A five hour drive out of Knysna down the remainder of the N2 Garden Route took us through miles of golden fields dotted with neatly stacked, circular hay bales protected by mountain ranges. It struck us that the drive after the end of the Garden Route was actually much more scenic, despite all the hype. Our arrival at Grootboos Private nature reserve was the highlight of the day. This was Paradise found!
We hiked the Robberg Peninsula today - a really lovely walk. The weather was overcast, which was a bit of a shame, but it was warm and dry at least. There are a lot of lovely coastal and forest walks around Knysna - much nicer than the built up areas all around the coast from here to Plettenberg Bay (Plett). In parts of the Garden Route aalong the coast, there are townships on both sides of the road - not at all scenic. Lots of properties here have electric fences protecting them and most shops/hotels etc seem to have 24 hour armed respond security. A quarter of the back page of the Visit Knysna tourism flier has safety advice for tourists. All common sense stuff, but disconcerting nonetheless
The St. James of Knysna hotel was comfortable and our room was enormous - but the atmosphere was a bit staid/old fashioned. It was also a long way out of town. We would have been better staying at a B & B closer to the centre of town. We had to get a cab to the restaurant where we were meeting friends - it is not advisable to walk it.
This morning was our last 5am start and our last game drive. It was time for us to say "Goodbye Shamwari - Hallo Knysna". Sicla was on a mission to find me more elephants - not too difficult to track with the large prints their feet make. They are rather like huge marshmallows!
After four days of 5 am starts and an hour and a half drive back through driving rain in an open truck, we woke at 4am to a big thunder storm - the lightning lit up the tent and thunder rolled all around for some hours. In view of the weather, we decided to abandon the 5am game drive and take some much needed down time this morning. Good call - one of the other vehicles turned back after just 1 km! We have seen so much here already after three days that missing out on one game drive didn't seem like a big deal anyway. On reflection, 3 nights would have been sufficient - even with good weather every day.
We have spent the last couple of days on a Shamwari Photographic Safari. These are led by Ryan and his Dad Iky (Iky's Photograhpic) who, with the impressively expert help of Frank our ranger and driver, patiently showed us how to get the very best out of our cameras and capture the beauty of this wild and fascinating place. The photographic safari added greatly to our overall experience of Shamwari and I would wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone interested in photography - whether inexperienced amateurs like us looking to invest some time in learning more about the art - or experienced photographers looking to share their passion and enhance skill.
Today's game drives would reward us with sightings of 4 of the Big 5 (rhino, buffalo, elephant, cheetah and leopard). This morning, an hour or more's driving was rewarded by a cheetah sighting. The kill was fresh - somewhat distressing (more so as the prey was a pregnant female springbok) until you get used to the fact that you are watching the natural world all around you as it happens in real life here. The light was right and we were - with some valuable guidance. From our very talented guides - able to take some great shots.
We were up at 5 to start our morning game drive. What a way to spend your birthday! This morning, we saw black rhino (very rare - this was the first in the open sighting our guide had seen in three years); elephants, giraffes and cheetah - all in one morning! Awesome. This morning had been good, but it got much better on the evening game drive. We spent an hour - just the two of us with three guides - watching lions - King of the Bush. Such a privilege.
Bayethe Lodge is a little further away from the game reserve than some of the other lodges, but is quieter and better for an adults only experience. The tents were very comfortable - though we were glad we had packed some warmer clothes. An open air shower would have been even better - but the private hot tub was a great facility. Shamwari looks after you very well indeed. Early morning and evening game drives are part of your package and specialist photographic safaris are also available. Safaris are catered for on a full board basis, so only your drinks are additional. The restaurant is good and the mixture of private tables and group dining works well.
A cheerful chap called Brian drove us all the way up the coast through Port Elizabeth and on to Shamwari Game Reserve. It took 5 hours in all. Bayethe Lodge is tented accommodation (although you would never really know you were actually in a tent!) set in very peaceful surroundings of rich vegetation giving a real feeling of seclusion with spectacular views of the African bush. The inspiration for the name of Bayethe Lodge comes from the Afrikaans "By-ye-thi" - "I salute you".
