Learn about some of the defining years of Louisiana's history on a tour that shows you the Destrehan Plantation and the Barataria Swamp. Your guide shares the stories of wealthy landowners and slaves on the region's oldest plantation before a boat takes you out in search of crocodiles in the wetlands.

Meet your guide in downtown New Orleans and head west toward Destrehan Plantation, which stands on an estate framed by towering oak and magnolia trees. As you walk through the site, hear how the plantation stood at the center of Louisiana's indigo and sugarcane trade in the 19th century, and saw the largest slave revolt in the United Sates during the German Coast Uprising in 1811.

Next, your guide leads you out to the Barataria Swamp, where you motor out into the glittering wetlands. Keep an eye out for muskrat, red-shouldered hawk, and the American crocodile in the water, and look up at the ancient cypress trees and Spanish moss as you cruise through the 23,000-acre (9,308-ha) swamp's meandering tributaries.