15 July to 17 July 2015

I have only been a few days in Alaska now, but have already seen a lot of wildlife and scenery. Although given the size of Alaska, it is only a fraction.

My hosts, Bev and Michael, have taken me on a two day trip to Seward and Homer in the Kenai peninsula, south of Anchorage. In Seward, we went on a six hour cruise, which was phenomenal. We saw nine humpback whales, some of them breaching (jumping out of the water), sea lions, sea otters, bald eagles, puffins and numerous other birds. The ship also stopped in front of the Colgate Glacier, where ice calves were floating in the water leading up to it. Add to this the view from the boat of the other glaciers and mountain ranges high up from the sea, it was amazing.

On our way back to the car, we passed local fisherman who were representing the biggest catch for the day. The size of the halibut was massive!

In the evening, we ate fresh salmon in the Lands End Hotel on the Homer Split, where we also stayed for the night. My room had sea view and the first thing I saw in the morning was a big bold eagle just outside my window at the beach! You can see it in the pictures. It’s mate was eating fish on the beach, but flew away when it was getting too harassed by the sea gulls and a tiny daring raven.

On our way back, we went passed numerous fishing spots. The salmon will pass through very soon and everybody is getting ready to go fishing. Alaskan residents each have a quota of salmon they are allowed to catch and keep every year. I learned about the different species of salmon and saw the world record catch of a king salmon by a local car dealer in the 1980. It weight more than 97lb!

I am very, very grateful to Bev and Michael to show me so much of their beautiful country in such a short space. There were so many impressions I got and stories I heard from them. They really took hospitality to another level. Thank you!