Wildes Louisiana

Wild Louisiana

For me, swamps have something mystical about them. That's why

is our first destination in New Orleans neither

the Garden District nor the French Quarter but the swamps near Baton Rouge.

We booked a private swamp tour with Wild Louisiana Tours.

The night was short, but the frustration over the lost suitcases is great

Nevertheless, we are excited to set off.

As soon as you landed at New Orleans airport you could

see the large swamp landscape.

With Terry our boatman we now go into this

Fantastic labyrinth of watercourses surrounded by breathtaking nature.

Apart from the rattling of the boat's engine, you can only hear the birds singing as they greet the day.

We glide along on the glassy water. The large, majestic cypress trees from which the Spanish moss hangs are reflected in the water and you have the feeling of floating through the treetops.

We drive deeper and deeper into the swamps and see beautiful flowers and bizarre tree trunks sticking out of the water.

Waterfowl look for the perfect spot to grab a fish or dry their feathers in the sun. The entire atmosphere ensures that all the tension from the stressful arrival day seems to immediately disappear from us.

However, the stars of the swamps, the alligators, are reluctant to show themselves to us.

Terry tells us that the big airboat tour operators use a trick to lure the rustic predators in front of the lenses of tourist cameras.

Alligators' favorite food is bird eggs. Since marshmallows look the same to the alligator's eye, they are fed as a small snack. The reptiles are crazy about marshmallows and as soon as they hear the noise of the airboat engines, they come swimming over. Bad luck for us. Our engine is significantly too quiet. Furthermore, Terry, who loves the swamps and their inhabitants, would never dream of using such practices that are harmful to the animals just to give tourists the perfect photo shoot. Terry would now like to show us his favorite place. He heads for the shore and says, please look ahead and don't turn around. We are excited to see what awaits us. Absolutely nothing is happening. Suddenly we hear it splashing behind us. What the hell is Terry doing?

Sorry but I needed a restroom, he explains to us. With a smile we reply, no problem.

"Now let's go to my favorite place," he says and soon we have reached this mystical place. The “deafening” silence is unbelievable.

The wind is picking up, you can hear the rustling of the leaves or maybe it's a raccoon looking for delicious shrimp? We hear a noise in the water. Is that an alligator on the prowl? We perceive everything around us much more intensely thanks to the peace that this place radiates.

Terry uses the mood to tell us one of the many ghost stories that are as popular in Louisiana as Grimm's fairy tales are in Germany.

The story is about a woman who lived here in these swamps with her husband. Trappers entered the swamps and robbed the woman and her husband of their livelihood.

The woman knew the art of voodoo and she prophesied.

The day I die, the predatory trappers will die too.

A short time later, a Category 4 hurricane hit the marshes and 300 trappers died in the storm.

The next day it was written in the newspaper that the woman had died.

So the woman's prophecy had come true.

I have goosebumps. I don't know if it comes from this story or from a cold wind that suddenly came up.

A cold front is approaching. The first this fall.

It's time for us to turn back.

A wonderful morning comes to an end.