Well, it’s surely “festival season” down here in New Orleans. That’s what locals like to call this time of year, and yes, it is our favorite!

This Friday marks the start of The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, with acts like Wyclef Jean, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstafunk and Coco Robicheaux taking the stage.

If you’re coming to town for the festival, remember to rest up, wear sunscreen, and have fun during your stay in the Big Easy.

As for us, the team here may take some time after our tours to take in the music and atmosphere. How could you not?

Remember, we can help with any transportation needs throughout your stay, and will be on standby with some fantastic tours of New Orleans to help you get the most out of your vacation here! Come pay us a visit!!

With Earth Day right around the corner, (April 22nd y’all!), we thought we’d take a second to remind everyone to stop, take a breath, and be mindful of their surroundings.

New Orleans, the Honey Island Swamp, Plantation Alley, and all of Louisiana has some of the most beautiful, memorable scenery you’ve ever laid eyes on.  If you have yet to visit, trust us on this one!

Down here, that savory backdrop is a part of life, a necessary component next to crawfish boils, red beans & rice, white “shrimp boots,” 4×4’s, and of course, some jazz or good brass band music.

And while the team here at Cajun Encounters loves to invite people into our world, we do that with a huge responsibility to the environment. It is with this in mind that we’ve implemented our recycling program, a complimentary service that allows our guests to know that they travel with a lesser “foot print.” Just take a look at one of our new recycling receptacles in the picture at right!!

So if you are coming to town in the near or far off future, welcome! Make sure to see, hear and smell as much as you can during your visit.  And remember, there are many ways to give back, be it at home or during a vacation, so perhaps start off small – like putting down your soda can in a bin as opposed to just throwing it out. Every little bit makes a difference!

Something pretty exciting happened last weekend at the camp… We were paid a visit by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt!

The two stars, along with their children, drove out to see the alligators during this gorgeous weather.  (We can’t say we blame them.  It’s perfect outside.)

As you would expect, they were very gracious and perfect guests on the tour.  Brad even took a picture with our Jeff Rogers!

We can’t thank them enough for their visit, and for what Brad has done for New Orleans through the Make it Right Foundation.  We even pay homage to this by showing passengers Make it Right homes on our New Orleans city tours.

As for the team here at Cajun Encounters, we are all a bit star-struck.  Don’t worry, though, we’re learning to get used to it.

Legend has it that a large, ape-like creature with gray hair, red eyes, and a tepid disposition resides here in the Honey Island Swamp.

Reports at the Cajun Encounters Camp vary from person to person, but those who have seen it say that darts about, more scared of us than we are of it.

Sounds like such a sweet creature!

Known as “Letiche” by the Native Americans, and referred to as “Tainted Keitre” by the Cajuns, the Honey Island Swamp Monster is said to date back to the early 1900’s. It was during this time that a traveling circus met with a traincrash just down the way, resulting in a group of escaped chimpanzees. Some of the chimps fell in “love” with the local swamp gators, and rest, they say, is history. And by history, we mean the birth of the Honey Island Swamp Monster!

As far as sightings go, the first documented occasion was by a retired air traffic controller named Harlan Ford. It was he who took the first footage of the creature on a reel of Super 8 film.

Later, in 1974, news had spread nationwide. Mr. Ford had returned to our area, along with a friend, and found some pretty unsual footprints. Large ones that seemed to show webbed feet!

Since this time, whenever we hear of the Swamp Monster, we are happy to know that he’s still out there, rummaging about. Maybe one day we can find him, shake his hand, and take a picture. Maybe even give him a Hubig’s pie as a token of our affection.

If you have photos of the swamp monster, be sure to send them our way! We’re working on a new feature in dedication to the local legend.

It’s that time of year again, and we can’t think of anything greener than the Honey Island Swamp!!!

If you are in town for St. Patrick’s Day in New Orleans, then be sure to schedule your tour soon.

We also have incomparable city tours, so that you can take in the sights of New Orleans, along with some air conditioning, in style. We also have an AMAZING and EXTENSIVE plantation tour, for those interested in the antebellum way of life.

There’s even a discount if you book a combination of two or more tours! How more festive can you be?

Welcome to New Orleans, and welcome to one of the most exciting times of the year – Mardi Gras!

We at Cajun Encounters are super excited to share this experience with visitors, and we hope that your stay is even more than you had imagined (we know that it will be). Make sure to catch as many parades as you can, eat at some of New Orleans’ amazing restaurants, like Huck Finn’s Cafe on Decatur Street, and realize that carnival season is more about culture and bringing together friends and family than it is some of that vulgar stuff that you see on tv (that’s only here and there, people!).

While you are in town, be sure to keep us in mind for the best in New Orleans city tours, Honey Island swamp tours, plantation tours, and anything that you need in regard to transportation.

We are closed on Fat Tuesday, as the entire city shuts down for the fun and festivities, but each and every day around that, we are open and tours are in action!

Again, thanks for visiting the Crescent City. We know you’ll have a great time while you are here.

We were paid a visit a few months ago by the folks over at American Idol. They wanted to get an authentic Louisiana swamp experience, and of course, we knew just the place to take them! (To the Honey Island Swamp!)

They were truly some amazing people, and we were honored at having the chance to show them around. We had NO idea that we’d actually be included on their show, so when we were tuning in at our respective homes throughout Southeast Louisiana, all of us just about fell out of our chairs!

See the clip below. What do you think? Are our tour boat captains ready for Hollywood?

Now that that holidays are over, we at Cajun Encounters are hitting the ground running with our newest venture – transportation services.

We’ve had so many compliments on our fleet of vehicles, not to mention our drivers, that we thought, “Hey, why not use our buses, vans and drivers to help out with travel?”

So far, it has been a great success, and we look forward to expanding our airport transfer services, our shuttle services, wedding transportation, school transportation and more to include top notch prom transportation, football party transportation (Sugar Bowl anyone? Super Bowl? Etc.?), and of course, Mardi Gras transportation!

If you even think that we can help you, then give us a call. We are super excited about this new venture, and we are offering more than competitive rates.

…and if we don’t hear from you, make sure to eat some king cake for us, and have a great Mardi Gras!

Our tummies are still full from Thanksgiving, and we have to wear jackets from time to time, so that can only mean one thing – it’s the holiday season here at Cajun Encounters!

Everyone here is in the spirit, from the front desk team, to the drivers, the department heads, and even down to the mascot!

So if you haven’t taken a tour with us yet, now is the best time yet to visit the Honey Island Swamp, see the festivities of New Orleans, or take in the beautiful plantations of “plantation alley.” Tours depart several times a day.

We must warn you, though, our joy is a bit contagious! Don’t believe us? Give us a call.

Every once in a while, we scour the internet, just get an honest opinion of our tours. We value visitors’ viewpoints, and we want to use any criticism we can in making the BEST New Orleans experience.

Firstly, a big thank you everyone taking the time to catch up with us, much less actually post videos and pictures of their experiences. There is some truly amazing media out there of Cajun Encounters!!

One thing that stood out to us as unique is the imagery of the wild hogs seen on the swamp tours. Usually it’s gator pics that people post, but look below from some stunning imagery taken from yelp.com.