Road Trip 2018 - Day Ten, Swamp Tour

Today we headed out of New Orleans and toward Mississippi. But we had one more tour to take in Louisiana, a swamp tour. We were very fortunate again today in our group size. We were supposed to have five people in our group. But one couple failed to print out the driving directions, putting their blind trust into their GPS. Unfortunately the address for the tour's headquarters is like a long, long way from where we were actually meeting. The tour guide said we couldn't wait any longer and so we went with just the three of us.

Our tour leader Captain Al

There are three basic types of trees in the swamp

The cypress has a root system that goes out wide a broad and helps to hold it in place in soft, unstable soil

They also have 'knees' that go out and help it get oxygen

Then there is a type of tree that puts a wide number of branches and roots out like a mangrove

These help soil to accumulate and also provide protection for all kinds of young aquatic life

Finally there are trees that grow on harder, firmer ground

These look like they are falling over but are in fact just putting out branches to catch more sunling

The tourism industry is very competitive

One can see the remains of those who have lost the battles between tour companies

 Actually what happens is when foul weather comes in, boats are lost

But the State of Louisiana charges around $5 grand for a permit to salvage a boat so no one gets them

There are are all kinds of structures on the river that are used mostly for getaways 

They used to be permanent residences

There was even a water borne school bus

The Swamp can be a beautiful place

We saw a few turtles but they were in the water before we could get a picture

No alligators either

However there were both egret and blue heron

An old bridge that just went out of service a few years ago

Our guide had turned us onto a really good local restaurant

But on the way we saw these neat what looked like vacation houses that were built up on poles to protect them from flood waters

As you got closer to the ocean, the swamp becomes marsh land

Finally our last Louisiana meal

Crab and corn bisque

A version of gumbo that rates at high end of those I've tried

Fried catfish with crawfish cream sauce

And shrimp on cheesy grit

It was all very, very good