The day started well by being collected from our hotel in an air-conditioned 14 seater shuttle bus. Our driver Joseph informed us that our two friends and ourselves were the only passengers. We had an excellent city tour, Joseph was very knowledgeable and supplied us with a great deal of local information.
We were then taken to Airboat Adventures for the airboat ride. Two other passengers joined us and we spent 2 hours travelling along the bayou. We were treated to a fast paced and exciting tour by our "captain" Eric, which had a ready supply of facts about the flora and fauna of the waterways. We saw a number of alligators,black vultures, turtles and egrets. Eric also told us about the conservation programme which is taking place in this area.
Joseph then took us to the Destrahan Plantation. This was the most disappointing part of the tour as the house tour was very rapid and we were not allowed to look at any of the rooms by ourselves. There are an number of talks which take place throughout the day and a few outbuildings to visit at your leisure.
Joseph then returned us to our hotel.
On the whole it was a great day and very good value for money. Maybe there could be an alternative plantation to visit or some changes made to the pace of the Destrahan tour.

We chose the option to take the tours on separate days. We did the city coach tour first to familiarise ourselves with our new surroundings. This two hour trip took us to all the main tourist spots with an excellent commentary by our driver Michael. By the end of the tour we had a very good idea of the history and geography of New Orleans with an insight into the different people who made up this diverse city. He also gave us information about Hurricane Katrina and included a visit to one of their "above ground" graveyards.
The following day we boarded the last steam powered paddle boats on that stetch of the Mississippi. Again we were given a running commentary as we sailed on this very interesting river. Details included population,history,industry and,of course, shipping facts.
This was another excellent package which was very good value for money.