We took our first excursion ashore yesterday morning. Our day started early, with a boat ride through the inlets around Ketchikan. Probably the highlight of the boat ride – aside from learning about the area’s rainforest qualities – was that there were several bald eagle spotting. One seemed to pose for us, and he didn’t move even as the boat got really close. Like my friend Jason said, they really ARE as majestic as you've always heard. Even if our national bird is a scavenger.
Our boat tour concluded at the dock of a cannery that’s been closed for some time. I believe it’s called the Libby Cannery. We watched a video to learn about the history and operations of the cannery, then went on a tour of how people worked and the machines they used to can salmon. Very hard work, and mostly left to migrant Chinese. In fact, they built a machine to automate one of the processes and they named it – very politically incorrectly – the “Iron Chink.”After touring the cannery we took a bus over to Saxman Village, which is filled with totem carvings. These totems are a big tourist draw to the area, and I found them fascinating. Not enough so to pick up a small carved souvenir, but still …
2 comments:
Love both pics! I knew a guy who would pose like the eagle - we called him "Aguila" (Spanish for eagle).
What?! No totem?!
The second pic is the bottom of a totem. I'm trying not to overload the post with pics. Weeding them out as I go. Sands would've DIED today. I got to spend 90 minutes on the bridge with the captain and crew, taking pictures of glaciers in College Fjord. Incredible end to the cruise. Tomorrow we head for Denali.
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