I booked a combined double plantation plus swamp tour for a day based out of New Orleans. The plantation tour post will be up next, and I’m combining it with a plantation I toured up North of Baton Rouge. I often like to skip guided tours to places, and figure out transportation on my own. However to get to the plantations and the swamp you need either a car, guided service, or you’ll be paying a lot for a service such as Uber, with no guarantee that you’ll find a ride back.

I booked through Old River Road Plantation Adventure, which has a few options available, and to me also seemed like the best deal for what you get to do. You can either pick an option to just visit the two plantations, which include Oak Alley Plantation and a pick between Evergreen or Laura Plantations, or you can add on the swamp tour as I did, which also provides a lunch that we were able to eat at the swamp tour before getting on the boat. Our tour bus dropped the five of us who elected to take the swamp tour off at the swamp, and then another service had our information to take us back to New Orleans.

It was nice to be out in nature for the tour. Our guide was very informative, and it was interesting to watch because the alligators recognize his voice so as we were going, they came out to see us. He threw them marshmallows which I’m sure is what entices them to come out. He explained they feed them marshmallows because they quickly dissolve in the swamp as they’re just made up of sugar so they don’t cause a risk for other animals, and the alligators enjoy them. Our guide said we were very lucky with not only the amount of gators we saw, but other wild life too including birds, raccoons, and a log lined with turtles.

Along with slowly making our way through the swamp, our guide brought out skulls or animals, different hides, multiple snakes for us to hold, and a baby alligator. The alligator’s jaw is closed with some restraints, although it doesn’t hurt them, and you could tell how comfortable it was in each person’s arms by how much it moved around.