Swamp Tour - II

Continuing from where I left off...
The guide gunned the boat deeper into the swamps through the channels passing adjacent to a large brackish water lake/ lagoon where shrimp farming is being practiced. As the boat lurched in the shallow waters of the swamps the guide explained that the water appears brown not because it is dirty because of the presence of a bacteria which stains the water. It is surprising that there were homes along the water channel and some had the most common sign I have seen in the US... "FOR SALE". There were speed limit signs for boats with warning of prosecution for violations, law enforcement everywhere, good for the local residents. Wish there was similar enforcement for alligators to prevent them from attacking humans :) and another law to make gators to voluntarily come forward to get culled :)...

Speed Limits on water too....

Large bird looks majestic and beautiful

I saw numerous birds such as cranes, egrets, ducks, an occasional eagle flying past ignoring the noise and spray raised by the boats as if it were their daily obstacles. The vegetation/ mangrooves became thicker as we ventured deeper into the swamps forcing the captain to slow the boat almost to a crawl as we passed an oil well which pumped away the black gold from the depths of the earth. Evidence that there is no corner in the earth which has not been explored and exploited by some greedy human being.

Duck with its chicks on a pier

An oil well in the swamps... quietly pumping away

After more lurching in shallow waters the captain stopped the boat and started shouting "oup... oup... oup... oup..." rather loudly. Initially I couldn't quite understand why he was yelling, but it soon became evident that he was trying to attract some wild alligators. Soon a few alligators were sighted around the boat and they started swimming towards the noise. The captain took out a bag of marshmallows and threw one into the water which was immediately grabbed by a hungry gator. Several gators came up as more marshmallows were thrown into water. The guide jokingly also said that if one of us wished to swim with the gators we were welcome to jump overboard.

Going deeper into the swamps... supposedly wild and unchartered territory

Gator coming for Marshmallows

Gator poses for a picture

Our tour guide playing with the Gator...

That's me handling the baby Gator...

We left the place and got back into the main channel after playing with the gators for some more time. The real surprise awaited us here. The tour guide produced a small one-year old gator and allowed everyone on the boat to carry it like a pet and get a feel of it. The yearling looked like the garden lizard but only more scaly, rough skinned and lazy. The baby gator didn't open its mouth, I wonder why... the guide mentioned that it usually doesn't open its mouth and bite but if it was suitably irritated it would. None of us tried to make it open its mouth was we passed it around. The last part of the tour was a fast boat ride through the channels, the twin-engine passenger boat showed its true power as the guide gunned it towards the pier. It churned up frothy waves and created a line of white as we sped towards our destination where we ended our short swamp tour.

Waves formed by the boat

As we disembarked from the boat the captain stood by the door gratefully accepting the tips handed out to him by passengers. There were boards all around the boat and the ticket counter which read "Tips accepted and appreciated"... Well that is how marketing is done I guess... instead of asking just say it...

What I must say here is that the guide did a good job in showing us the important sights around the swamp, gave us the true gator experience and even let us handle a year-old gator. He was funny and his narrative absorbing and never overbearing or overly seeking money. I think this kind of a positive attitude will generate lot more revenue than outright solicitation of tips.

Swamp Tour in Louisiana

New Orleans, Louisiana thrives on tourism related industries. Swamp and Plantation tours, night clubs, restaurants, coffee shops, trinket stores, Native American and Cajun burial ground tours, etc are frequented by visitors, thanks to entrepreneurs offering these locations as attractive tours. I have always been an outdoors and adventure person so we decided to go on a swamp tour across the Barataria Swamps on a covered boat.
As we waited at the boat pier for the tour to start, I was surprised by the number of alligator products that were being sold at the souvenir store. Slaughtered gator heads for $15-35, Gator claws as back scratchers for a few dollars, gator skin, etc. It gave me an uneasy feeling in my stomach to see that these regal reptiles were being farm-bred for human consumption not only as meat but as these souvenir samples. We human beings often refer to wild animals as wild, cruel and savage etc, but I am convinced that it is the other way round. It is human beings that are cruel and not the animals. For wild animals it is a question of survival when they attack humans, but for us it is often pride, an urge to show off, etc that drives to attack animals.

Gator head for sale!!! Can humans get any more barbaric???

After a few minutes our tour-guide came and hollered for all of us to get into the boat. The guide was a tough-looking bearded man with a great sense of humor. He started the tour by saying that "Alligators are cold blooded like most women," and introduced us to the waterways on which we would be traveling and also the surrounding habitations where Cajuns of the Bayou continue to live amidst swamps. I was amazed to know that the waterway we were on was actually man-made, it certainly didn't appear so. I am pretty certain lots of slaves labored on this project and many perished too.

