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Surprise surprise, yep! You guessed it an early morning wake up call for us again. Checked out at around 7.45am and waited for Cajun encounters tour bus to pick us up! It was swamp time!
The driver was cool, he narrated the whole way to the swamps. We passed through some of the devastation of what hurricane katrina did to New Orleans; even 9 years on and there is still a noticeable effect.
80% of New Orleans is under sea level with the 20% of it above sea level being around the edges of the Mississippi River. They had flood banks put in to prevent the flooding, although the water came up the from the gulf coast and broke through the barriers at 32ft. The wind speed that was recorded was 200mph and gusts of 250mph, I can't even imagine how powerful that is!!
Another main source of income for New Orleans is the coffee plantation, they have coffee beans shopped there from all over the world and it gets processed and distributed though out America and the world!
They are building a new neighbourhood in New Orleans which we drove over on the fly over, it is a huge place. They are building houses and schools, and research buildings where they will work on discovering cures for human diseases!
Got to the swamp tour it was really cool, just how you imagine it would be with the swampy trees and airboats that glide through the water; first stop was the wild pigs they had on the side of the river, he had names for them and was feeding them marshmallows. He said that they originally came here in the 1900s when a Spanish shop over turned and the pigs they had on board swam to land and just re produced.
We went and seen what he called as an Indian village, I don't know why it wasn't very Indian. All of the houses couldn't be reached unless it was by boat, most of them were old and tattered, the foundations of some of them looked as though they were going to fall through any moment, they had been badly hit by the hurricane! And you could definitely see the effect. They're rented properties by the government, the lease is 99 years at $99 per month and then they are the home owner's; but most of them have been passed down through generations of their families so probably wasn't as much in price as they are now. We went back down the river to another turning where we spitting loads of alligators!! A few times we were surrounded by around 8-9 alligators and some if then weren't small!! They came really close to the boat. Our driver had marshmallows and Frankfurt sausages and placed them on a stick for them to come up the boat and jump up for the food. They are massive!! They can live off just 25-30lbs of food a year and can shut down 3 out of 4 chambers of their hearts when resting or sleeping with only 1-3 heart beats per minute! I think that's pretty incredible for such a huge animal. They can swim 25mph aswell so I'd definitely have no chance what so ever if the boat sank! We went into the swampy area all of the moss that hangs from the trees is called Spanish moss and it's an air plant so it doesn't need water or sunlight to live; ('don't let the bed bugs bite' saying comes from these plants) this is because years ago they used to cut the moss off the trees and stuff it straight into mattresses and pillows without letting it dry out and die for 10 days. They still use it today, but they do clean it and kill the plant and termites on it first, thankfully!
We came up close and too personal for my liking with raccoon and it's babies. The driver was feeding them marshmallows. They have rabies! Good job they wouldn't come out onto the water.
On our way back we driver down the river passed where the pigs were and we found one floating on the top of the water with only it's head and half of torso left, he had gone for a swim and wasn't able to out swim the alligator :( our driver looked a little upset because I think it was the one he was feeding marshmallows to and getting to sit climb a tree for like a pet.
Back to the French quarter we walked around all the shops, there are some really pretty antique and boutique shops everywhere. We went to jackson square which was built after the battle of New Orleans for memorial of those who died and to show victory and status of New Orleans.
Went back to the pool for a dip as it was incredibly hot still, even though we had the biggest clap of thunder I have ever heard, it made me shake! We had a little bit of rain but nothing that made much of a difference.
We went out, got stopped by a big group of people crowded in a circle, there were two men break dancing to music on the street! Basically begging for tips, that's getting on my nerves a little now the fact that tips are expected by everyone! Can't keep on with everyone it gets ridiculous! We ate at a little restaurant on chartes street, we both had salad. I had a shrimp Caesar salad which was lovely and Ross had a crab cake salad which was inside a massive tomato! We went up to Bourbon street and listened to some jazz in the jazz music park which is a bit like a courtyard. They were really good, felt obliged to buy a drink if we sat there listening to the music so shared a lemonade!
Strolled through bourbon street, the police officers are around a lot which is reassuring, they wear very right fitted clothing and considering they carry guns they don't wear bullet proof jackets, makes our coppers look silly because they don't even carry a taxer gun yet they still walk round with minimal movement in their limbs do to the padding they have on, these guys have guns, tazers and pepper spray and all they got to protect them is a sheriff hat!
Went and chilled in the courtyard at the hotel, bourbon street was good but the tackiness of the promoters outside clubs and the flashy lights and tacky bars put me off a little, when I wanted to see more jazz pubs and bars.
Memphis tonight, let's hope I sleep as well as I did coming here!
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