Showing posts with label swamp tour reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swamp tour reviews. Show all posts

Sunday, June 19, 2011

The Best Swamp Tour In Breaux Bridge



That's what people are telling me they heard is that I have the best Louisiana swamp tour, and that they went and researched reviews, and so apparently my daughter was right when she curiously asked me a few years ago; "Daddy, are you the world's most famous swamp tour guide?"

A stock photo of me and Christina by Philip Gould


Little children say the funniest things!

At any time, if you come to do a tour with me, I will be the best swamp tour guide I can be, and after 25 years of doing tours for my friends and guests from all over the world, being the best is not as important as being happy and sharing the rich culture, wildlife and humor Cajun Country is famous for, and that's what really matters to me.

Now, if you are wondering if we are flooded over here, I need to advise you to the contrary, the flood is on the other side of a huge levee twenty miles east of me. And furthermore, we are suffering from low water due to a drought, so as far as I am concerned, I wish the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers would install some distribution outlets in the west protection levee and send some water our way, because we need it and it is wrong to try to control flooding by containment, when nature, if we were doing nothing, would deal with floods by allowing it to distribute over a 200 mile wide flood plain that is no longer allowed to flood. A "controlled" distribution would NOT ALLOW peoples farmland or houses to flood, because it would spread out the flood waters and prevent it from rising so high, and thus be a be a better flood control program, it would also be good for wildlife and the coastal wetlands environment. Helloooooo! A floodplain is supposed to flood periodically.




Below is a collection of photos by my friend Claude Nall. All photos are copyrighted and courteously shared for your viewing pleasure. These photos were all taken last week at the swamp surrounding Lake Martin, over a period of 3 days and includes sunsets, a full moon rising and setting, and wildlife all in one of the most amazing and beautiful landscapes in Louisiana.

I will label the photos and especially the wildlife before I publish this post, so you don't have to wonder what they are.



Above is a sunset photo shot from the boat landing, where you can go and take photos like this from land without being in a boat. And below is the full moon rising in the Bald Cypress trees.



A Great Egret flew into this shot at just the right moment to add a big plus to this photo. Claude was not trying to capture the bird, just the sunset. This photo is a good example of how exciting and spontaneous Lake Martin can be for photography, bird watching, or nature study.


Great Egret(right) and Anhinga Cormorant(left)


Three Great Egrets in the early morning fog





Black Bellied Whistling Duck



A Great Egret eating shad





Below are three photos of the blossoms of American Lotus, which are firmly entrenched in the ecology of Lake Martin.









Above, a baby American Alligator, which is obviously a baby, evident by the large eyes. When you compare the proportion of the eyes to the head in comparison to the photos below, you can see an adult alligator below has smaller eyes in proportion to the size of the head.





If you like what you see, and you are planning a trip to south central Louisiana to visit Lafayette and Breaux Bridge, and maybe do a swamp tour with me, I can be reached by calling my cell phone for reservations at 337 298 2630.

And here is the thought for the day: "If a man says something in the swamp and there is no woman around, is he still wrong?" ;-)

The last photo is a save the best for last, it is the full moon setting over Lake Martin at about 3:30AM with the orange glow of Lafayette in the background. Enjoy!

Monday, April 12, 2010

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