Man made water channel; amazing human endeavor!!!

As the tour progressed the guide pointed out a 2000 year old Native American Burial Mound adjacent to a Cajun cemetery and a small Fishing village!

Cajun cemetery and the Native American burial mound

The fishing village was particularly interesting because there was a large building on the wharf into which a drunk had plowed his speed boat. The wrecked boat and the broken building had been boarded up awaiting renovation. As we slowly ambled on, I saw several species of wildlife such as birds, turtles, furry animals, and of course a number of small to large Alligators or simply Gators.

The fishing village where a drunk boat driver had rammed the building!!!

Here are some pictures, but wait there is more to the tour... will blog in the next post.. including how we handled a 1-year old baby gator and fed large adult gators with marshmallows and more.

While millions starve.... Belgian farmers dump milk

Even as millions of people in third world countries in Africa, Asia, South America and a small population of poor in the US and EU member nations starve to death due to hunger, angry Belgian farmers dump 3 million litres of milk into agricultural fields. What kind of idiocy, expression of anger is this? I fail to understand. I have seen farmers dumping tomatoes onto the road in rural Karnataka (India) due to the same exasperation about prices. Though the quantities are never this much, it nevertheless is a great loss for not for the individual farmer or the country but the entire humanity.

In Sub Saharan Africa, thousands of people are starving to death. There are riots when Red Cross volunteers distribute food. A few thousand miles away in Europe this kind of gross wastage of milk is happening because a few politicians and corporations are fighting over the price of milk. Farmers are complaining that milk prices have dropped below production costs. The solution is simple stop producing so much milk and switch to other products. Process the milk and sell butter, cheese, and whole lot of milk products. For God's sake don't waste the milk and dump it into agricultural fields.

I guess the financial value of 790,000 gallons of milk is just $4 million not much for many European powers who continue to live on the wealth they looted from rest of the world during the past few centuries.

Looking for a used car? Look no further!!!

Buying a used cars can be quite difficult, considering how dealers try to manipulate the prices, conceal the records etc. I recently came across an automobile portal on the internet which offers a completely different perspective to car sales. The site focuses on used cars, new cars, leasing and research. The unique features of this site is that you can search cars, research cars, ask questions, compare prices from various dealers, read car reviews and do a whole lot of other stuff related to cars. There is an entire section on insurance and maintenance too. In this era of websites and car dealerships which focus entirely on selling and buying here is a different portal which provides a low down on the whole gamut of things. If you are in the market for a car, used or new check it out before you sign the dotted line.

New Orleans Visit and Lessons

A little over ten days ago it was the Labor day weekend which was an extended holiday across the US. We decided to take this opportunity to accomplish two things at the same time. Visit family in New Orleans and also take in the sights and sounds of this recently hurricane devastated city. It sounded like a good plan and this time we decided to undertake a road trip instead of an flight. I am glad we did it because the drive showed me a completely different part of the US, something which is yet wild, sparsely populated and still relatively natural.
The trip to Louisiana's Katrina-ravaged city helped me learn several lessons. The biggest lesson was that even in America the government doesn't bother about its poor and underprivileged. The trip exposed the murky underbelly of American capitalism and how the government, corporations, and the majority of this continent-sized country have simply ignored the small minority of people (estimated 1.5 million) who were affected by the Katrina. Despite the fact that US receiving millions of dollars of aid in cash from several countries including the poorest nations of the world. Here is a list of countries which provided cash-aid to the US when Katrina hit.

Kuwait	$500 million
Qatar	$100 million
United Arab Emirates	$100 million
South Korea	$30 million
Australia	$10 million
India	$5 million
China	$5 million
New Zealand	$2 million
Pakistan	$1.5 million
Bangladesh	$1 million

When I saw these numbers I was surprised to note that the developed nation of New Zealand contributed much lesser than India, which is a much poorer and still a third world nation and has a much larger population. Even Bangladesh which reels under its own floods, hurricanes, every year has given $1 billion towards aid. Apart from these contributions, US and international nonprofits have raised about $4.5 billion and corporations pledged about $1 billion.
According to the Wikipedia article the total devastation in New Orleans has been estimated at about $90 billion. Federal aid to provide relief to affected people a mere $16.7 billion for housing, $5.5 billion for roads, and $2 billion for highways and bridges. A few million here and there for other purposes. I am surprised that despite such widespread damage, fatalities and devastation the federal government has not done enough.

