Friday, February 28, 2014

The Atchafalaya Swamp: Up Close and Personal

Two mornings in a row we had sunshine; however by noon the sun was covered by clouds.   We drove into Lafayette looking for antiques.  We found an antique mall that was supposed to be open at 10:00 a.m.  It was 10:00 but the mall was not open.  We went to the Lafayette Visitor's Center for info about other antique places.  They did not know of another and told us that the owner of that mall opens whenever they feel like it.  This is a good example of the laid back attitude of some Louisiana natives.  We went back to camp to relax until our 3:00 p.m. Swamp tour.
This is McGee's Landing where the tour began.  I was able to get a picture of the back of the restaurant as we were pulling out.

The Atchafalaya Princess

We enjoyed the tour.  It lasted about 1 1/2 hours and we heard a little history of the basin and how it has changed since the levee and dam system has become a part of the Mississippi River.  We saw several different kinds of birds and an Opossum.  It was nice change to see a living opossum instead of road kill.  The captain of the boat tried very hard to find alligators but the cool temperature and overcast day was not to the liking of the alligators who live in the Atchafalaya Basin.  A airboat tour came by and they found a nest of baby alligators and showed us where he had found them.  Can you find the babies in this underbrush?
We actually did see the baby alligators among this brush.

The brush we in which we found the babies is just beyond the airboat.

Redwood cypress in the basin.



There were houseboats and floating houses all along the basin area we were in.  It would be good fishing and hunting out here.
This is the restaurant we ate supper in.  The men all had some kind of fish or seafood.  Peggy and I had a cheeseburger and fries.  It was very good...not your usual MacDonald hamburger.  It was seasoned like the typical Cajun meat.  We both had room for dessert.  Peggy had bread pudding and I had a layered chocolate/vanilla cake...also delicious.  It began to mist as we were headed back to the camp.  I hope the rain holds off because tomorrow is the golf cart Mardi Gras parade.  I am looking forward to that.


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