USA Guide
Louisiana
Cajun country
Cajun country stretches across southern Louisiana from Houma in the east, via Lafayette, the hub of the region, into Texas. It's a region best enjoyed by visiting the many old-style hamlets that, despite modernization, can still be found cut off from civilization in soupy bayous, coastal marshes, and inland swamps.
Cajuns are descended from the French colonists of Acadia, part of Nova Scotia, which was taken by the British in 1713. The Catholic Acadians, who had quietly fished, hunted, and farmed for more than a century, refused to renounce their faith and swear allegiance to the English king, and in 1755 the British expelled them. About 2500 ended up in French Louisiana, where they were given land to set up small farming communities, enabling them to rebuild the culture they had left behind. Hunting, farming, and trapping, they lived in relative isolation until the 1940s, when major roads were built, immigrants from other states poured in to work in the oil business, and Cajun music, popularized by local musicians such as accordionist Iry Lejeune, came to national attention. Since then, the history of the Cajuns has continued to be one of struggle. The erosion of coastal wetlands threatens the existence of entire communities; the silting up of the Atchafalaya Basin is having adverse effects on fishing and shrimping; and many coastal towns are in the firing line of devastating hurricanes. After Roosevelt's administration decreed that all American children should speak English in schools, French was practically wiped out in Cajun country, and the local patois of the older inhabitants, with its strong African influences, was kept alive primarily by music. Since the 1980s, CODOFIL (the council for development of French in Louisiana) has been devoted to preserving the region's indigenous language and culture, and today you will find many signs, brochures, and shopfronts written in French.
Cajun fais-do-dos – dances, with live bands, held mostly on weekends – are good places to encounter the culture at close hand. Visitors here will find plenty of opportunity to dance, whether at a restaurant, a club, or one of the region's many festivals.
Swamp tours
Swamp tours are available from many landings in the Atchafalaya Basin; you'll pass numerous signs pinned to the old cypress trees along the roadside. The basin is an eerie place: in some places cars cut right across on the enormous concrete I-10 above, and old houseboats lie abandoned. The best tours take you further out, to the backwoods; wherever you go you'll see scores of fishing boats and plenty of wildlife, including sunbathing alligators. The tours below are conducted by Cajuns who see the basin as more than just a tourist attraction and provide fascinating personal commentaries.
The Atchafalaya Experience 338 N Sterling St, Lafayette 
337/261-5150, 
www.theatchafalayaexperience.com . The son in this father-son team is a geologist; both guides are lifelong explorers of the swamp, and tours are ecologically sensitive. Daily 9.30am; 3hr 30min (2hr touring the swamp itself); reservations required; $50.
Bryan Champagne Lake Martin Landing, Rookery Rd, Breaux Bridge 337/845-5567, www.champagnesswamptours.com . Champagne navigates a small crawfish skiff through the bird-rich Cypress Island Swamp – lots of opportunity for alligator-spotting. Tours daily; call for schedules; 2hr; $20.
McGee's Swamp Tours McGee's Landing, 1337 Henderson Levee Rd, Breaux Bridge 337/228-2384, www.mcgeeslanding.com . Twenty-five minutes from Lafayette (take I-10 to exit 115, then highways 347 and 352), this quiet landing offers leisurely tours run from Henderson Swamp, a top fishing spot, as well as live music. Daily 10am, 1pm & 3pm; 90min; reservations recommended; $20.