Jungle Gardens

The Jungle Gardens are also on Avery Island. A member of the McIlhenny family wanted to create a place to help the snowy egrets avoid extinction, so he gathered some birds and began this place. Bird City, as it is referred to, is a part of Jungle Gardens, but it's the wrong season for the birds to be here.

But we did see some gators, of course!

Claire saw them, too!


I love how the trees reflect in the water. It makes me think of pictures from the Ranch, yet it also seems so different from that.

Dad and Claire kissing under a big tree!

We saw birds, gators, turtles, and some beautiful scenery during our drive around the gardens.

Three gators sunbathing


Claire wasn't in the mood for pictures. She got about a 10 minute nap in the car before we got to the Tabasco plant. But I liked the tree!

And Claire liked the rock.

There's bamboo back there!

More wildlife





I liked this archway of tree branches.

There was a Buddha statue in the gardens, too.

One of the elephants near the Buddha statue

Here's the history of the Buddha statue.

The serene setting the Buddha statue faces

A few pictures of the statue


As I mentioned earlier, we drove home the back way. We drove south to Morgan City and then went north through Pierre Part to White Castle and Plaquemine before we crossed the Mississippi. For those of you who don't know, Pierre Part is where Troy Landy, from the TV show Swamp People, hunts gators. It was fun being in his territory! We even saw the Rainbow Inn, where Troy and his son Jacob have gone for drinks after work. As we drove by it, I commented that, from the looks of it, I never want to go in there! Oh, and I forgot to mention that while we were entering Avery Island, the people at the toll booth, (it costs $1 for a car to get on the island), were not speaking English. They were speaking Creole. That's what it's like down in Southern Louisiana. Troy Landry can speak Creole. He has to because his dad doesn't speak English!

Can I get a "Choot 'em!!!!"