =)