swamp things!

i always wanted to see a bayou and i'm so happy we took the time to go on a swamp tour. the place was about 45 minutes out of New Orleans. there were 24 of us tourists on a pontoon boat. the tourists were from everywhere: australia, france and holland, besides a bunch of US people.

so we get on this boat and go upriver a little way, then turn into this narrower channel and immediately the water is covered in this green floaty plant, and the cypress trees are dripping with spanish moss. hey, it's like disneyland except it's real! it was very pretty and peaceful. the first wildlife we saw was a heron or an ibis - can't remember which but we did see a lot of both birds. then we came alongside a 5 foot alligator. the tour guide tossed out some marshmallows - turns out gators like marshmallows - and we watched it chomp. we moved on and were lucky to see the grandaddy alligator of the swamp. his name was Guapo and he was 14 feet long! he came right over to the boat and the tour guide put hot dogs on the end of a stick and he would eat them right off the stick. huge mouth! and it's really RIGHT THERE off the side of the boat.

a little further on and there was a young gator. our tour guide knew each one we saw, could tell from the markings who they were. he said, "this one likes to jump," and so he put a hot dog on the end of the stick, and held it out about 4 feet above the gator. the gator looked up, and then jumped, straight up out of the water! it was amazing. rylan got photos of it and we'll get those photos on the internet eventually. he did this 3 times so we got a good look at a leaping gator.

we went on, up and down the river and into other bayous. didn't see any more gators. saw lots of turtles, large and small. saw fish that jump out of the water and flop down against the surface (to rid themselves of parasites). saw Katrina damaged river homes. it was hot and humid, but not as bad on the water. oh, and it rained at one point as well, which felt good.

as we drove the freeway there and back we could see a lot of Katrina damaged homes. it's sad that there is so much devastation. it's been three years. we saw houses in fine shape right next to completely abandoned, dilapidated houses. lots of them. and this was just from the freeway. we could have, but didn't go into the Lower 9th Ward - it was too dangerous (there were 5 murders in the 9th ward just in the weekend we were here). but if we did go there, that's where the devastation is the worst.

the French Quarter, however, looks great and we are staying in it and not exploring outside of it too much. we did take a drive down St. Charles street which is lined with trees and incredibly beautiful southern mansions. also saw Tulane University ("Yes," says rylan as we pass, "I know that I could go there.").

dinner tonight and then we hit the road, heading up the Blues Highway, highway 61 towards Clarksdale Mississippi, home of the delta blues and the famous crossroads, where Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil. a little more music history.