New Orleans, Louisiana: Day 2

After exploring the city, we wanted to explore the bayou so we took a swamp tour with Cajun Encounters Tour Co.

It was cool and rainy the day of the tour and we didn't know if we would see a lot of animals but it was so beautiful and peaceful it didn't matter.

Our guide explained that the cypress trees and the other vegetation get a little gray and washed out in the winter but I thought it was beautiful. He also said that the bigger alligators go into a hibernation and won't be seen until June when there body temperatures get back to a level when they can eat again.

He said when it is warm, you might see snakes (34 varieties to choose from, yeah.), gators, birds, wild boars, raccoons and nutria. Luckily (or should I say, "Thank you Jesus!") since it was so chilly, we didn't see any snakes. We did see a few raccoons, a heron, a nutria (which are like a mix of a ground hog and a giant rat) and one small gator.

He's hard to spot, but the gator is swimming by in the center of the pic.

A nutria. (Notice his nice orange teeth.)

A hungry raccoon hoping we would throw him some food.

A heron resting on a log.

Here's an interesting tidbit to help you during your next trivia contest...Did you know a marsh is a meadow which is under water and a swamp is a forest underwater?

The swamp was unlike anything we have seen before. I'd like to come back when it's warmer so we can see how lush the trees get and how big the gators are!