de la Houssaye's Louisiana Swamp Tour August 2011

It was was hot, and I am talking like 100' every day for the whole month!

This is not typical, and about 5-10 degrees above normal?

As a result, I was limited to doing sunrise and sunset tours in order to avoid the heat of the day.

The video below was shot in one day at sunrise and again at sunset.

Two Louisiana swamp tours in one day.

Louisiana Swamp Photography Safari

Grande Avoille Cove, circa 1992




A Yellow Crowned Night Heron photo I took on tour this week



A photo of a Snowy Egret by Al Guidry

A pair of nesting Spoonbills








This is how it all began...


More than 25 years ago


A photo of Cattle Egrets nesting, by Tanya Landtmeters of Belgium



Tanya skinny dipping at Avery Island



Before I ever built the houseboat and became a full time Louisiana Swamp Tour Guide, I was guiding personal friends of mine into the Atchafalaya Basin swamp to put them into close photographic proximity of nesting birds.

My houseboat at Grand Avoille Cove in the Atchafalaya Basin

What really amazed my friends was the fact that I could bring them 10-15 feet away from these birds and not disturb the birds normal behavior. Because I lived on a houseboat and worked as a commercial fisherman, I visited the birds everyday, and we developed a relationship of mutual trust and respect.

I would come and go, never threatening or disturbing anyone so why should the birds panic when I showed up with a photographer in my boat?

A night heron hen, incubating eggs on her nest
and keeping an eye on us in the tour boat below


Queen Tanya nestled into the loft on my houseboat, at sunset



Because of my guide skills and service to birdwatching
and photography friends,
they suggested I become a full-time Louisiana swamp tour guide.

I told them they were crazy,
because no one would ever pay me to drive them into a swamp!

Little did I know they were looking into my future at the time.

I never planned, dreamed or imagined becoming a swamp tour guide, because back then, to my knowledge, commercial swamp tours were not even in existence in Louisiana.


A photo by Marc Garanger, a National Geographic photographer from France,
who took this photo of me in my old wooden skiff, over twenty years ago.

I built the houseboat to fullfill a personal desire to embrace nature, and to share that passion with other people, I began doing swamp tours.

My swamp tour guests photographing a Great Egret taking flight

As I grew up hunting and fishing the marsh and swamps with my father, I was being groomed to be a swamp tour guide and never knew it at the time.

I took this with my cheapie pocket camera from the road overlooking the rookery north of Lake Martin, while guiding Larry this week.
A Rosette Spoonbill



An egret roost at another rookery south of Lake Martin


My first butterfly of the season!

And the dragonflies are coming out too!

Because it was my photographer friends who inspired me to be a tour guide, I still love to do private photo safaris to remote locations for special people on occasion.



My friend Larry with a real wildlife camera,
focusing in on a rosette spoonbill engaged in nesting activities.

That's one really ugly bird!

I took Larry and his wife to some private areas outside of Lake Martin this week to do a photo safari of nesting birds and to eat at The Boiling Point in New Iberia.


We had fried catfish, fried crawfish, and fried shrimp, and as an after thought, I ordered a half order of boiled crawfish too!

Maybe Larry can send me some of his photos for me to share with you here in an upcoming post.

In the meantime here are a couple of pictures sent to me by some other Lake Martin safari photographers recently.


A photographer named Al Guidry was on the road and took a photo of me as I was leaving the landing to start a Lake Martin Swamp Tour a few weeks ago and sent it to me as seen below.The aluminum crawfish skiff I built to replace the old wooden one as a commercial fisherman over twenty years ago is still my ultimate swamp tour boat today, because it allows me to get into the shallow, densely vegetated areas most boats cannot access, and that is where the most wildlife is likely to be found.

If you would like to contact Al to order prints,
or to hire him for photography services;
PORTFOLIO 2000 ACTION PORTRAITS
by AL GUIDRY of LAFAYETTE, LA
337 406-0927 email:portfolio2000foto@cox.net

The photos below are provided by Al Guidry for your viewing pleasure.












Another photographer named Claude Nall took a panoramic photo of these two Lake Martin alligators below, from his kayak on the north side of the lake.
This is the kind of photo opportunities you can have if you join me for a swamp tour or photo safari at Lake Martin or some of the other private locations I guide my friends to in My Wild Louisiana!


Red Heron Sunset, Lake Fausse Point, circa 1992

If you would like to call me for reservations for my regular 2 hour Louisiana Swamp tour, the cost is $20/adult, and $10/seniors and children. I can be reached on my cell phone at 337 298 2639. And please bear in mind; tours are by reservation only. There is no regular schedule, because I am often fully booked for custom, private, full day trips. Also I launch from a wilderness area, public boat launch, so there is no storefront, reception area or restrooms at the landing. Unless you have reservations, you are most likely wasting your time to drive out, hoping to catch me there. Furthermore, I do not have time to do businesss by email, telephone communication is your only reliable means of contacting me.

Thank You, Marcus de la Houssaye

A Very Busy Season

A photo by Claude Nall



Do you have a reservation?

This is a common question being asked at the landing for the last few weeks by the tour guides to people who show up expecting to get on a Louisiana swamp tour without calling and making a reservation first.

On Tuesday, six people from Switzerland were very disappointed because someone from Lafayette told them they could just drive out and step on to a boat, with no reservation.

And they left without doing a tour.

On Thursday, when I got in at 1:30, eight people had been standing around for over an hour hoping to get on the 2PM tour, to no avail, every boat was booked solid.

My boat is running at near capacity for nearly every tour as seen below.



On almost every tour some asks if we will see alligators...

And I usually ask that person if they want to get up close and personal.

Is that close enough for you?

