Alaska Day 12: Safari Explorer

 

Day 12: Safari Explorer

Weather Report: Overcast most of the day, moderate temps, then rain from 6pm on

Quote of the Day: OMG, we had her at lunch, too

It’s a Covid world: It’s been 3 or 4 years since the Antarctica cruise and now the explanations of the impact of climate change can actually be labeled by the scientifically knowledgeable excursion staff as such rather than never using the phrase “climate change”. Phew, a small set of honesty and reality.

Pre-breakfast of 1.5 small chocolate croissants and cappuccinos, breakfast of eggs, bacon, potatoes and toast, and then our morning activity: an easy hike alongside a river. Not too much of note other than a lot of bear scat.

Remember this pic, the tide is way out

Bear tracks...Here, Bear is the call used to scare off the bears

More bear scat. Until the berries and salmon show up the bears eat a lot of marsh grass

EL pointing out where small birds nest unbeknownst to animals walking underneath

 

Banana slug

Squirrel holes

Note how fast the tide came in...

As we hit the beach to return to the boat via skiff, EL spots a spume and we’re off in the skiff to explore. It’s a humpback whale, and we wait patiently as it surfaces about every 5-7 minutes. THB gets these shots just before we return to the boat for lunch.

Pics of a humpback whale

Lamb stew and stories of Zion NP for lunch.

We change into our kayaking outfits and then agree: it’s overcast with a hint of rain, the scenery is pretty similar to the last few kayaking outings, and thus we change back into our on-board attire, take naps, read, knit and in general re-energize ourselves (okay, maybe we eat a few chocolate cookies, too).

After activity drink: Sangria (THB is freezing...Sangria?)

At dinner, one of the single women asks if she can join. Hard to say no, and now that dinner is over THB realizes he needs to fill the empty seats with neutral or better cruisers. After dinner, talking to the other couple at our table we find out she had been at the same table with them at lunch and thus a new strategy is required: wait til she picks a table and then sit somewhere else.

Book Review: Drop City, T.C Boyle (novel): a hippie commune moves from N. California to outside of Fairbanks and peace, love, and rock ‘n roll get chilled to the bone during the first winter. Great to read if you are up in the great North, probably a lot less fascinating if you are snug in your down South house with all those modern conveniences. Spoiler Alert: the ending is straight out of  Night Moves with Gene Hackman.