The Fernery was booked as part of the hike package. We would have stayed longer if we could as the facilities were excellent. A day or so extra down time at this part of the trip would have been quite welcome - particularly after the exertion of the hike. The Fernery has a lovely swimming pool area surrounded by peaceful gardens - a lovely place just to hang out for a few days.
We left the comfort of the Misty Mountains Resort and set off on the second day of our hike, through wild garlic, curry plant, pelargoniums, yellow daisies, arum lilies and trees I have never a seen before. We saw: iron wood (heavier than water so it doesn't float); stink wood (used for furniture, and smells when cut) and knot wood - which looked like something from prehistoric times. We passed through banks of pretty coral fern, which is (somewhat unbelievably given its delicacy and the distance) harvested for export to florists mainly in France, Germany and Holland.
The Misty Mountain Reserve was the second hotel we stayed in on our two day Dolphin Trail Hike - a perfect place to stay in all aspects. Our room was called Tortoise - were they trying to tell us something about our hiking speed?! There was great attention to detail here - even the the plugs had a tortoise on top
We met up with our fellow hikers - three couples from Germany who fortunately all spoke very good English. We set off on the day's hike and saw a pod of dolphins almost as soon as we started (video to follow!). We walked across three suspension bridges (for once, I took my eyes off the beautiful ocean and concentrated on putting one wobbly foot in front of the other). Once we had made the crossing, a long, steep ascent followed. It was hot and this part of the hike was the most challenging. We were rewarded by "high tea` which was served in china cups! These had been drive up to the top - our two African guides had carried water etc. For the trip - but obviously not all the tea cups!
From Oudtshoorn, we drove for about an hour through some beautiful scenery to drop off the off the hire car at George airport, stopping off at the impressive Fancourt Golf Club en route to satisfy Tim's curiosity. Two and a half hours later, the pre-booked transfer car had dropped us at the Storms River Tsitsikamma Section of the Garden Route National Park (GRNP) ready to start our two day hike - The Dolphin Trail.
Hlangana Lodge is a very pretty and comfortable lodge on the outskirts of Oudtshoorn. There is no restaurant on site, but a complimentary shuttle into town was provided. The lodge has a peaceful pool area and gardens. Best of all, it has an absolutely excellent laundry service! We left relaxed and refreshed with a case full of clean. fresh laundry all neatly pressed and folded for the price of a couple of cups of coffee back home. What's not to like?!
Oudtshoorn – Cango Caves and Ostriches Cango Caves Oudtshoorn is an interesting place and it is worth spending at least a day here - or better still two, if you…
It took us 5 hours to reach Hlangana Lodge. There was little traffic and the route was indeed scenic. We passed a woman carrying a large cardboard book on her head - no hands - better deportment than you see on most high streets back home. Several people had woolly hats on - odd as it was over 30 today. We also saw an ostrich running wild, with 3 chicks. The highlight though was the baboon troop running across the motorway. We were looking out for them as there were notices warning you not to feed the baboons. Hard to photograph through the car window and we didn't want to slow down too much or stop for obvious reasons.
We are moving on today and have a long(ish) 4 and a half hour drive ahead to Hlangana Lodge in Oudtshoorn, so are making an early start. Route 62 is a good alternative to the very popular Garden Route along the coast. It is supposed to be quieter, but no less picturesque - we'll find out today.
Each course on the Le Quartier Francais Tasting Menu was as much - if not more - a work of art than part of a meal. The chef prides herself on using local produce and this was certainly a sample of some of the best South Africa has to offer. We each had a different menu chosen for us, which was unusual in itself. Even the wines that accompanied it were different for each of us. Three hours slipped happily away as we enjoyed the theatre of the banquet. The experience needs to be booked well ahead and is only available on certain nights. The hotel restaurant is also a great choice off the Tasting Room is not open.
