Day 6, Ketchikan, Alaska:
Blessed with a beautiful, comfortably warm, sunny day in this port. I overheard that the salmon were starting to arrive but there were none to be seen later, on the salmon steps or in the river as there had been on our last trip, in late August.
We had $100US each in our package to spend on a ship excursion so I chose to take the amphibious bus and Bob, a kayak trip to Eagle Island. I left first at 11:30 as Bob had been moved to a later added on trip after being waitlisted. First surprise was having to climb a ladder to get into the bus. Second surprise was that I did quite well! Third was having to sign a waiver releasing them of all blame if I met my demise aboard! Shortly after booking this trip I recalled that one had sunk, tragically, in Missouri four years ago. My buddy in the next cabin shared a morbid joke with me as I was leaving about not wearing my lifesaver(it was funny though you’d have to have been there to appreciate it)…. It seemed too real signing a very detailed waiver after climbing the ladder and locking us all into what was a big ramshackle tub on wheels. Every other duck bus in town was open air, flaps up, appeared newer and freshly painted. It wasn’t your typical scenic tour as there were only flapped circular portholes where you’d lift your camera above your head and point outward in hopes of capturing something. We had a circular drive with a bit of town trivia and sites before we drove into the harbour to have fishing boats explained … really wasn’t the water experience I’d been hoping for and we could have remained land bound.
My seat companion was a lovely lady from Australia… tons of Aussies onboard. The nursing student guide knew her patter well as we trundled along but the ‘captain’ was a gruff old goat who gave her a hard time and stubbornly wouldn’t open the plastic sides of the vehicle up to allow breezes through, much to the anger of the disgruntled passengers behind me in the sauna-like heat. I had the benefit of the driver’s open window not far ahead.
Meantime, Bob’s experience wasn’t much grander as prep time to get into the kayaks for all levels was lengthy and his sea adventure where he pictured a possible whale emerging beneath his boat turned out to be more like a circle around a lake with a bonus eagle and two seals to add to his sightings. He later admitted he’d not read the description carefully in anticipation of paddling to sea. Lesson is you may get what you pay for but unfortunately the price of excursions in Alaska is generally huge. Count on spectacular tours at each port totalling more than the cruise itself.
While Bob was away, I took a slow amble through the cute, basically tourist souvenir town where every shop had salmon in some form or other. Salmon jerky for dear son from the salmon capital of the world and the largest collection of standing totem poles! I picked up an unusual Turkish ice cream in a local chocolate shop and wandered along the boardwalk of the restaged early 20th century red light district. There were also many varieties of local jams and syrups made from spruce and wild plants.
That evening, it was the ‘Orange Party’ in Music Walk.. not my colour so I came unprepared, other than the orange sign from our cabin door which I popped into my pocket that said ‘Privacy Please’. I had it handy if orange was required. The place was rocking but I had to admit this party-er needed more sleep from all the early morns and walking.
Blessed with a beautiful, comfortably warm, sunny day in this port. I overheard that the salmon were starting to arrive but there were none to be seen later, on the salmon steps or in the river as there had been on our last trip, in late August.
We had $100US each in our package to spend on a ship excursion so I chose to take the amphibious bus and Bob, a kayak trip to Eagle Island. I left first at 11:30 as Bob had been moved to a later added on trip after being waitlisted. First surprise was having to climb a ladder to get into the bus. Second surprise was that I did quite well! Third was having to sign a waiver releasing them of all blame if I met my demise aboard! Shortly after booking this trip I recalled that one had sunk, tragically, in Missouri four years ago. My buddy in the next cabin shared a morbid joke with me as I was leaving about not wearing my lifesaver(it was funny though you’d have to have been there to appreciate it)…. It seemed too real signing a very detailed waiver after climbing the ladder and locking us all into what was a big ramshackle tub on wheels. Every other duck bus in town was open air, flaps up, appeared newer and freshly painted. It wasn’t your typical scenic tour as there were only flapped circular portholes where you’d lift your camera above your head and point outward in hopes of capturing something. We had a circular drive with a bit of town trivia and sites before we drove into the harbour to have fishing boats explained … really wasn’t the water experience I’d been hoping for and we could have remained land bound.
My seat companion was a lovely lady from Australia… tons of Aussies onboard. The nursing student guide knew her patter well as we trundled along but the ‘captain’ was a gruff old goat who gave her a hard time and stubbornly wouldn’t open the plastic sides of the vehicle up to allow breezes through, much to the anger of the disgruntled passengers behind me in the sauna-like heat. I had the benefit of the driver’s open window not far ahead.
Meantime, Bob’s experience wasn’t much grander as prep time to get into the kayaks for all levels was lengthy and his sea adventure where he pictured a possible whale emerging beneath his boat turned out to be more like a circle around a lake with a bonus eagle and two seals to add to his sightings. He later admitted he’d not read the description carefully in anticipation of paddling to sea. Lesson is you may get what you pay for but unfortunately the price of excursions in Alaska is generally huge. Count on spectacular tours at each port totalling more than the cruise itself.
While Bob was away, I took a slow amble through the cute, basically tourist souvenir town where every shop had salmon in some form or other. Salmon jerky for dear son from the salmon capital of the world and the largest collection of standing totem poles! I picked up an unusual Turkish ice cream in a local chocolate shop and wandered along the boardwalk of the restaged early 20th century red light district. There were also many varieties of local jams and syrups made from spruce and wild plants.
That evening, it was the ‘Orange Party’ in Music Walk.. not my colour so I came unprepared, other than the orange sign from our cabin door which I popped into my pocket that said ‘Privacy Please’. I had it handy if orange was required. The place was rocking but I had to admit this party-er needed more sleep from all the early morns and walking.
