Service, Swamps, and Steamboats

Wow, today was such a busy day! This morning, students could pick from four service projects:  Project Green Light, a Irish Channel home renovation, or an urban garden construction. Amber, Marina, and Vanessa all took groups to work on Project Green light which brings energy efficient light bulbs to people in need. Charlie and Brandon took groups to help Clarence work on his house that he has been rebuilding since Katrina destroyed his home. I took a group of students to Saint Brother Andre's garden just outside of the French Quarter where we helped Paul, the master gardener, weed and plant in this community garden.

After our service projects in the morning, we all headed to the Jean Lafitte Swamp (named after the pirate from the ghost tour!) for our swamp tour! My car got a little lost on our way to the tour (don't worry-I gave us an hour to get there and we were the first ones to the tour), and Caitlin spotted a group of Mardi Gras Indians dancing under the overpass! We immediately stopped and went to watch the performance, which was extremely exciting. (Visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3PEAXQg-ug to learn more)

The swamp tour location was very interesting. There were a number of tour boats availalbe and there was a nutria, a 90 lb alligator turtle, and a baby gator in cages for visitors to see up close. Once everyone arrived, we had lunch on the boat and began our way down the canals. The alligators, turtles, spanish moss, and other lush plant and animal life was amazing. Our tour guide even brought out a baby gator for all of us to hold! The tour office is raising the gator until its large enough to be released into the wild without having to worry about it being eaten by other gators.

After the swamp tour, we all returned to the hotel for showers and a rest before our riverboat jazz cruise in the evening. The boat was very beautiful and very large! For dinner, there were a variety of options, and once we ate, the boat took off down the Mississippi for over an hour. We were able to wander the ship and watch New Orleans slowly pass us by as we traveled down the river. The cruise let us of around 10 PM and we were all free to go explore (in groups, of course) or return to the hotel.

Your friendly trip leader,

EM

Pictures from top:

Service in the Irish Channel with Tristan, Tim, and Cailee

Amber holding a baby gator on the Swamp Tour

The Creole Queen - our jazz dinner cruise ship!