Even after five years of Katrina the lower 9th ward of New Orleans looks like a ghost town, broken down houses, uninhabited neighborhoods, home sites overgrown with weeds and brush, etc. If this were the scene in a third world nation I would not have been so surprised, but in the US which has flattened two nations in the past decade and which claims economic, military, infrastructural supremacy over all other nations in the world, this is pathetic.

Anyway I guess this is the way poor and oppressed are treated even in the heaven of freedom and equality.

This is where I will end today. I will be posting pictures and experiences of a swamp tour, handling alligators, a wild party night on Bourbon street and the return journey in the next few days.

DFW edition of Tour De Cure

Despite the heavy downpour bicycle enthusiasts across the DFW area participated in the four bicycle rides organized in various parts of the metro area. I volunteered for Tour de Cure organized by the American Diabetes Association, I was at the very first rest stop which was visited by all the riders except those who did the 5 mile route. I guess because of the many rides in the area riders were split between the events and there were only about 500-odd riders participating in the Tour de Cure. Organized to raise funds for diabetes research this ride has special meaning to me personally because both my parents are diabetic and I hope a cure is discovered soon so they can get off the pill and lead normal lives.
What I saw at the ride was even more surprising. There were several young children riding and volunteering for this ride who were diagnosed diabetic. But they were spirited and wanted to do something about it and hence they were there braving thunder storms and the sudden cold to cheer riders or to ride themselves.
I managed to capture some good images of the riders from my vantage point at rest stop 1. It was bad lighting and incessant drizzle so the pictures have not come out all that good, but here is perhaps the best of a bad lot. Do let me know what you feel about it.

Last set of pictures of the Buddhist temple, Houston

I have been posting the pictures of the spectacular Viet Namese Buddhist temple in Sugarland, Texas, one of the suburbs of Houston. The temple is so vast and has so many interesting sights that it is difficult to post all the pictures at one go. Anyway here is the last set of pictures shot in the sprawling temple complex which features expansive green lawns, artistic buildings, water bodies and parking lots.

Another Bell Tower

A large building in the temple, the library or discourse room I suppose

Rear view of the temple with fountain and sculptures

Sculpture of Buddha under the Bodhi tree in the shrine's Bonsai garden

Viet Namese Buddhist Temple, Houston - More Pictures

Yesterday I blogged about our last week's visit to Houston and the accidental discovery of the grand Viet Namese Buddhist temple. Due to paucity of time I couldn't upload all the pictures I wanted to in the blot post. This grand Buddhist shrine evokes awe and intrigue at the same time. There are several areas of the temple which would make any Hindu/ Buddhist feel proud. For instance the presence of the Ashoka Pillars crowned by Lions right at the entrance, a massive building known as "Dharma Hall", the verdant green acres around the shrines, the numerous images of Buddha installed amidst gardens and lawns, et al. I hope I could visit this temple again when I visit Houston and take in the beauty and spiritual vibrations. Here are more views of the temple.

The Bell Tower in the center of the shrine compound

Buddha idol in the garden contiguous to the shrine

Bridge across a water body to view the Buddha idol

Water body and the idols inside and outside it

Another religious symbol in the water body

Long shot of the Buddha statue

NB: More pictures to come shortly.

Viet Namese Buddhist Temple, Houston

Ashoka Chakra right at the entrance of the temple

Last weekend we had been to Houston to participate in the wonderful Krishna Janmashtami celebrations organized by the Hindus of Greater Houston. The day after the event we hung around in Houston to visit couple of friends and take in the Hindu sights of the city. We have seen everything there is to see in this city last year the museum of modern art, Downtown Aquarium, zoo, water wall, NASA space center, George Ranch and others. That is why this time we decided to take in only the spiritual sights of Hindus. It seems like there are millions of churches in every city in the US so I don't bother with them unless they are really spectacular or historically relevant.

Anyway coming back to our exploration we had planned on visiting the Swami Narayan temple. Unfortunately for us we found the wrong address on google and landed up in the wrong place. This was a misfortune in disguise because right next door to the address we found was this magnificent Viet Namese Buddhist temple. This shrine with its towering milky white statue of Buddha, artificial lakes, rolling grassy lawns and gardens, held me spellbound even as I enjoyed myself capturing photographs of the location.

I was heartened to see the Ashoka Pillar right at the entrance of the temple and also the Dharma Ghanta (Bell of Justice) installed in a tower adjacent to the sanctum. This is one temple which is resplendent of the glory of Eastern religions and non-violent philosophy. I wish some of our Hindu temples would be as imposing. The temple was choc-a-bloc with pious Viet Namese listening to a discourse.

Sanctum of the temple

The Dharma Ghanta inside its tower