Once we got the boats unloaded near the boat landing at Lake Martin and I gave very brief paddling instruction, I asked the group if they wanted to see birds on the south end near the rookery or alligators and birds on the north end of the lake. It was an overwhelming vote for alligators. The north end of the lake is usually where I see the largest alligators in the lake other than at the boat landing.
We traversed through the cypress and tupelo as well as all of the American Lotus. We stopped off to eat some of the nutty seeds of the lotus before continuing on in search of the big gators. All paddle groups are different, some just want to paddle, some want to stop and photograph everything, this group was all about visiting. We just meandered around the lake while everyone got to know each other and it’s a good thing too because our search for alligators was unsuccessful. I don’t know if I have ever been to this side of the lake and not seen at least one alligator, not even one swimming.
We did however have great conversation and made great connections. There were a couple of recently graduated nurses from Arizona that are now working in Baton Rouge that received an invitation to stay in New Orleans free of charge whenever they wanted to during the week. That is one example of the unexpected outcomes of a trip like this and as always folks are happy to share with those they meet.
To see more photos, click here!
-Stacey Scarce, Trip Leader
