Two Captains From Slidell, Louisiana-Based Operation Discuss Nature Of Wildlife & The Family Texture Of The Area
The essence of a swamp tour is reflective in the knowledge and tenacity of the guides that allow you access to their land. Cajun Encounters, located out of Slidell, about 45 minutes outside New Orleans balances the notion of a family operation with a sense of adventure and personality. With a host of interesting animals and mythology and culture galore, the boat trip through the marshes and bayou offers undeniable sights. On the occasion of IPW in New Orleans, The Buzz visited and sat down to talk with two of the captains: Judah Robiak and Gary Gilmore about the wildlife, the allure of the land and growing up in the bayous.
The Buzz: Judah, can you talk about the cut we just went through? There are many interesting points of these back boat trails including wild pigs but also the tree that was a partial inspiration for certain parts of Disney’s “The Princess & The Frog”…
JR: It is a very interesting place…Maple Sloop…being that it is small section right off the river that you can see so many different things….the different wild life. You can see all types of birds…gators…wild hogs. It is amazing how you can turn your head and see one thing and turn around and see another total different species of animal. Everything is living so close in proximity. They do not feel threatened and the population is bigger because there is not as much hunting or boating that goes on in this area.
The Buzz: All these individual animals that have their own personalities. Like the pigs or even Brutus, the huge gator that makes his home here along the grotto.
JR: Some of them are laid back. Some of them are more standoffish. And some of them have real attitude. There is this one called “The Baconator” down the river. And he can turn on you just like that (snapping his fingers). Whereas Brutus here…you could almost pet him if you wanted. He’s real slow in his movements and he is not as aggressive.
The Buzz: Some of the young gators were jumping back and forth…almost playful.
JR: The juveniles have more energy…they’ll jump out of the water. A gator can jump three quarters the length of his body out of the water at that page. Gator like Brutus…he’s just lazy. He’s not going to all that just for a marshmallow (laughing)
The Buzz: Gary…could you talk about the Cajun experience, including the cooking of crawfish?
Gary Gilmore: It is that whole lifestyle. If you grew up here, you grew up fishing here…hunting here…swimming here…playing here. Most of us had boats when we were 12 or 13 years old running up and down this river. Instead of the big city life where it is all fast paced, we tend to slow down a little more. We catch a lot of food. We do a lot of hunting and fishing…all that good stuff because we want to take care of it ourselves. And we want to pass that on from generation to generation. My son was out here this morning with us…and we does all of that stuff…fishing…getting catfish. It is a little slower way of life but it is a real experience because we are all like family. We just met you guys but we treat you as if we’ve known you for years.
Typically we don’t always do crawfish but in the height of the season when there is a lot of crawfish coming in, most of the captains that work here, we all go out there on the side and crawfish. On Fridays, we’ll typically do that. We’ll boil crawfish and hand them out to everybody.
The Buzz: Can you talk about the river we are on and how it functions geographically?
GG: The Pearl River here…that is the river you were out on…it is about 440 miles long. It starts off as a little spring just about above Jackson, Mississippi and it flows down. Now most of the water in the river comes from rainwater and things like that…no drainage. Then it runs out to Lake Borgne about 6 miles south. The river is full of catfish, perch, bass, goggle eyes, gar, crawfish, snakes, turtles, alligator…all that kind of stuff. Now they used to do a lot of logging back through [this area] about 100 years ago and were clear cutting all the bald cypress. That is why you have this bridge back here. The bridge was built in 1932. They would load up the barges, bring the [lumber] out to the lake and ship [it] to wherever they needed. We don’t have that kind of boat traffic any more so the bridge doesn’t open all that often.
The Buzz: Judah, where does your background play into this lifestyle?
JR: I love nature. I always was really into it. If I saw something on the side of the road, I would pull over and catch it…turtle…snakes. I would go out on the bayou fishing and [loved] being one with nature. I love it. It’s part of our culture. My family was from the Mississippi area east of here. Me and my brother…we would always go out in our skiff boat…discovering places.
The Buzz: How did you come then to Cajun Encounters?
JR: I am actually the Captain of a supply boat offshore with the oil fields. This is a part time job. I would be doing this in my time off…running up the rivers…anyway. It’s fun for me and relaxing.
The Buzz: What about you Gary? What got you interested in this gig? Family as well?
GG: The only family I actually had here was my son….the little guy that was running around [earlier]. All these other guys I’ve met and I’ve known for many years. You try to take that in. If you know somebody and everybody treats you right, it is almost like a family. And that is the experience here at Cajun Encounters as well. It is a pretty close-knit, family-oriented business. So if you need something or you have to go to your kid’s recital…take off for your kid’s recital. Somebody’s always here to take up the slack. [It’s like] “I got your back”. That is the biggest part of it. I didn’t realize I could do this for a living. I grew up here. I grew up playing here…and it just so happens I went to high school, junior high school, and elementary school with the guy who started this out 16 years ago. I came out here to check on some things and he said “Why don’t you come work with me?” I had my own construction business for many years. I was supervisor for a cable company. [But] I came out here and just fell in love with it. The people…the atmosphere…the things I get to experience. People come from all over the world to see this. And to show them things that I’ve seen up close and personal…to an alligator 2 feet away from your face. That is really impressive. I love my job. I really do.
Tim Wassberg
A graduate of New York University's Tisch School Of The Arts with degrees in Film/TV Production & Film Criticism, Tim has written for magazines such as Moviemaker, Moving Pictures, Conde Nast Traveler UK and Casino Player. He enjoys traveling and distinct craft beers among other things.
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Cajun Encounters Tours, to get a closer, more intimate feel of your surroundings, being able to see alligators, raccoons, owls, wild boars, nutria, snakes, turtles, bald eagles, black bears, and many birds just feet away! Feel safe knowing that you are guided by the best in the business.