| de la Houssaye's Swamp Tours: The Louisiana Experience
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Born on the banks of the Bayou Teche in New Iberia, I grew up hunting and fishing the swamps and marshlands
of South Central Louisiana with my father. I have lived on a houseboat in the Atchafalaya Basin
for ten years, conducting tours and guiding fishing trips through a variety of swamps and marshland areas. I
was a commercial fisherman when I became a tour guide. I continue to drive the swamps today, the same
way I did as a commercial fisherman in pursuit of crawfish. I will take you where other boats cannot
go. In order to share my appreciation of the unique wilderness areas of Louisiana I am guiding tours
into the Cypress Island Swamp, which is the most wildlife-intensive wilderness I have ever visited. I
also guide custom tours into the Atchafalaya Basin and saltwater fishing trips into select marshland areas.
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Every tour is guided by me personally in a 20 ft. long, 7 ft. wide, heavy-duty aluminum, flat-bottomed skiff
powered by a 50 hp Mercury outboard motor. This boat is specially-designed for getting into the flooded
cypress forest, interior of the swamp. This boat is locally referred to as a "crawfish skiff." Harvesting
crawfish from the natural areas of Louisiana is unique to our state. It is an activity which spans
the broad variety of culture in South Louisiana with many of today's fishermen being second or third generation.
My boat is an authentic Cajun fishing boat that has been outfitted with comfortable padded seats and
backrests allowing you to experience the swamp from the perspective of an everyday crawfishing trip.
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The Cypress Island Swamp Tour begins at Lake Martin Landing, where we will leave land to navigate through a dense
mat of floating and submarine vegetation following "roads" that are known to me alone. We will pass
through a flooded forest of moss-draped Bald Cypress which is home to Barred Owls, Great Horned Owls, Pileated
Woodpeckers, Osprey, Bald Eagles, Anhinga Cormorants, Wood Ducks, Yellow Crowned and Black Crowned Night Herons,
Green Herons, Louisiana Herons, Great Blue Herons, Mississippi and Swallow Tailed Kites, Nutria, Frogs, Snakes,
and of course, Alligators.
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A tour of the Cypress Island Swamp will appeal to anyone interested in photography, birding, nature study, or
family-oriented trips. The largest nesting area of wading birds in the state of Louisiana is in the
Cypress Island Swamp. Woodstorks, Roseate Spoonbills, Glossy Ibis, White Ibis, Cattle Egrets, Snowy
Egrets, Great Egrets, and little Blue Herons are some of the species found in great abundance nesting and roosting
in the Cypress Island rookery. We will stop frequently along the tour to observe wildlife and soak
up the sounds of the swamp. This is your opportunity to personally experience the swamp environment of
the wilderness wetlands of Louisiana. Any time of the year, join me for an unforgettable escape into
paradise, and a vanishing way of life.
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Copyright 2004 by delahoussayes.com. All rights reserved.
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