October 22, 2011

Swamp Tour 2

Sunrise in southwest Louisiana

 

The first tour we took was good and we saw wildlife and local atmosphere but it had a bit of a Disneyland feel.  In fact the boat we were on was almost an exact replica of those on the Jungle Tour ride.  The tour office even has a gift shop where you can buy baby alligator heads.

We wanted to see if we could find a tour with a more close up feel.   In southwest Louisiana we found a swamp tour run by a guy with a biology/botany degree who grew up in the area.  This is his office.

His emphasis is not to show visual ops a la Disney (although they might happen) but to educate people about the swamp and let them experience it close up.  Our tour was done by his son who didn’t have the degree but had 20 years of OJT with his dad.  Great tour!  First, the boat.  Much smaller.  Held 12 people instead of 30.  Each person sits in own swivel chair instead of long benches down length of boat.  Very shallow draft.  The other tour boat was flat bottomed but this one could go in water 14 inches deep or less (we did).  This boat could go through trees no more than five feet apart (we did).  Full two hours of close up and hands on experience.  The other tour was on a river and up some large bayous.  This tour twisted  DEEP into the swamp through a continuous maze of cypress trees. 

On the first tour we saw a number of swamp birds and several alligators at a distance sunning themselves on logs.  On this tour we only saw one alligator (it was a bit cool and cloudy).  The experience was vastly different however.  We twisted and turned way into the swamp and at the end of a small waterway we pulled up on a bank – into the opening of an alligator nest.  Complete with mother and babies.  Bow of boat was about six feet from mom.  Guide gently teased her a bit with an oar to get a little reaction for pictures. 

Mom in center.   Babies on bank behind and to left.  Guide figured mom to be 7-8 feet long.

Hi there!

 

Note oar

 

Close up of some of the babies.  There are at least three in this picture.

We enjoyed the experience for a short while and then left them in peace.  Definitely not Disney.  The two tours actually complimented each other.  We saw more on the first but learned more and experienced more on the second.