So... if you want to get up close and personal with a big gator,

and we have a lot of them,

normally seeing about 40 or 50 total on every tour,

I suggest you make a reservation before driving out to the lake.

My cell phone for reservations is 337 298 2630.

It breaks my heart to see so many people coming to the landing with great expectations,

thinking this is like a Disneyland attraction where you can just show up,
get in line, and it is on.

And then having to leave without getting out on the water.


Also, bear in mind there are no public restrooms at Lake Martin Landing, we launch from a public boat landing into a primitive wilderness area.

The new Nature Conservancy visitor center will provide a restroom on the other side of the lake, but I don't know if it is open yet, and it is a couple of miles from the landing.The Nature Conservancy Cypress Island Preserve Visitor Center

This week I am doing private photo safaris to remote locations where spoonbills are nestingand even though I am seeing more spoonbills at Lake Martin everyday, none are nesting close to the road the way they did before the lake water was being drained for the last few years.

But... you can get some great photo opportunities on rookery road with the little herons

And... along Prairie Highway near Lake Martin, the Red Iris are in bloom

See you at the lake

The Best Bed and Breakfast in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

Hi, I am Marcus de la Houssaye, owner and operator of de la Houssaye's Swamp Tours near Breaux Bridge. When I want to eat boudin, I want the best, and in my opinion the world's best boudin is at the Bayou Boudin and Cracklin company in Breaux Bridge.




I regularly visit Rocky and Lisa Sonnier, to indulge in the world famous boudin they serve in the dining area of the Bayou Boudin and Cracklin Company, which is the parent company of the Bayou Cabins Bed And Breakfast in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.

If you planning to visit Cajun Country for a swamp tour, and are researching your accomadation options, you need to check out the Bayou Cabins.

Not only is Rocky, the Boudin King, he established the first bed and breakfast in Breaux Bridge over 20 years ago. Rocky and his wife, Lisa are personal friends of mine and I highly recommend you visit them and sample the food even if you can't spend the night.

If you have been looking for a Cajun accent or someone who speaks French, they can satisfy you either way. Cajun hospitality can be a notch or two above southern hospitality, and Rocky and Lisa will make you feel like you are family, if you allow them to host you over night.

Also the friendliest Bed And Breakfast in Breaux Bridge

The reception area, cafe, dining rooms, kitchen, and gift shop of this unique vacation get-away, is centered in an original 1869 Cajun styled house which has been authentically restored to museum quality and is recognized by the Historical Society of Breaux Bridge as seen below.

Located on the historic Bayou Teche, is a complex consisting of thirteen Bayou Cabins which were all restored with original doors, windows and floors when possible and remodeled with new modern, plumbing, wiring, insulation, and are immaculately maintained by a full-time staff.

Prices for the cabins range from $60-$135 per night and feature decorations and furnishings of local collectibles of the Cajun and Creole cultures.

All are climate controlled with air conditioners, heaters, and ultra clean bathrooms. Some are on the banks of the Bayou Teche, with a back deck over the water, and most have a screened-in porch, so you can enjoy the fragrant night air of south Louisiana, without getting attacked by mosquitos!If you didn't get a cabin on the water, you can still enjoy the view of Bayou Teche when you borrow the house canoes and tour the bayou with your family.
Because Breaux Bridge is the Crawfish Capitol of the world and celebrates the Crawfish Festival in the first weekend of May, you may not be able to get a reservation this late in the game for that weekend, but they will put you on the waiting list anytime you have a special date and work with as best they can.

They do welcome walk-ins, but are not there is no one to check you in on Mondays and Tuesdays without a reservation.

And because you get a welcome platter of food and breakfast in the morning, best to make a reservation if possible. you don't want to miss the home cooked food!

Located @ 100 Mills Ave/Hwy. 94 in Breaux Bridge,
you can get there by exiting Interstate 10 at exit 109,
and call 337 332 6158 to make a reservation.
Here is the sign to look for on Mills Ave.
The Bayou Cabins in Breaux Bridge is lacated about 15 minutes from Lake Martin where I do my Louisiana swamp tours as seen below
and less than a block away from the Fruit Stand which serves boiled crawfish 7 days a week in the cafe and has fresh fruit and veggies, along with an amazing variety of exotic fresh and frozen seafood too.

See you at the lake,



Marcus de la Houssaye

Louisiana Swamp Tours Are In Full Swing With The Springtime Weather

The sunset, last night... You could have been here


A Wild Violet


Just a few weeks ago, the frost was still clinging to the flowers every morning, but here lately it seems I may not need to light up the wood stove again this season. Spring has sprung!

Although the images below were fun to shoot with my camera on macro, I know if you are from the north you don't want to see frost covered vegetation as seen below.

But here's the good news...

Those images were taken about two weeks ago and since it has been very mild in the evening and even warm enough to wear shorts and sandles in the afternoon.

A cutomer called and asked about the Acadiana Nature Station as an RV park, so here are the images I took for him that day.

There is a great playground for the kids in the front,
complete with tennis courts and a disc golf course,


but the best part of the RV park operated by the Lafayette Parish government is the walking trails in back as seen below.
The trails are well marked and immaculately maintained
A trail bridge over the bayou,

The bayou at sunrise, from the bridge

There rest stops along the way for the weary,
lazy, or comtemplative amoung us,

The curator of the nature center is a hero and inspiration of mine
and operates the nature station and manages the trails in true wilderness form, see the signs below,There are many surprizes that will put a smile on your face along the way, as seen below


And not to overlook, the RV parking is magical,A water-front picnic?

Clean, shady, well maintained, and quiet, ahhhh.....

A post card from Louisiana

See you at the lake,
Marcus