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My Portrait Photography
My Nature Photography

Monday – Sitka

8:00 AM thru 6:00 PM

Daily Program

Port Information

Good Morning

While everyone else slept, I got up early to check our arrival into port.  I went up to the Crow's Nest to enjoy the view.  As I got up to leave, what to my surprise but two Orcas off the port side.  It was a lucky sighting and totally unexpected.  What a perfect way to start the day!

Went back to the cabin and everyone else was just starting to rise.  We headed up to the Lido for breakfast.  The omelet station was becoming a favorite breakfast stop.  We made sure to dress in layers, wear good walking shoes and be prepared for rain.

The ship used a couple of life boats for the tenders, which is fairly common.  The tendering line was a little long, but they always seem to be longer than we want.  The girls got to sit in the upper seats as they were the only kids on our tender.  They really liked watching the crew pilot the boat.

Once we got off the tender it was time for the "Welcome to Sitka" photo.  Luckily they were pretty quick and it did not slow down the line very much.

Historic Sitka and Nature Walk

Described as a 2 1/2 mile walk  "Become immersed in the fascinating history and natural beauty of Sitka on this exploration by foot, in the company of a knowledgeable Sitka guide. "

Our tour actually occurred in reverse order from the brochure, starting at the Raptor Center and ending in town.  I think for us this was actually better.  The guide said they run the tour both directions, and split the tours to keep the sizes manageable.  The Raptor Center was very interesting.  It was a first time for us being so close to these majestic birds.  The kids did seem to learn a lot about the birds, how they ended up at the center and how they were helped.

Next the tour went through some of the trails near the center.  This was not the normal path, but a non-standard route our guide chose to split us from the other tour.  This was much better than the standard path of following the road down the hill.  The forest was just amazing.  We saw a giant slug.  It was even bigger than the picture when it was stretched out, but it was camera shy a shrunk up when the guide placed her shoe near it for the photo.

During the walk we got to see many wild berries, some were tasty (blue berries), others (salmon eggs) not as much.  We also walked thru an area of marsh/swamp.  Our guide explained how the area just of the trail looked firm, but would quickly become a liquid mess if we stepped into it.  We finally exited out to the standard trail.  This was a walk along a main road to the next tour area.  There were some very pretty wildflowers growing along the way.

The next area of forest was filled with these interesting trees.  Apparently new trees take root in the dead portions of old trees (see first picture).  They then grow into full trees while the original decays below them.  Sometimes the results leave these trees on roots that look like stilts.  We saw our first salmon stream, and the salmon were just beginning to return.  The guide explained how this spot would be solid salmon in a few weeks. 

We saw totem poles and our guide explained how the poles were used to record events.  The guide also explained how she could not tell us the story of the pole as she would be sued.  Apparently it is a major offense and considered theft to tell the story of a pole if you have not be certified on that pole.  The certification process was described and it is quite intense, hence no stories for us.

The sad part was learning how there were once many more poles, but they were "borrowed" for a world's fair.  They were supposed to be returned, but never were and most were lost forever.  Some poles have been recreated, but a large part of the history has been lost.

As we walked toward town our guide pointed out various buildings and told us of their history.  We did see St. Michael's from the tour, but did not go inside (as was indicated in the tour information).  We did learn some interesting history about another church and the Alaska purchase.  Very interesting, but you'll have to take the tour to find out.

We had plenty of time before our next tour to do a little shopping and eats some lunch.

Sea Life Discovery

Described as a 2 hour tour  "Immerse yourself in the hidden world beneath the Alaskan seas. Glide through eel grass beds, drift through giant kelp forests and explore rich, rocky shoals in comfortable style aboard Alaska’s only semi-submersible tour vessel. You will discover that the cold waters of Alaska teem with life, including jellyfish, anemones, crab, fish, starfish, and a variety of aquatic plants thanks to long hours of summer daylight and the nutrient-rich currents of the North Pacific."

We met the tour at the dock where we had been dropped off by the tender.  The boat was very interesting in construction and look very odd from above the water.  Once we climbed on board we were instructed to head down below to the viewing windows.  We were given a safety talk and told the basics about how the tour would take place.

Having been on submersible tours before I was aware that photography would be a challenge, but the sights were quite interesting.  We did tour through the eel grass and saw various fish and other sea life hiding in it.  Later is was on the the kelp beds for another mix or sea life.

From here we were taken to a place where they have placed anemones in baskets for easy viewing.  At this location the diver on board went below and brought up one of the starfish and held it to each of the windows so all could see it.  This was the only part of the tour that was "artificial", but it was a nice addition.

One of the amazing things was the variety in colors that the starfish could be found.  Orange and Purple and other colors that made them stand out against the otherwise uniform colors.  In fact, most creatures relied on camouflage to hide, so spotting them was difficult.  The tour did have several crew members who would move about and help you spot various items.

As the tour ended close to the time we needed to be back on board, the tour took is directly to the ship.  This was very convenient.  On the way back, we went above for some snacks and to look at some of the creatures they had in the hands on tank.

Back On Board

Back with plenty of time to prepare for dinner.  As it was "Dutch Night", I was really looking forward to tasting some different foods. The menu looked very interesting:

Dinner Dessert

I started with the Garnalen Cocktail, Vermicelli Soep Met Balletjes, Westland Sla.  For an entree I enjoyed Gebraden Ossenhaas met Champignon Saus.  We also order a plate of Bami Goreng for us to share.  Others had Eendenborst which I also sampled.  Everything was wonderful.  I enjoyed every bite.  We sampled most of the desserts, then me and my daughter went to the ice cream bar for a waffle cone.

The show was "Romance on Broadway".  We solved the seating issue by just sitting through the prior activity so we would have a good seat for the show.  They had really bad sound problems during the show, microphones not working, music louder than vocals, etc.  This did detract from the show as it happened so frequently.  You could see the frustration in the performers faces as they tried to make the best of it.

End of the day with a perfect sunset that I couldn't resist photographing.

Next will be Juneau where our biggest excursions were planned.

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My Portrait Photography
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