We stopped in the Visitor Center for the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park yesterday in the French Quarter (unfortunately just before it closed). We found out that this National Historic Park is actually six different sites around this area designed to provide a picture of the history and culture and environment of the New Orleans area. Today we decided to visit Barataria Preserve and take a hike through the swamp and marshland there.
At the Visitor Center we saw some great displays, many featuring the importance of wetlands to coastal protection--and the rapid loss of said wetlands due to human activity. The staff were particularly friendly and helpful.
We walked a series of trails through the preserve, including the Palmetto Trail, the Bayou Coquille Trail, and the Marsh Overlook Trail. Much of the trail surface is boardwalk, and the rest is gravel, making for an easy walk. (Other trails in the preserve are muddy when wet, so we avoided them. Besides, that area is infested with feral pigs. The rangers can shoot them, but have no way of disposing of the carcasses, so they rot in place--ewww.
We saw lots of trees and flowers and some critters as we walked, but no alligators.
These unusual large black grasshoppers caught our eye several times, sitting near the edge of the trail. As we approached, they would just sit still and finally crawl slowly off into the brush. Evidently they can't fly and only feebly jump or crawl. They don't need to move quickly: they are toxic to prey. When threatened, they are said to hiss and emit a foul, irritating foam, but evidently the ones we saw didn't feel threatened. They can grow huge, with one blogger reporting a 7" specimen (although generally adults are 2.5-3", which is what we saw).
The most unusual thing we saw was the "Flotant"--floating marsh. It looks like solid ground, but is actually a tangle of roots and peat and plants woven together. It's treacherous for hikers, but home to lots of wildlife that have adapted to life in this strange ecosystem in the delta.
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