Before taking the tour, I had misgivings due to reviews complaining about long wait times and being unorganized. I even went ahead and reserved a car to drive there to avoid all that. I am happy I changed my mind. The tour was well organized, and the bus was on time and in good condition. We left and arrived exactly when we were supposed to. Besides, if I had used my own transportation, we would have missed a highly informative and fun trip.
At first we visited the Oak Alley plantation. On the way, our tour guide, Jim, gave us a brief history of New Orleans, and the landmarks and plantations we passed. The plantation is a must see for everyone. It made us sick to our stomachs to see the extent to which humans can be evil and cruel to each other. The oak trees and the lands were bitterly beautiful.
The second part of our tour was the swamp tour. Today was sunny, so luckily the alligators were out sun bathing. We saw lots of alligators, some raccoons, wild hogs and birds. The captain, Danny, made sure everyone could see the animals by turning the boat around several time. He also had a baby alligator on board for people to hold and take pictures with. The boat was clean and in good condition.
On the way back, Jim gave us a good mental picture of Mardi Gras with fun games and beads.
Overall, this is an excellent day long tour for those unfamiliar with the area and its history, completely worth the price.
We appreciate our driver, Ken, for being nice and safe and amazing. We also appreciate Jim for being so well- informed and for providing us with well-researched and fun facts. He also manage the tour very well. Last, but not least, we appreciate captain Danny for his wealth of knowledge about alligators and the bayou, and for caring about everyone’s safety.
Things that could be better: I felt sorry for Bruce the alligator for having to go from hand to hand to be taken pictures with.