Watching BBC Earth -David Attenborough documentaries expands one’s bucket list for travel making it a rather large bucket. One of these involved stories of Salmon Runs, Grizzly Bears, Orcas, Whales painted a vivid picture in my head and also planted an “ah, how wonderful it would be to experience this one day !” idea into my head and consequently into my bucket list. Meeting Alsakan wildlife photo Ron Niebrugge during my South Georgia trip and keeping in touch subsequently gave the opportunity to sign up for a trip aboard a classic yacht MV Discovery with a small group of 10 like-minded folks and explore a tiny portion of the inside passage of South East Alaska for a week.
“Glaciers, Whales and Bears Tour ” was the title given by Ron primarily intended as a photographers tour but the family too signing up for it meant more space for the remaining photographers, me included and a more diverse group leading to conversations at the dinner table that were varied and interesting. I did very little research prior to the trip other than the teaser Ron sent with what we might experience. We landed in Juneau the pretty island city that is the capital of Alaska after a short flight from Seattle. The landing into Juneau itself gave one peek of the beautiful landscape – A stunning amalgam of Land and water, weaving intricate patterns
A couple of days in Juneau gave us a chance to recover from the jetlag and to the experience downtown Juneau at its touristy best. Juneau is a stop for all the huge cruise ships that carry a few thousand passengers and many of them make a beeline for the Jewellery shops that seem to abound the downtown street. The size of these ships never fails to astonish and at the same time we could not help being the snobs and smirk at the mass travellers in these vessels
We also got to experience walking on the surface of Juneau’s icefield through a helicopter tour operated by a local outfit called Coastal Helicopters. The easy way out to get a feel for the conditions on top of the Glacier Taku amidst bright sunshine was indeed awesome.
After meeting with Ron, his wife Janine and other group members for a welcome dinner the previous evening, we boarded the wonderful classic Yacht MV Discovery on the morning of the 25th July 2018. The Next seven days proved to be a fascinating observation with wonderment of nature at its best under the warm care of Capt Ben his passionate crew and Ron as we explored lush rainforests, docked every day at the prettiest of coves , Kayaked around these coves , collected glacial ice , using it for our drinks , watched numerous Humpbacks , Orcas, Sea Lions , Otters and Purpoises as they lived their lives in these fiords diving , feeding and almost playing with our Boat. Going ashore on the skiffs, we got to visit lush rainforests and streams to watch Brown Bears and see them indulge in a variety of behaviours along with their Cubs.
There were many stories and memorable sightings that deserve to be shared as separate posts and I shall attempt to do so along with the pictures / Video.
NEWS of Planet Earth 