Le Quartier Francais is a really beautiful hotel. Luxurious, yet informal and relaxed. The staff are happy to organise trips for you locally. The swimming pool area is very restful . The hotel is located conveniently close to the Main Street which means you can choose to dine at a variety of different restaurants if you wish. The restaurants at the hotel are excellent too though, so aim to sample those during your stay if you can. You can choose between fine dining and a more relaxed option. All in all - a really lovely place to stay for a few days.
We picked up our hire car and navigated the short hour and a half drive to our next stop in Franschhoek. It was very hot today - up to 35 and Summer has only just started here. They say it has started hot though - February (their hottest month) isn't usually much hotter than this. August - mid Winter here - is about 15 degrees on average but can drop just below freezing at night on occasion. I don't think many people who live here all the time understand what cold can really feel like?! Le Quartier Francais is a really beautiful hotel. Luxurious, yet informal and relaxed. This afternoon, they organised a trip for us to a winery that is part of their group.
We took a Peninsular Tour to the Penguins today, finishing at the African penguin colony at Boulders Beach. The coastline was pristine - miles and miles of clear blue waters, huge waves and very few people around - perfect. The penguins were a fascinating sight - quite immune to all the attention they get from the tourists. No-one was swimming in the sea. Maybe because the water is very cold here in Summer (it is warmer in Winter, oddly?) - or maybe because sharks are common in these waters. Sharks are so common they employ shark watchers to sound the alarm if they spot one.
A city bus hop on hop off 2 day pass is very good value and a great way to see all the sites. A sunset cruise and a trip round the harbour on a boat are both included. We'll save the sunset cruise until tomorrow. The blue route goes to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, which are a must see World Heritage site. The area is famous for its fynbos (fine bush) and there were some stunning examples in these very well kept gardens. Thought for the day - Nelson Mandel's mantra - "Rise Above" - above apartheid, struggle, bad news, loss - whatever has gone wrong, you can overcome it so long as you have the right mindset.
We are staying at the Victoria & Alfred Hotel which is perfectly situated in the heart of the V&A Waterfront and offers spectacular views of the harbour and Table Mountain. By the time we had unpacked, it was dark and the waterfront looked really lovely all lit up.
Where to Stay in Cape Town Victoria & Alfred Hotel - Accommodation Review The Victoria & Alfred Hotel is a fantastic hotel and our favourite of the two luxury hotels…
A 3 week South Africa Safari round trip from Cape Town through the Winelands to the Eastern Cape via Route 62 and back to Cape Town via the Garden Route. We have chosen Shamwari for our first safari experience because it gets great reviews and avoids the need to make the long journey to Kruger/Johannesburg with the added risk of malaria that you have to put up with there. The Eastern Cape is malaria free, which sounds good to me.
We travelled a total of 3,131 miles on our Yellowstone road trip by road and about 100 miles on foot. That is a lot of ground. We could have cut the trip short by missing out the Wild West bit around Rapid City/Mount Rushmore, but we would have missed out on quite a bit of the flavour of the place then and I wouldn't want to have done that. The National Park annual pass turned out to be great value at $80. All the National Parks quieten down significantly after Labour Day at the end of August, so then is a good time to go, as long as you don't leave it so long that the snow arrives - it is a small window, RMNP is definitely the busiest park (people per square mile), so I would leave that as late into the season as possible.
We had a couple of hours drive to reach Denver again after checking out of our Estes Park lodgings. I was left wanting more from Denver on our first visit, so it was easy plan the few hours we had left to us today. I had three objectives in mind: See Grand Union Station, visit the enticing looking Cheesecake Factory and take a photo of the mile high city skyline... Grand Union Station - tick! Art deco style - never fails to please.
