This Is How It All Began

I have always been a wildman!



Playing in the swamps and living off the land is a Cajun tradition.



Many of us own a camp for fishing and hunting in the marsh or Atchafalaya Basin Swamp.


Almost 30 years ago, when I moved back to Louisiana from Hawaii, I experienced an epiphany: I realized I did not need to move 5,000 miles from home to live in paradise. All I needed to do was to build a houseboat or a treehouse and live in the Atchafalaya Basin.



I toyed around with the concept for about 5 years before I actually started construction on the houseboat because the treehouse really apealled to me but the houseboat seemed a lot more practical, and certainly more versatile and adaptable to the environment.



In the interum, I worked as a welder, bartender, painter, and a set carpenter on several TV commercials, and feature films such as Belizaire The Cajun, and Angel Heart.

I began constructing the styrofoam pontoons in my yard in Abbeville in January 1986, then transported them to Charenton Beach Landing on Charenton Lake in the Atchafalaya Basin. On those pontoons, I built a deck, then walls, a roof, and then as it warmed up and the mosquitos came out, added a screen porch by April as seen below.





Before I ever built the houseboat and became a full time Louisiana Swamp Tour Guide, I was guiding personal friends of mine into the Atchafalaya Basin swamp to put them into close photographic proximity of nesting birds.





What really amazed my friends was the fact that I could bring them 10-15 feet away from these birds and not disturb the birds normal behavior. Because I worked as a commercial fisherman, I visited the birds everyday, and we developed a relationship of mutual trust and respect.



I would come and go, never threatening or disturbing anyone so why should the birds panic when I showed up with a photographer in my boat?

A night heron hen, incubating eggs on her nest
and keeping an eye on us in the tour boat below.


Cattle Egret chicks


Because of my guide skills and service to birdwatching
and photography friends,
they suggested I become a full-time Louisiana swamp tour guide.


A photo of Cattle Egrets nesting, by Tanya Landtmeters of Belgium


I told them they were crazy,
because no one would ever pay me to drive them into a swamp!



We were just having fun in the swamp, fishing, camping, and taking pictures.

Little did I know they were looking into my future at the time.

I thought we were just having the time of our life, so let's enjoy it, life is short.


Tanya skinny dipping at Avery Island

I never planned, dreamed or imagined becoming a swamp tour guide, because back then, to my knowledge, commercial swamp tours were not even in existence in Louisiana.


A photo by Marc Garanger, a National Geographic photographer from France,
who took this photo of me in my old wooden skiff, over twenty years ago.

Later I built the houseboat to fullfill a personal desire to embrace nature, and to share that passion with other people, I began doing swamp tours.

My swamp tour guests photographing a Great Egret taking flight

As I grew up hunting and fishing the marsh and swamps with my father,




I was being groomed to be a swamp tour guide and never knew it at the time.





My houseboat in it's completed form with kitchen,
bathroom, a wrap around screen porch and the sleeping loft above, at Grand Avoille Cove in the Atchafalaya Basin




As a swamp tour guide I was being groomed to be a TV personality and address the environmental issues so many local people failed to grasp, as well as promote the Cajun culture, so many visiting tourists seek to experience and understand.


Queen Tanya nestled into the loft on my houseboat, at sunset

These past few weeks have been very special for me because of so many people visiting us from all over the world, and confirming that My Wild Louisiana will be a well recieved TV program in a world wide media, because of the passion and enthusiasm I bring into the presentation of our special way of life here in South Louisiana.



A six foot long, Grey Ratsnake

Houseboats For Rent

I had friends driving in from Colorado to do a swamp tour with me and spend the night on a houseboat in the swamp.






The view of Mc Gee's Landing and Henderson Lake in the Atchafalaya Basin.

As soon as I crossed the levee, I could see the houseboat my friends rented at Mc Gee's.


They are a band called Motorhome from Colorado,

coming to play at Somewhere Else's

and the Blue Moon Saloon in Lafayette

Nice Houseboat!

