Kayaking in a Louisiana Swamp

We hired a private guide who drove us to a vast 120,000 acre swamp North of New Orleans. We kayaked deep into the swamp spending 4 hours exploring the waterways. The huge old Cypress and Tupelo trees were heavily draped with Spanish Moss giving the swamp a primordial look. The tea colored water was surprisingly clear. A channel meandered amongst the trees with weeds and grasses lining the edges, there was very little dry land. Singing birds filled the trees, numerous owls hunted prey, Bald eagles tended their nests . After a while I learned to spot the numerous alligators sunning themselves on logs or lurking in the weeds with just their eyes and nostrils sticking out of the water, they’re incredibly well camouflaged. The small ones vanished into the water when approached but the fearless big ones held their ground, the guide suggesting I not push my luck approaching them. The guide also recommended that we not paddle under the tree branches as we could accidentally knock off sunning snakes into our kayaks. Most of the snakes are deadly. We took his advice. We loved the chance to see and learn about this ecosystem that covers so

much of the Gulf.