Alaska, United States of America

Good evening !

I'd like to start the ball rolling by sharing about the trip I took to the state of Alaska last summer! It was early July that my Mom and I decided to take the opportunity to experience the beautiful nature and wildlife of this far-fetched state by taking a round-trip cruise from Vancouver, Canada. Alaska was an obvious choice for us since we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to South Africa previously, to get fantastic close up encounters with wildlife and to enjoy amazing sceneries and sights, as with what Alaska promises. Our trip was packed to the brim with a fair share of exploring the coastal ports, venturing deeper in search of educating ourselves on Alaska's rich culture and of course, attempting to catch a glimpse of Alaska's rich range of wildlife.

The state of Alaska lies on the North-West of the North America Continent and a large part of this state is uninhabited because of the enormity of the area and the emphasis on the protection of wildlife. Our decision to travel during summer was largely shared by tourists everywhere because of the comfortable climate suitable enough for exploring the surrounding areas of the ports we disembarked at, without worrying about slipping on ice or losing daylight too quickly - as normally seen in winter where it is almost always dark.

We embarked for our week long vacation from Canada Place Cruise Terminal, Vancouver! It is the main port for all luxury cruise liners heading for Alaska and many other destinations like to the Caribbean, Bahamas and Europe.

After boarding, we had a about an hour to explore our moveable hotel for the next 7 days. It was such a fantastic feeling standing on the deck of a cruise for the first time, looking out into the beautiful skyline of Vancouver!

Our first day was spent exploring and taking in the new surroundings, booking all our on-land tours for our up-coming disembarkations at the ports along Alaska. We were thrilled for what we had planned for ourselves over the next few days.

 We sailed along the Icy Straits and arrived at our first disembarkation point- Icy Strait Point! It was a breath of fresh air as we stepped of the cruise for the first time, and onto Alaska officially! We were greeted by introductions to the main economic driver of the state, salmon production. There was an actual factory converted into a museum to showcase conventional techniques used to produce canned salmon that was shipped internationally. It was a great way to educating everyone who stopped over in Icy Strait point!

Our chosen itinerary for the day at Icy Strait point started with taking a shuttle up to a neighbouring peak along the port to take the longest zip line in the world. It was over a 1675 metres long, over a vertical drop of 500 metres! As compared to the zip line I had tried in Whistler, Canada, earlier that month, this experience was possibly a lot more thrilling and enjoyable!

That's my favourite picture of Mom running in for a congratulatory hug at the end of the zip line!

We took a short walk back to the port before being whisked off for a tour in search of brown bears in Spasski River Valley. It was a tour that did not gaurantee a sighting because it was afterall a nature tour. Thus, we were hopeful that it would not be a wasted trip to catch a glimpse of these lumbering giants in their natural habitat! As we ambushed ourselves a distance away from fields where these magnificant creatures often feed, we patiently waited with binoculars in hand and piercing gazes towards any slight movements within the tall grass. As though rewarding the group of us for our patience, we eventually did spot a few of them soon after! It was as though they were dancing through the grass, ploughing through to look for things to eat. It was great seeing them out in the open and not behind bars in zoos, which was what most of us were familar with.

Play, spot the Brown Bears! The view with our trusty binoculars made it simpler for us to observe them.

We headed back to our cruise after and started sailing again for the next destination! Before arriving at Junea, the capital of Alaska, a highlight of the cruise was a stopover to admire the Habbard Glaciers. It was the first time seeing a glacier, and it was a breathtaking view! The crew on board explained that glaciers are formed through the accumulation of snow which is eventually compressed through thousands of years to form ice. The compression of the ice forces air out of it and that explains the striking blue that we see.

Our next port to disembark at was at Juneau. This state capital holds a bulk of indigenious culture which reminds me very so much of the Disney Classic, Pocahontas. There many displays of ancient carvings and the showcase of artistic works by the people was a major reason for it's thriving port, back in the day.

On top of this culturally abundant stopover, Juneau boasts of being a great place for whale watching. In particular, we partipated in the tour in search of the humpback whale. This species of whales are huge and are easily identified through it's distinguishable hump on its' back. We hopped on a speed boat and sailed out into the open waters where the humpback whales usually feed in the nutrient rich Alaskan waters.

There'd be gasps of amazement everytime we sighted one. The general sequence of a sighting would be spotting a burst of mist into the air as the whale arches it's hump over the top of the water before curling down and seemingly waving it's tail into the air. It was a beautiful sight even though we were only able to see parts of the whale, forcing the watcher to stretch his imagination on how the whole process actually plays out, just beneath the water surface.

Another element adding to the perfect whale watching day we had, was the picture-perfect back drop that we were treated to!

Back on land, we treked along the port to visit the Mendenhall Glacier, getting as close to a glacier that visitors can actually get to.

The Mendenhall Visitor Centre is serves mainly as an conservational educational point where visitors are warned of the rapidly threatening melting glaciers. I do hope this beautiful place will still be in tact when I return when the next opportunity arises! The trip to this area really brought to light many of the conservation efforts that I have grown up listening about but never really understanding the gravity of. I do think, everyone who stops over here, would leave having a heart to take an extra step in fighting against global warming back home.

We returned back to our cruise to sail towards our final destination at Ketchikan before returning back to Vancouver! Ketchikan is known as the 'Salmon Capital of the World' and we were greeted by a couple of stalls selling seafood as we disembarked, highlighting that the people were dependent very much on tourism as well. Mom and I opted to visit Ketchikan's main attraction : Misty Fjords National Monument by taking a float plane!

Misty Fjords National Monument is a wilderness area covering amost 9,246Kilometres! The float plane served in giving us a fantastic aerial view of the natural beauty of the area. Although it was a bumpy ride to our short landing in a beautiful lake within Misty Fjords, the breathtaking views were enough to make up it.

Absoultely Stunning!

Our trip concluded with us disembarking back at Canada Place after a whole week of pure enjoyment, exploring and getting to know Alaska. We had experienced so many beautiful moments and is definitely ranked high up in my list of places that I would want to come back to, simply because this exotic destination promises a diverse range to explore and slowly encover. I think that it is in fact, a precious fact that the largely inaccessible geographical location of Alaska aids in preserving much of her fascinating culture and people's way of living. Even as tourists flock to catch a glimpse of her beauty in summer, there will still be as many who leave this untouched gem of the state of Alaska intrigued, yearning for another opportunity for return.