Saturday in New Orleans

HONEY ISLAND SWAMP BOAT TOUR

Departed from French Quarter at 8am on a bus to Honey Island swamp. About 15 other tourists and I boarded a small boat with captain Mike. He took us around the swamps of Louisiana. While on the tour I learned that the alligators are hibernating and we would not see any on our tour. Part of me was disappointed but the other part was okay-- seeing the alligators at the zoo and aquariums is close enough for me. 

Louisiana Swamplands, though, have many different kinds of animals, including the American Alligator and the American Black Bear. Swamplands are marsh with shrubs, bushes, trees, and animals, though they may not be entirely marsh. Swamps are usually deep and can often be deceiving, and it is this aspect that alligators may rely on to catch prey: the moss covered water may easily be mistaken for land. As the alligator waits nearby, unsuspecting prey may fall through the moss layer. Alligators continue to be dangerous to humans, and while quite fast, they are clumsy while turning

 

The correct (house on right) and incorrect (house on left) way to build a house in the swamplands in Louisiana. The house on the right hand 3 feet of water in the house. The house on the left is pictured below!! Cinder blocks were used for the left house.

 

see the house- floated down river with the floods from Hurricane Katrina 

 

Considered by many to be one of the most pristine swampland habitats in the United States, the Honey Island Swamp covers an area that is over 20 miles long and nearly 7 miles across, with 34,896 of its 70,000 acres government sanctioned as permanently protected wildlife area.

CYPRESS TREES

SPANISH MOSS

Nutria- The coypu, or nutria, is a large, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent and are originally from South America. Brought to the states for fur trade. Their diet is vegetation mostly on the plants found in the wetlands and swamps. Nutria were introduced to Louisiana in the 1930s for fur and nutria damage in Louisiana became so severe that in 2005, a bounty program was in effect to aid in controlling the animal. Each tail of the animal is worth $6 and some Louisianans make a living on traping these animals. 

 NUTRIA

AUDUBON INSECTARIUM

During my short lunch break between tours I made my way to the insectarium to check out the Japanese butterfly exhibit. This attraction was filled with kids and parents everywhere!! The floor plan was easy to follow basically just two parallel halls with bugs down either side along with islands in the middle. And of course the only attraction that interested me was at the very end but it was worth it!

 

  

  

 

CITY/ CEMETERY BUS TOUR

New Orleans is also famous for its cuisine, music (particularly as the birthplace of jazz), and its annual celebrations and festivals, most notably Mardi Gras. The city is often referred to as the "most unique" city in America.

ST ROCH CEMETERY

NINTH WARD

The 9th Ward neighborhood was thrust into the nation's spotlight during Hurricane Katrina. Much of the 9th Ward on both sides of the Industrial Canal experienced catastrophic flooding in Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Upper Ninth was flooded by levee & floodwall failures near the Desire neighborhood, across the Industrial Canal from the junction with the MRGO. 

The Lower Ninth Ward flooded most catastrophically, with storm surge coming through two large breaches in the Industrial Canal flood protection system, creating violent currents that not only flooded buildings, but smashed them and displaced them from their foundations. Three years after the Katrina levee disaster, reconstruction and recovery continues as a slow struggle. Schools and businesses are gradually reopening. 

Thousands are still waiting for promised insurance or government money which would enable them to make enough repairs to return to living in their damaged homes. Conditions in neighborhoods vary from the thriving Bywater to the portion of the Lower 9th north of Claiborne Avenue where the number of people back is less than one per city block, most of those living in FEMA trailers; the vast majority of the 9th Ward being about halfway between these extremes.

 ST CHARLES STREET

St. Charles Avenue is a thoroughfare in New Orleans, Louisiana and the home of the world famous St. Charles Streetcar Line. It is also famous for the hundreds of mansions that adorn the tree-lined boulevard for much of the Uptown section of the route. The southern live oak trees, particularly found in the historic Garden District, were added during the early twentieth century. Similar additions were made on other main streets throughout New Orleans, such as Carrollton, Napoleon and Canal, becoming one of the city's most memorable features. St. Charles is also known as one of the main Mardi Gras parade routes.