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We had an amazing time thanks to our driver, Derek, and our tour guide Captain Dave.
We were picked arrived at the pickup location on Canal St at 8 and were picked up at 8:15. The bus ride was about 40 minutes from there and was air conditioned and comfortable. Derek was informative, interesting, and funny. During the ride, he pointed out local landmarks, explained some history of the city including the lasting effects of Katrina, and provided very helpful recommendations for getting authentic food and cultural experiences during our stay.
The property itself is clean and includes a large gift shop with snacks and drinks, as well as restrooms.
The tour itself departed at 9:30 and returned to the dock at 11:30. The boat is a large, flat-bottom that holds 22 passengers. The bench seating was a bit tight but not unreasonably so. Captain Dave lead took us upriver, through a tight slew, and around honey island. We saw plenty of alligators as well as lizards, turtles, birds, and raccoons. Captain Dave taught us about the local ecology, history, and pop culture relevant to the ecosystem and even provided some interesting personal anecdotes. We found him to be knowledge and friendly. At one point, he plucked a large grasshopper from a nearby leaf to pass around the boat.
Our tour was in early August and was certainly warm and humid, but not unmanageable. We had some storms before we arrived but this didnโt seem to decrease the amount of wildlife we saw. We had no problems with mosquitoes at all.
Overall, we were very happy with our experience and have no complains at all. Every aspect of our tour was professional and enjoyable....
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I took a Pearl River kayak tour today, and while I was initially nervous about the wildlife, the experience was mostly positive.
The accommodations exceeded my expectations. The pickup vehicle was a very comfortable coach bus, and the driver was fun, informative, and played great music. I was also pleasantly surprised to find plenty of clean, comfortable bathrooms at the location, which is a huge improvement over the porta-potties I typically find at kayaking tours.
One thing to note is that the website stated that the tandem kayaks had a 550lb weight limit, but the waiver we signed on-site listed a 300lb limit. I donโt know many adult pairs who would stay under that weight, but the lady at check-in said weโd be fine as long as we didnโt intentionally try to tip the boat.
The dock was sturdy, making it easy to get in and out of the kayaks, and the river had barely any current, so paddling was a breeze. We saw plenty of alligators right from the start, which was both exciting and a little nerve-wracking! At one point, a larger alligator came uncomfortably close to us because a nearby tour boat driver from the same company threw food into the water right in front of us, which felt unsafe.
The only downside was our guide, who didnโt engage much during the tour. I enjoy when guides share interesting facts or stories, but he was pretty quiet unless directly asked a question - his responses seemed educated though. I'm not even sure he ever provided us with his name. Overall, it was a good experience, but more interaction from the guide would have made it...
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While visiting New Orleans, everyone said we had to do a swamp tour. Yes, we were initially very skeptical but decided to give it a try. The amount of companies and options were endless, however, I wanted to avoid any one that was unethical by drawing in animals with human food like marshmallows. Based on their location on the historic Honey Island bayou, convenient transportation and positive reviews, we ended up choosing Cajun Encounters.
Everyone from our bus driver Amber to our tour guide (whose name escapes me but he's in one of my photos) were very knowledgeable, born n bred locals and friendly. We decided to splurge a bit by upgrading to the VIP tour which was a smaller boat, adults only and included complimentary water.
En route to Slidell, we saw the widespread destruction Hurricane Katrina left behind. The companyโs property was nice with a gift shop selling snacks and souvenirs, clean restrooms, and various historical and informational placards about the area and its inhabitants. Then our tour guide was fourth generation Bayou native with all the ins and outs on the geography, plants, creatures, and more. There was no question he didnโt know the answer to. On the actual tour, we saw a plethora of animals including raccoons, snakes, turtles, various types of birds and of course the highly-anticipated alligators. Since it was wintertime, the trees were fairly bare and the larger alligators were hibernating. Nonetheless, we had a wonderful time and are now part of the crew who would recommend anyone visiting the area to...
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