What an amazing place.......
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| Bourbon Street, French Quarter by night - buzzing! |
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| And by Day - not quite the same! |
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| One of the clubs dedicated to keeping jazz alive in the Bourbon St part of the French Quarter, most Jazz places are elsewhere - "Maison de Bourbon" |
After the excitement of last night we toned it down and today we took an air boat trip (air boat adventures) out in to the swamp lands!!
Although you are out in the swamp you mainly travel on man made canals which were dug by hand in the 1900’s. They were first used to get the native Louisiana Cyprus out and then later to provide access for natural gas (and petroleum) exploration.
Although you are out in the swamp you mainly travel on man made canals which were dug by hand in the 1900’s. They were first used to get the native Louisiana Cyprus out and then later to provide access for natural gas (and petroleum) exploration.
The air boats are powered by V8 engines of some sort. They are very noisy to travel on and when at speed (earmuffs are provided although mine were wet as it had only just rained before the trip out!).
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| Rare albino Alligator - her name is Sugar! |
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| Wild Alligator - as seen on the tour! |
Most of the swamp area is owned by the oil and gas companies
who then lease it back to farmers and others. Alligators are hunted here but
can only be hunted legally by land owners (only at a particular time of the year - alligator season!). Those permitted to hunt them are given a number of tags by the
government which is completely dependant on how much land they have (leased or owned) and how many alligators the
government feels should be removed. Tags currently cost $15 each so there is a
good reason to hunt carefully and only for more profitable larger animals (over 6 feet they get $1000 per foot under this they get $2 per foot). Heavy fines are
imposed if tags are misused or untagged alligators no matter the size).
The tour company has a license to visit specific swamp area but some areas are still out of bounds! and you do not want to get caught there! They can only visit with the permission of the oil companies and the leassee of the property.
The tour company has a license to visit specific swamp area but some areas are still out of bounds! and you do not want to get caught there! They can only visit with the permission of the oil companies and the leassee of the property.
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| Spanish Moss in the swamp land |
We also had the opportunity to hold a small Alligator (his name was Gatorade!),
surprisingly they have quite soft skin and are quite easy to hold. These "pets" are required to be returned to the wild once they reach 3 feet in length.
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| Maritta cuddles Alligator |
Towards the end of the trip the tour guide was "nuts" enough to step into the water and entice a wild alligator up to his face then fend him off due to their poor vision. We have video of the open jaw attempt to "eat " our guide!! Great trip and well worth the cost - we loved it and would probably do it again!
Once back in town we took a ride on some of the streetcars, At $3/day it is great value and you get to visit most of New Orleans - once you get used to them. Unfortunately once again we ran out of time and night closed in on us yet again.
Once back in town we took a ride on some of the streetcars, At $3/day it is great value and you get to visit most of New Orleans - once you get used to them. Unfortunately once again we ran out of time and night closed in on us yet again.
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| Many interesting places in New Orleans are decorated and lit up, this is in the Museum area travelling on the old streetcar route. |
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