Paddle Bayou Lafourche
Paddlers from 16 different states are partaking in the 15th annual Paddle Bayou Lafourche event which began Thursday and continues through Sunday afternoon.

The Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program coordinates an annual four-day pilgrimage that takes paddlers of all kinds to to get a taste of Cajun country from the inside.

Kristy Monier, BTNEP media and public relations coordinator and primary project manager for the Paddle Bayou Lafourche said, “We drive on the roads and we see what we can from looking into the bayou. We want people to see from the in the bayou outside and see the area and its value.”

Initially the event was intended to educate locals on the importance of this particular bayou that is a water source for multiple parishes, but paddlers started coming from out of state and even out of the country in some cases to get a taste of the culture on the bayou.

Monier said, “I have one lady coming from Iowa, she’s driving over a thousand miles and she’s taking three days just to get here.”

The paddlers get in the water in the morning, paddle until lunchtime where sponsors provide a meal. They get back in the boats and paddle to the camp site for the night where the coordinators provide dinner and cultural entertainment.

“Its not an easy trip. The first day we paddle 17 miles,” Monier said. “But you develop a family out of this. A lot of them belong to paddler clubs in their area so they eventually get back together because they’ll invite each other to these other paddle trips.”

Monier encourages the community along the bayou to come out and welcome the paddlers. “They love being waved to. It makes them want to come back,” Monier said. She said school children stood out with signs some years and residents along the bayou decorate their bayou sides to welcome the paddlers. One man even sat on his porch playing the accordion for the paddlers as they passed by.

Thursday the paddlers travel from Donaldsonville to Madewood Plantation, Friday they paddle to Jean Laffite Park and Preserve, Saturday they paddle to Dr. Mike Robichaux’s right before Hwy 90 and Sunday they will finish at Lockport Bayou Side Park.