Author: Ben Debski

At the mouth of the Mississippi delta, America’s most distinctive city straddles the country’s mightiest river. Rambling plantation mansions and winding cobbled streets tell a history of French colonialism, while trumpets and trombones blasting across the city’s thoroughfares are a constant reminder that this was the birthplace of modern jazz. Creole spices melt faces in city diners, while the spirit of mardi gras is present in the decorations that hang over wrought-iron balconies and beckon travellers to hidden dives. This is New Orleans: the crescent city.

After suffering near destruction from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, America’s creole capital is once more a premier destination for culture-seeking explorers. Yet beyond the revelries of Bourbon Street and the decadent charm of the old French Quarter, there are many mysteries to uncover. Knocking on the right doors allows travellers to explore Voodoo, hoodoo and the occult. Be warned: after entering the world of Voodoo, it’s difficult to turn back.

Behind the clichés
Hollywood has cashed in on the portrayal of Creole Voodoo as an evil art, showing shadowy shamans intent on capturing the souls of the living. While this misconception certainly has some roots in fact, Voodoo as practiced today is seen as a source of hope for the oppressed. A mishmash of Afro-Caribbean witchcraft, Catholicism and Indian Jadoo, Voodoo claims to be a middle ground between the worlds of the living and the dead.

Practitioners brew potions, curse dolls and channel strength from objects

With charms, sacrifice and ritual, it gives protection to the weak, wealth to the poor and love to the lonely. Practitioners brew potions, curse dolls and channel strength from objects of power to achieve enlightenment. Although it’s in decline, Voodoo is still alive in the twisted of alleyways of New Orleans. In search of meaning, weary souls flock to the city’s shrines and temples. There, shamans and priestesses are willing to teach travellers the basics of Voodoo magic. No crash course in creole culture is more unique.

Learning the craft
The best place for an induction is Bloody Mary’s Voodoo Parlour. Based in the French Quarter, the company operates cemetery tours, ghost hunts and Voodoo lessons. In the back alleys of Bourbon Street, Mother Cinnamon teaches beginners ancient hoodoo dances that unite energies and encourage spirits to materialise. Elsewhere, Dr Snakebones educates acolytes in the art of ve-ve – ritual offerings that channel power through inanimate objects. Visitors can receive tutorials in the finer points of crafting Voodoo dolls, giving them the ability to heal or hex friends and foes alike. For couples in search of something binding, Bloody Mary herself will plan and preside over traditional Voodoo wedding ceremonies. By offering libations to La Grande Zombie (the ancestral god of Voodoo), couples are literally bound together by live snakes.

After mastering the basics, paths to deeper veins of the occult can be found elsewhere in the city. New Orleans’ infamous Voodoo Society, the only collective of its kind, offers advanced schooling in hoodoo magic. The group is an elite secret society, and aspiring scholars must apply to join. Yet its witch doctors will take on any disciples who prove a true passion to learn more.

Voodoo’s desire to connect the living and the dead proves a powerful symbol of how New Orleans has been able to find its footing and rebuild in the face of total destruction. No destination in America has more spirit. The spices of the crescent city seep out of its gumbo and into its streets. It’s impossible to visit New Orleans without inhaling some of its culture. Yet for those who want to harness the true power behind America’s most unique city, an investigation of Voodoo is essential.

Where the meandering prairie lands of the Great Plains end, Colorado’s snow-capped crags begin their ascent. Its winding and treacherous passes have been used as game trails by America’s indigenous tribes for thousands of years. Yet for all its foot traffic, the Rockies continue to stand as a defiant remnant of America’s untamed frontier. In Colorado’s sprawling nature reserves, bears roam free and elk graze in the hidden valleys that dip below the cliff dwellings of long-forgotten peoples.

Wild West nostalgia
There are many ways to reconnect with nature in the Rockies, but there’s one method with more romance than any other: trekking into the mountains on horseback. For generations, hearts across the globe have pined for the nostalgia of the gun-slinging Wild West. There’s just something about riding on horseback under a star-filled sky that tickles the senses. However, in tiny hamlets such as Estes Park, the cowboy spirit is still very much alive and well.

Stop at a cliff-top lean-to for a traditional cowboy dinner of steak and baked beans

The town itself is nestled in a hidden valley, 2,293m above sea level, and is packed with stables offering horseback treks into the mountains. Rides range from an hour to a few weeks, with little previous riding experience required. These adventures can be as group-oriented or as isolated as desired, and most stables will bend over backwards to cater to individual needs.

Some of the best trips available are offered by Sombrero Ranches. With eight stables dotted throughout the mountains, the cowboys at Sombrero can provide a genuine Wild West feel. Aspiring cowpokes can opt for a short, two-hour horseback ride on some of the park’s less strenuous trails – you can even stop at a cliff-top lean-to for a traditional cowboy dinner of steak and baked beans.

A stampeding adventure
Yet those in search of a more perilous trek will not go wanting. The company also offers a 12-hour ride across the continental divide. Along the way, riders ascend from the temperate woodlands into the desolate alpine tundra. There, temperatures drop by up to 30 degrees, and snowdrifts sometimes bury trails – even at the height of summer. The burly horses know the terrain well and will stop for grazing breaks in mountain meadows. Riders can picnic next to one of thousands of arctic-temperature lakes.

For a more ingenuous cowboy experience, Sombrero Ranches also allows riders the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join its annual horse drive. The adventure pits man against nature as a group of true American cowboys lead a herd of wild horses across 60 miles of rough terrain and into new grazing pastures. Nothing matches the exhilarating chase of zipping through open prairie behind the thundering stampede of thousands of hooves. The five-day journey promises adventure at every turn, offering a true slice of Americana that most can only fantasise about.