SE Coastal Alaska
An adventure aboard the National Gepgraphic Endeavour. July-August 2018
Recognise my signature markings?
Arriving in Sitka airport, one is greeted with an astounding array of dead animals. Their heads are attached to every wall, their stuffed carcasses are arranged in threatening displays inside dusty glass boxes. Everyone in Alaska hunts - it is the 'national' pastime. Most impressive, is a huge grizzly bear (also called a brown bear) standing heroically upon a huge rack (of antlers) from a full-grown moose he had just killed. I cannot exaggerate the size of these animals - they are just plain enormous. And very many of them are dead.
We caught a 'taxi' from the airport. The driver (an older woman with unkempt long grey hair - they are all a touch feral here), pulled over with a car full of passengers and asked if we wanted a ride - "these folks don't mind sharing". With a bit of shuffling and reorganising of luggage, we managed to squeeze in. She didn't wear a seatbelt, and neither did anyone else. She took us for a quick tour of the tiny town: "this is where you get bear spray", "all the coffee in town is pretty good except for this place", "this is where you go to drink if you are over 50 and depressed". Brilliant.
We are onboard a National Geographic small boat cruise around the South-east coast. There are 60 passengers onboard, one of whom is a delightful young chap (about 8) proudly wearing a t-shirt that reads: Snaccident. What happens when you accidentally eat all the bacon. The onboard naturalists have been great with the kids, showing them barnacles feeding through the microscope in the lounge, and letting them hoon around in the inflatables. Proper kid stuff.
In Glacier Bay, we all watched in awe as huge chunks of blue ice 'calved' from 65 metre high glacier, and crashed into the ocean. Large waves washed toward the boat and set everything rocking, smashing floating chunks of ice as they came. Gulls dive in immediately to feast on the small bait-fish which are temporarily stunned by the falling ice. The power is seriously impressive.
