A cypress in the Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana, USA

Autumn in the cypress swamp, USA

Autumn still brings a splash of colour to this hardwood forest of bald cypress in Louisiana, USA. But make no mistake, a stroll through these wetlands is not a cozy leaf-peeping journey. The swamp forest floor is often covered by the waters of Atchafalaya River delta as it drains into the Gulf of Mexico, so the autumn colours here are best viewed from the seat of a canoe or a pirogue, as the locals here use. The water-resistant bald cypress thriving in the Atchafalaya Basin constitutes the largest tract of contiguous cypress forest in the United States. The ecosystem here is so unlike any other in the US, the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area organisation calls it ‘America’s foreign country.’