Riverboat On The Bayou
Louisiana. The L-shaped state. Alligators. Swamps. Riverboats. New Orleans. Mardi Gras. Hurricanes. Cemeteries. Plantations. Haunted. Voodoo. That’s just some of the associations we have when it comes to this deep-south state.
I’d never really heard of Louisiana until Britney Spears arrived on the scene in 1999 with “Baby One More Time”. I remember I had to pull up a map and look for it. Where on earth was Louisiana? A quick research on Yahoo (there was no Google back then) and I figured the state was pretty much either a swamp or under water, riddled with scary animals that would eat you up as soon as you set foot in the state. And if you survived an animal attack, a hurricane would swallow you up. No thank you. Hey, I was 26 and naive.
It would be years before I set my sight on Louisiana again and decided to actually learn something about the state. The more I learned, the more fascinated I became. I started to itch to go there. It was just one of those places that drew me. Then I got a friend in Louisiana, and a much needed excuse to go there. Going to USA is expensive. You can get a cheap flight, well, cheap’ish. But the car will cost you an arm and a leg. Staying can be done on the cheap, but you still need that petrol to get around. And you gotta be mindful of not driving too much over the speed limit, there’s police and sheriffs everywhere. Other than New Orleans, what does Louisiana have to offer? I set out to figure that with the help from my one friend there.
When in Louisiana, a trip on a riverboat is a must. The “Deep South” experience isn’t the same without. Being outside of tourist season, we had the boat to ourselves. What really made the trip memorable, was the captain’s knowledge of the area and his amazing ability of story telling. Also being outside of season meant less chance of running into any alligators. Much to my relief. Those creatures scare me enough to make me want to keep my distance. A very good and healthy distance.
Bird-life on the Red River is plentiful. They’re even kind enough to stay absolutely still as the riverboat passes by, giving a photographer plenty of frames. A gorgeous contrast to the rather murky water. A water that hides many, many (scary) secrets. I would not want to dip my toes in there.
You can’t go on the Red River without passing the many casino’s in the area. There is this old steamboat that is permanently docked, and has been rebuilt so that all windows are shut away. The “windows” you see from the outside are just painted on. Apparently when in a casino there are no windows and no clocks, all made so that you don’t notice time passing you by. Clever trick to keep people playing away their money.