Houseboats For Rent on Henderson Lake at Mc Gee's Landing located on Hwy 352 in Henderson, La.

The Best Bed and Breakfast in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

I regularly visit Rocky and Lisa Sonnier, to indulge in the world famous boudin they serve in the dining area of the Bayou Boudin and Cracklin Company, which is the parent company of the Bayou Cabins Bed And Breakfast in Breaux Brigde, Louisiana.

If you planning to visit Cajun Country for a swamp tour, and are researching your accomadation options near by,
you need to check out the Bayou Cabins,
because it is only about a 10-15 minute drive
to the landing where I launch my tour.Nice, clean, well appointed cabins on the bayou

Not only is Rocky, the Boudin King, he established the first bed and breakfast in Breaux Bridge over 20 years ago. Rocky and his wife, Lisa are personal friends of mine and I highly recommend you visit them and sample the food even if you can't spend the night.

If you have been looking for a Cajun accent or someone who speaks French, they can satisfy you either way. Cajun hospitality can be a notch or two above southern hospitality, and Rocky and Lisa will make you feel like you are family, if you allow them to host you over night.

Also the friendliest Bed And Breakfast in Breaux Bridge

The reception area, cafe, dining rooms, kitchen, and gift shop of this unique vacation get-away, is centered in an original 1869 Cajun styled house which has been authentically restored to museum quality and is recognized by the Historical Society of Breaux Bridge as seen below.

Located on the historic Bayou Teche, is a complex consisting of thirteen Bayou Cabins which were all restored with original doors, windows and floors when possible and remodeled with new modern, plumbing, wiring, insulation, and are immaculately maintained by a full-time staff.

Prices for the cabins range from $60-$135 per night and feature decorations and furnishings of local collectibles of the Cajun and Creole cultures.

All are climate controlled with air conditioners, heaters, and ultra clean bathrooms. Some are on the banks of the Bayou Teche, with a back deck over the water, and most have a screened-in porch, so you can enjoy the fragrant night air of south Louisiana, without getting attacked by mosquitos!If you didn't get a cabin on the water, you can still enjoy the view of Bayou Teche when you borrow the house canoes and tour the bayou with your family.
Because Breaux Bridge is the Crawfish Capitol of the world and celebrates the Crawfish Festival in the first weekend of May, you may not be able to get a reservation this late in the game for that weekend, but they will put you on the waiting list anytime you have a special date and work with as best they can.

They do welcome walk-ins, but are not there is no one to check you in on Mondays and Tuesdays without a reservation.

And because you get a welcome platter of food and breakfast in the morning, best to make a reservation if possible. you don't want to miss the home cooked food!

Located @ 100 Mills Ave/Hwy. 94 in Breaux Bridge,
you can get there by exiting Interstate 10 at exit 109,
and call 337 332 6158 to make a reservation.
Here is the sign to look for on Mills Ave.
The Bayou Cabins in Breaux Bridge is lacated about 15 minutes from Lake Martin where I do my Louisiana swamp tours as seen below
and less than a block away from the Fruit Stand which serves boiled crawfish 7 days a week in the cafe and has fresh fruit and veggies, along with an amazing variety of exotic fresh and frozen seafood too.

Hwy 94, A.K.A. the Lafayette/Breaux Bridge highway will lead you straight from The Bayou Cabins and into Lafayette about 5 miles away,
meaning you are only about 10 minutes from downtown Lafayette,
and the Blue Moon Saloon

Recently, I went there expecting to enjoy the Lost Bayou Ramblers...

From the moment I walked in, I knew the Moon was lit up and was going to be wild, there were ladies twirling flaming batons in front,

The best part was on stage, and these were truly wild boys performing in a band called the Tornado Riders

Just like a Louisiana swamp tour,
you never know what is lurking around the next bend!


See you at the lake,



Marcus de la Houssaye
Chief Guide, and host of "My Wild Louisiana"