Avery Island's Jungle Gardens

Immediately following our visit to the Tabasco Factory, we wandered through the Jungle Gardens, also created and owned by the McIlhenny family.  The gardens are
a creation of Edward Avery McIlhenny, a naturalist, conservationist and business executive.  He travelled the world and imported rare and exotic plants to create a lush, semi-tropical 250-acre landscape.  There are 64 varieties of Chinese bamboo,   lotus and papyrus from the upper Nile, soap trees from India and between 750 and 1,000 varieties of Camelias imported from France, China and Japan, plus new varieties produced on the island itself.

The most impressive and thrilling part of the history of Avery Island is Bird City, the island's heron sanctuary.  Each spring, some 20,000 nests are built there, and over 20,000 snowy egret families are hatched and reared there.  This is amazing, considering that 40 years ago, there was scarcely a snowy egret left not only in Louisiana, but in all of North America.  The egrets were slain for their feathers, so that ladies could adorn their hats.  Apart from his unceasing fight to pass legislation to prevent "plume murder," Mr. McIlhenny protected the egrets on the island and was rewarded when they returned to it every spring.  Today, their population has grown to the point where 30 truckloads of twigs must be dumped about Bird City, to assist the egrets in building their nests.

Also interesting is the Chinese Garden, where Guatama, an 800-year-old Budha, sits regally among his seven hills, much as he did in the Shonfa Temple near Peiping.

We cannot forget to mention the aligators which can be spotted just about everywhere on the island.  They are of various sizes, averaging between 3 and 5 feet long.   They do not seem bothered much by tourists (although we happened to be the only tourists around for most of our visit).  We were able to snap some great pictures as they sunned themselves in the late afternoon.

If you ever find yourself near Lafayette, Louisiana, take the time to visit both the Tabasco Factory and the Jungle Gardens.  It will be well worth your time!