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154<br />
CHAPTER 5 . SIGHTS TO SEE & PLACES TO BE<br />
SWAMP TOURS<br />
Swamp tours can be a hoot, particularly if you get a guide who calls<br />
alligators to your boat for a little snack of chicken (please keep your<br />
hands inside the boat—they tend to look a lot like chicken to a<br />
gator). On all of the following tours, you’re likely to see alligators,<br />
bald eagles, waterfowl, egrets, owls, herons, ospreys, feral hogs,<br />
otters, beavers, frogs, turtles, raccoons, deer, and nutria (maybe even<br />
a black bear or a mink)—and a morning spent floating on the bayou<br />
can be mighty pleasant. Most tours last approximately 2 hours.<br />
Dr. Wagner’s Honey Island Swamp Tours (& 985/641-<br />
1769 or 504/242-5877; www.honeyislandswamp.com) takes you<br />
by boat into the interior of Honey Island Swamp to view wildlife<br />
with native professional naturalist guides. Westwego Swamp Adventures<br />
(& 800/633-0503; www.westwegoswampadventures.com),<br />
located on Bayou Segnette in the town of Westwego, offers an<br />
“authentic Cajun Heritage” tour (no fake Cajuns, but we bet some<br />
heavy put-on accents!). It includes transportation from most downtown<br />
hotels for an additional fee.<br />
Pearl River Eco-Tours , 55050 Hwy. 90, Slidell, LA 70461<br />
(& 866/59-SWAMP or 504/581-3395; www.pearlriverecotours.<br />
com), is built on Southern hospitality. You may have seen them on<br />
Bobby Flay’s Food Network show. The boat captain, Neil, has been<br />
doing tours of Honey Island Swamp for over 10 years, and his wife<br />
answers the phones. They are always friendly, and the swamp is<br />
beautiful, even during the months the gators are in hibernation.<br />
MYSTICAL & MYSTERIOUS TOURS<br />
While most of the ghost tours are a bunch of hooey hokum, we are<br />
pleased that there is one we can send you to with a clear conscience:<br />
Historic <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Tours (& 504/947-2120) offers a<br />
Cemetery and Voodoo Tour, the only one that is fact- and not sensation-based,<br />
though it is no less entertaining for it. The trip goes<br />
through St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, Congo Square, and an active<br />
voodoo temple. It leaves Monday through Saturday at 10am and<br />
1pm, Sunday at 10am only, from the courtyard at 334-B Royal St.<br />
Rates are $15 for adults, $13 for students and seniors, and free for<br />
children under 12. They are also offering a nighttime haunted tour,<br />
perhaps the only one in town where well-researched guides will offer<br />
genuine thrills and chills.
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