Excellent experience. Our guide Elizabeth was evidently highly experienced, she was absolutely hilarious, knowledgable and interesting, and was able to deal with some ruder guests in a courteous and professional fashion.
Our driver, Shanice (sp?) was also a lovely person, and able to deal with the insanity of Louisiana traffic on a Thursday afternoon with such grace and professionalism that I don’t think anyone further back (I was front row) would even have been aware what she was dealing with.
The plantation tour itself now; firstly you drive out to the Oak Alley plantation, which takes about 70 minutes on a good day. The tour of the manor itself is about an hour, and our guide was very knowledgeable and interesting (his name eludes me but he said he was previously a middle school teacher). There are also gardens, the oak alley itself, a restaurant, gift shop, and a series of replica slave houses which presents the darker side of Louisiana history in a respectful, engaging way. No flashy gimmicks, but not hiding away from the brutality either.
Then onto the Cajun Pride swamp tour. The boat ride itself lasts about an hour and a half. Our captain, T Tom, is a proper Cajun, who is funny, engaging, and proud of his Cajun heritage which he shares in great detail with you. We went on a cold but sunny day so the gators were all trying to get some sun. We saw about 8 when we were told we may not see any. I would advise going on a day with sun or in the warmer season as gators don’t like cold or rain. We also saw wild pigs and raccoons, a voodoo grave, a swamp shack and egrets. We even got to hold a baby gator!
(For those concerned about holding a gator, the gators are well treated in a way that lets them keep their natural instincts, and we were able to do this as they were currently being protected by the team from their natural predators, Captain T Tom explained that this was done so that they can be released back into the Bayou when old enough to be able to fend for themselves)
I’d highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting New Orleans and Louisiana, I felt like this was a fantastic introduction to the culture of this unique and special region of the United States, would be suitable for families with teens, friends, and individuals.