Marrero, Louisiana

Our Jean Lafitte Swamp Tour in Marrero, LA (Friday, August 24, 2012)

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• published: 14 Sep 2012
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Watch in high quality (480p). Being located only twenty-five minutes from New Orleans in the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, the Jean Lafitte Swamp Tour explores Louisiana's back country along its bayous abundant with wildlife and exotic plant life. A trained navigator escorted us into the murky waters of southern Louisiana swamps where we came face to face with the beauty and beasts of nature! So, in this video, it shows "Day 2" of our big family vacation. This day, we went to the Jean Lafitte Swamp Tour in Marrero, LA. It began to rain very hard as we headed towards the swamps. Luckily, the rain had stopped when we officially began our tour at around 2 p.m. We saw quite a few alligators while along the way. Our tour guide explains what we are seeing. To the right of us was private land and to the left was the land owned by the government so it's illegal for gator hunting here. There was also a nice marsh filled with tall grass and soon passed a sign, "You Are Now Entering Gator Country"! We later arrived at the fork at the Bayou Anx. We also found more alligators while at the fork. We also saw a shack to the right, indicating how the native used to live here in the past. There was also another shack passed it down another smaller canal. A few movies were actually filmed in this area. We also saw another alligator swimming directly towards us in the front of the boat. We also saw a semi-fallen tree filled with Spanish moss. Then the tour guide shows us some damage left by Hurricane Katrina and how the trees fell from the direction of Katrina's winds. Finally, we reached at the end of the bayou (where thick algae-like plants finally covered all the water, preventing us from continuing down the river. We saw a thunderstorm/wall cloud headed straight for us at this time. A few of us, even me, also saw one distant CG lighting! We the stopped and our guide shows us a huge alligator head and how to measure its body by just the length in inches of its head. The tour guide also gave us a small, 2-month old baby gator for each and every one of us to hold! The rain started once again and this time it didn't stop. We then headed back and had to cut the tour short due to the deluge. It rained very hard, harder than the rains back in California! We also heard some thunder while heading back. It was a cool experience to see a swamp for the first time in person...in a heavy thunderstorm! The tour should be around 2 hours but it was cut short due to the unexpected heavy thunderstorm that drifted in. To end the video, it shows just a few of many photos we took during our tour. Hope you guys enjoy the video! Sit down and enjoy the adventure :) (Friday afternoon, August 24, 2012)