Swamp Tour

Our cruise left out of New Orleans on Saturday afternoon. Saturday morning, we decided we would take a swamp tour, by recommendation of one of the hotel employees.

Right before we got on the boat, this little raccoon came out to visit.

The Mighty Muddy Mississippi

Shrimpin' boat, like on Forrest Gump!

There are people who actually live on the Mississippi, on the bayou, in houses like this. They do have electricity and sewer, but the only way they can get from point A to point B is by boat. Sometimes they do find alligators on their front porch or in their backyard, but usually they try to stay away from humans. I know people do it, but it's just hard to imagine being so cut off from human civilization.

Swamp

This yellow finch serenaded us with the most beautiful song.

This was the path our boat took through the swamp. Believe it or not, we had a decent sized boat.

Lilypads

The trees that grow in the swamp are Cypress trees. It is what they build their houses out of down there because it is naturally treated lumber. Obviously, if it grows in water, it is going to withstand all the flooding that hurricanes bring.

The thing in the middle of the picture is the "knee" of the Cypress tree. It is actually part of the root system which is underground. They pop up every so often to help the tree get enough oxygen to breathe.

These are wood duck eggs in a Cypress tree. There used to be 12 of them, but a rat snake got in there and ate 8 of them. The people running the boat company scared it off, but later found it in another nest in the swamp, feasting there. :(

We didn't see any gators in the wild, but the company did have this baby alligator for us to hold. It was about 2 years old. You can tell their age by how long they are. They grow a foot a year. Obviously, this one was about 2 feet long.

His skin was very soft.

"I would like to eat you for dinner!"

They said the rubber band doesn't hurt it at all. He really doesn't mind having it on either. They keep him in a cooler to transport him from boat to boat. We highly recommend this Cajun Encounters Swamp Tour if you ever go down to New Orleans!