Natural beauty

By: RAYMOND PARTSCH III
Managing Editor

As the towering cypress tree emerges over the horizon, Allen Bourque turns off the single outboard motor and allows the aluminum boat to coast along  the water.
This particular spot on Lake Martin is the 45-year-old’s favorite on the tour he often leads more than a dozen times per day. This serene setting features the lake’s oldest cypress tree, one that dates back more than 500 years and measures an astounding 61 feet in diameter.
Bourque has shut off the motor so those inside the boat can take a few minutes to capture the beauty of the swamp.
“There is nothing in the world that looks like this,” Bourque said. “You can now close your eyes when you go home and you will now picture this. This is what a Louisiana swamp is.”
Bourque works for Champagne’s Cajun Swamp Tours, which prides itself on being an ecotourism adventure that takes visitors into the heart of Lake Martin, a wildlife preserve-swampland nestled in rural St. Martin Parish.
Lake Martin, also known as Lake La Pointe, is an 800-acre impoundment that was created in 1952 by constructing a 26,800-foot ring levee around an existing low lying swamp.
“There aren’t too many places left alive like this place here,” said Champagne’s Cajun Swamp Tours owner Bryan Champagne. “That’s why people come out here so they can enjoy a place like this.”
Champagne was born and raised in the area and grew up along the waters. The now 52-year-old came up with the idea to give tours about two decades ago while working on the lake. People kept seeing him on the water and would ask him if he gave tours.
In the early years, Champagne would tow his own boat down to the landing and give tours. In those days, Champagne had no real marketing of his business and just depended on word of mouth. Fast forward two decades later and his business has an estimated 10,000 visitors per year.
“I have people coming back here 12 or 15 years after that first visit,” Champagne said. “People just love it here.”
The tours that Champagne’s offers run two hours long and cost $20 for an adult and $10 for children 13 and under, and it is recommended to make reservations at least 12 hours beforehand. For those who are slightly more adventurous, Champagne’s also offers kayak and canoe rentals which cost $10 per person, per hour.
For those who sign up for a guided tour (which is offered in French), they will get to experience a plethora of Louisiana wildlife and vegetation. The swamp is filled with bald cypress, black willow and buttonbush trees and also serves as a bird sanctuary which is home to more than 200 different bird species, including wood ducks, herons, barred owls and pileated woodpeckers.
Birds, and the numerous duck blinds that are spread throughout the swamp, are not the only Louisiana-animal attractions on the tour. The swamp is also home to cottonmouths, bullfrogs, nutria rats and of course good ole’ alligators.
On a recent tour, visitors saw up close a 14-foot alligator partially submerged in the water while later spotting an 11-footer sunbathing on land. Champagne’s recommends booking morning tours if you want to grab a photo of an alligator since that is the time of the day that they most frequently appear to sun bath.
“The swamp is very much alive,” Borque said. “It is vibrant. Not stagnant.”
The tour guides, like Borque, will also take time out to tell stories about the lake and point out wildlife, that is as long as you respect your surroundings. The tour prides itself on being eco-friendly (means absolutely no littering), which is also for only having a small engine and not being the more common and noisier airboat tour.
Jerome Auriac, who was on vacation with family and friends from Avignon, France, was pleased with the company’s more quiet approach.
“I liked the tour very much,” Auriac said. “The sights and sounds were very beautiful.”
For Champagne’s, it is of the upmost importance to try to keep the swamp in its natural state as much as possible, to essentially leave little of a footprint when showcasing Lake Martin’s natural beauty.
“There aren’t too many places left alive like this place,” Champagne said. “That’s why people come out here so they can enjoy a place like this.”
A few years ago, Champagne added The Wharf, a general store-themed facility that sells multiple snack and drink products like Zapp’s Potato Chips, beer, soda, ice cream, nachos, hot dogs, as well as Ville Platte’s own Slap Ya Mama seasoning, Comeaux’s Sausage and even live crickets for the fishermen.
Even though his love for a swamp has turned into a profitable, and growing enterprise, Champagne’s main goal is still providing people the chance to experience the natural beauty of a Louisiana swamp.
“My thing is that it is a joy to have people come and enjoy the natural beauty of the swamp,” Champagne said. “I used to take it for granted when I was younger but not anymore. We make money doing this of course but it is just as important to show people what we have here.”

Louisiane de prés  or 'Louisiana up close' is a semi-annual feature series from The Ville Platte Gazette which showcases affordable attractions and establishments that are authentic to the storied landscape of Louisiana. This Sunday: Champagne's Cajun Swamp Tours in Breaux Bridge. Next Sunday: Fred's Lounge in Mamou.