We left the RV park about 8:30 am for our swamp tour. The tour was on Lake Martin, just outside the nearby town of Breaux Bridges. The lake is essentially a land locked shallow lake with swamp vegetation along the shore, cypress and gum trees growing in the water, lots of birds, alligators, and snakes, etc. along with whatever else we couldn't see.
Our tour guide was a native Cajun and the son of the tour operator who runs the company. He was was very knowledgeable about the swamp and the surrounding area. Our boat was a shallow bottom motor boat and six other tourists were on the tour with us.
The swamp is an amazing place and nothing like you would ever see in the west. Trees covered with "Spanish Moss" were growing out of the water, water plants and flowers were everywhere and we saw lots of different types of birds. The lake is also full of alligators and, seasonally, water snakes. There were also several fisherman in bass boats fishing in the shallow waters. Our guide said the fishing is very good with different varietiess of fish to be caught. Duck hunting is also very popular on the lake and we saw several different types of duck blinds that are regularly used during hunting season. The tour lasted about two hours and we did get to see several alligators (big and small ones). The tour guides we talked to before we decided to go on the swamp tour were right - no mosquitos. Apparently the cypress trees give off some sort of resin that keeps them away. The weather was pleasant and not too hot. It was a great experience.
After the tour we went to "Vermilion Ville", a Cajun/Creole Heritage and Folk Life Park just south of town. The park is essentially a recreated village along Bayou Vermilion depicting Cajun/Creole life in the 18th and 19th century. It is sort of like a Cajun/Creole Colonial Williamsburg on a much smaller scale.
The park has about a dozen houses and buildings displaying different functions of village life of the time (school house, blacksmith, church, boat shed, etc.). Several of the buildings had docents in period costumes explaining things while performing tasks such as weaving, woodcarving, etc. There is also a large performance center for special events, a watershed building explaining the history and importance of water to the region, and an an excellent restaurant where we had lunch. The park apparently is a regular attraction for school groups; we saw two different groups passing through today. The park also has a number of other activities on weekends, including more craft demonstrations and musical programs. The crowd was pretty small today, which was good. It allowed us to move through the displays without a lot of people in the way.
After leaving the park we went to the adjoining Acadian Cultural Center. The center is one of six sites in Southern Louisiana that make up the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve. One of the other sites we visited was the French Quarter visitor center in New Orleans. The Cultural Center has a very nice museum and a number of displays portraying the history, life, and culture of the Acadians (now Cajuns) from their migration to southern Louisiana after they were forced by the British to leave Nova Scotia in the 18th Century. We also saw a movie at the center depicting the story of the Acadian relocation and immigration.
After resting back at the RV, we went to Prejeans restaurant again for dinner and had another excellent Cajun meal accompanied by live Cajun music.
Today we are going to travel about 30 miles south to the New Iberia and Avery Island area to visit some more Cajun/Creole attractions.
Tuesday Pictures - Swamp Tour
Tuesday Pictures - Vermilion Ville/Acadian Cultural Center/Prejeans
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