Live from Louisiana!
Today I’m updating from
Southern Louisiana, Terrebonne Parish.
Wow, is there a lot to do down here! If you are looking for a unique outdoor adventure this is the spot. From canoe trips to swamp tours, freshwater fishing to bird watching walks the Cajun Coast has many things to offer the outdoor adventurer.
Famed southern hospitality is given a special Cajun twist; read -you will be fed till you can eat no more. Seafood, freshwater shellfish and fried chicken and we aren’t even at dessert. The people are warm and genuine and in the towns everyone seems to know everyone else and they are happy to introduce themselves and talk for a while.
Fried and boiled seafood is in abundance here but if you’d prefer there is ample offering of Southern fried chicken, red beans and rice as well as gumbo. It’s hard to go wrong as pretty much everything is delicious.
Ever handled an alligator? I just spent the day at Greenwood Gator Farm where “ Gator Girl” ( Tracy Schexnayder) spent the morning showing me and a group around her farm.
There 8,000 alligators are raised for their hides and meat (which is tasty and very similar to chicken). She explained the skinning process, in perhaps too much detail for some, detailing how every year 3000 wild gators are pulled in from the swamps and bayous then tagged and skinned.
The skins after being treated and tanned are then sent all over the world from France and Italy to Singapore. If you are interested you can even hold an alligator (don’t worry they tape its mouth shut).
If alligator handling isn’t your style you can wander the twisting trails of Mandalay National Wildlife reserve. There Spanish Moss hangs from the trees in great grey locks and if you’re lucky you can spot an egret or two. I spent an hour or so walking back into the swamps in search of birds (and ended up finding mostly interesting insects) though I did manage to hear an alligator once.
Tomorrow I will be headed out into the Gulf to do some deep-sea fishing. It calls for an early morning and so I’ll have to make it an early night.
Look for an article about the whole adventure soon.
