Here There and Everywhere

Swamp Tour With Annie Miller’s Son

Annie Miller was a woman ahead of her time, out trapping, hunting and doing whatever she needed to do to keep her children fed and clothed and going to school. When oil went bottoms up, the town of Houma approached Annie Miller and asked her to start up some tours of the swamp, to attract business to the area. She did, and was so knowledgeable that people came from everywhere to take her tours.

Now her son does the tours, and we liked his approach. We call it “Under promise and over deliver” which we think is a great slogan for contractors everywhere. At one time AdventureMan worked for a giant company whose contracts were called “The Gold Standard.” His company cost a little more, but they delivered on every promise and were good at figuring out problems that cropped up mid-contract and working with the government to support the mission.

As this tour departed from the gathering spot at Bayou Delights restaurant, the guide told us that with the colder weather, he couldn’t guarantee that we would see any alligators at all, but that there were other things he would show us. I love that approach. It prevents excessive expectations.

As it turned out, we saw all kinds of wonderful things, both inside and outside of the Mandalay Wildlife Refuge.

This is a revolving bridge over the Bayou Black. You can see the round base on which it can swing sideways to allow really tall boats up the Bayou. The guide saws he has never seen it work in his lifetime.

Almost immediately, we spy an alligator sunning on the side of the bayou.

Entering Mandalay Wildlife Refuge:

Shooting digital is a crap-shoot. You have that tiny delay, but a tiny delay makes shooting wildlife less predictable. I didn’t even know I had this shot until I uploaded my photos to my computer. It was absolutely glorious to see.

I have never seen anyone call an alligator before. “C’mon Ruby! C’mon b-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-by! C’mon Ruby!” And Ruby came!

So did Little Latin Loopy Lou! She jumps for the pieces of chicken that he puts on the end of the stick:

This is more exciting to me than alligators. These birds are gorgeous.

These two eagles would swoop at the same time for chicken skins; unfortunately, against the dark bayou, you couldn’t see them as they swooped, but I loved catching two of them together as they chowed down on their meal.

Back at the lovely Marriott Courtyard in Houma, I love having a balcony, especially in this weather. Gorgeous sunset, gorgeous weather.

November 1, 2014 - Posted by intlxpatr | Adventure, Beauty, Birds, Character, Cultural, Environment, Photos, Road Trips, Weather, Wildlife | Annie Miller's Son's Swamp Tours, Louisiana, Mandalay Wildlife Refuge