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A Very Special Visit On Saturday, May 29, 2004, the folks at Alligator Bayou hosted a special visit from the children of Cancer Services of Greater Baton Rouge.
Thirty guests from Cancer Services came for a morning full of entertainment and fun out in the swamps.
The children are part of two programs of Cancer Services of Greater Baton Rouge: Candlelighters and Kids Kare.
 Candlelighters is a chapter of a national organization for children with cancer and their siblings. The name Candlelighters comes for the Chinese proverb, "It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness."
Kids Kare is a program that began at Cancer Services in 1999 to help parents help their children cope with cancer in the family. Kids Kare serves any family with a child between the ages of four and sixteen who has a parent diagnosed with cancer.
“We had a fantastic time at Alligator Bayou.” said Program Director Susan Moreland, “Jim and Frank have entertained and hosted our Candlelighters and our Kids Kare families before. Everyone there makes us feel so welcome, and they go out of their way to make sure the kids have a great time.”
The morning consisted of a visit to the Turtle Exhibit with lots of alligator snapping turtles, snakes, fish and a few curious bullfrogs. Next was a wonderful swamp tour aboard the Alligator Queen which delighted the children and their families.
“It's such a nice break for the families to get away and have some fun and take their minds off all the difficulties of dealing with such a devastating illness. The kids always love coming and getting to see all the different critters and especially the baby alligator,” added Moreland.
Alligator Bayou tours opened in 1997, when business partners and residents of Bluff Swamp, Frank Bonifay and Jim Ragland, discovered a desperate need in preserving the natural beauty that exists today at Bluff Swamp and surrounding wetland areas from the devastating effects of nearby development. This mission of Alligator Bayou Tours, www.alligatorbayou.com, is to educate local citizens, school children, and visitors about the wetlands and the cultural history of the Spanish Lake Basin. Click here for more photos.
Gator Pit expansion update: Fence will be going up over the next few weeks and the gators should be moving by end of June. We'll be getting from 15 to 30 gators depending on the seller farm's available stock.
The deck around the turtle exhibit is now complete, as is the walkway to the water. We are currently getting the railing in process. The walkway to the water will actually help us run tours during the summer when Ascension Parish won't clean out the debris from the Alligator Bayou Locks.
Summer has arrived in south Louisiana and our tours are well underway. We are offering our sunset tours almost daily each with their own unique adventure.
Our Saturday morning tour usually start around 10:00 am with the wake-up calls of our natural world. Experience the beauty of the morning swamp as many birds take to the skies in their early morning errands. It will seem like morning rush hour traffic as they fly here and there collecting, eating and talking. Come with us into the cypress flats and enjoy the breath-taking view that can only be seen here.
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| Sunset at the Cypress Flats |
Evening tours begin at 7:00 pm (seasonal) and with this we experience nature in a different perspective, getting ready for nightfall. With the symphony of animals in the background, the tour takes you into the cypress flats to view the amazing spectacle of the sun setting as you can only see it here. The sky lights up in golds, oranges, blues and ochres as the swamp prepares for its nightly rest.
Other tour times are available depending on request and tour size. All of our tours start with a hop, skip and jump to our turtle pond: home to several hundred year-old alligator snapping turtles, native fish, snakes and a few more surprises.
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| Our turtle pit is home to a variety of native wildlife including this rarely seen two-legged, t-shirt wearing amphibian. |
After visiting the turtle exhibit, we hop, skip and jump to the gator pit. Home to over 7 gators in 4 different ponds. Get up-close and personal with these ancient reptiles. Take pictures and learn lots about them. And get ready - our new gator pit is under construction and should be open by mid-July!!
Our 49-passenger covered tour boat is wheelchair accessible and our 90-minute tours include a fully guided cruise. Tours are $20.00 for adults and $14.00 for kids age 2-15 years old. You can bring up to 15 guests on our public tours, so give us a call for reservations!
We also offer package tours for groups and motorcoaches. We offer options which include savory Louisiana foods, music, dancers or whatever you need to complete your Louisiana adventure!! Another possibility are our specialty tours with expert guides for tourists, birdwatchers, naturalists, historians and photographers. Our package and specialty tours are booked by contacting Jamie Brassett in our office. She'll be glad to get a proposal out to you for your special event.
Contact us today for availability and for additional information.
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