With a full day to spend in RMNP, we hiked to Cub Lake today and decided to go beyond to Fern Falls - an 8 mile round trip in all. The foliage is a more fiery orange/red here, although it is a late fall this year. Our hike was accompanied by the loud bugling of elk all along the trail. This is rut season and you can hear it going on all around you. I thought it would be confined to sunrise/sunset - but the cries rang out around the tranquil vallies all day. During the fall, bull elk become aggressive as this is the breeding rut. They gather harems of up to 60 females around them and fiercely defend them using their antlers as weapons as they lock in combat with other bulls for breeding rights to the cow elk. I failed miserably to capture the sound of a bugling elk all day.
Self catering at the Wildwood Inn RMNP made a pleasant change at this late stage of our trip. Shopping in the supermarket was interesting too. The accommodation is a drive away from the nearest shop though. It was too cold to use the outside jacuzzi and it didn't look too inviting anyway. Bears raided the bins at night - which could have been better managed. The accommodation was very spacious and comfortable though. The Wi-Fi signal was very weak/slow.
We drove back towards Denver, heading for the Rocky Mountain National Park this morning. It was a long but beautiful road with dramatic scenery all the way along. We arrived at the Park Entrance in the early afternoon and drove the Trail Ridge Road up into the Park and across to Estes Park our next - and last - stop.
We visited Colorado National Monument this morning. We had planned to spend just a couple of hours there, but ended up spending the whole day it was so interesting. John Otto was the man who fell in love with the place when he visited it in 1907 and dedicated the best part of his life to building trails there and getting it designated as a National,Park, which he achieved in 1911. He worked as the park's caretaker then for $1 a day, so dedicated was he to the site. John Ottos's Dream: "I came here last year and found these canyons, and they felt like the heart of the world to me. I'm going to stay ... - and promote this place, because it should be a National Park."
Grand Junction is such an interesting town to visit - I am really glad we stopped here and we could easily have spent another day. It has lots of individual shops selling all manner of things from antiques to art and everything in between. There is a big foodie bias - lots of breweries and wineries and shops selling artisan cheeses - one stocked 54 varieties of extra virgin olive oil. Main Street is lined with sculptures - public art - but with a quirky, fun bias rather than anything high brow.
The Hilton Double Tree Grand Junction is a good choice of hotel in Grand Junction with everything you would expect from this chain. The signature complimentary warm chocolate chip cookies were waiting for us when we arrived, of course. We really must stop meeting like this?!
We turned off at Vernal and visited the Dinosaur National Monument. We walked the fossil trail which is a short hike through desert country. There were fossils to see all along the trail, but it is hard to identify them if you are not exavtly sure what you are looking for. We walked the trail with a family whose son was convinced he could see bones everywhere. His Dad was less convinced - "your'e asking the guy who can't even find the ketchup in the fridge to find a fossil?!" The indicative white arrows had been largely rubbed off, so that made things significantly more challenging. We definitely found one exhibit though - see photo!
The Homewood Suites Hilton Rock Springs is a reasonable base for this portion of the trip. The hotel was comfortable and the room was spacious - but without much character. There is a Chinese restaurant nearby which is OK. Jackson would maybe have been a better place to stay - but it is really difficult to balance reasonable driving distances with the best place to stay on a long road trip like this. The compromise was reasonable here, overall.
We got talking to a couple of local guys in the Deadman's Bar last night - well actually, they'd started the conversation by asking us how we were enjoying our visit to the colonies. We laughed at this and the conversation went on for an hour or more by which time we had sorted out American politics, English politics, beer, whisky, resource management and - well we ran out of time for world peace. They asked us where we were headed next and when we said Rock Springs , they told us this was the armpit of Wyoming, in their opinion. Great - so we are aiming for the armpit then! We headed off towards Jackson and stopped off at the National Museum of Wildlife Art on the way. This was a fantastic museum - really worth the stop, I would go so far as to say that if you have time to visit only one museum in this area, this should be your choice.
We took a long day hike into Cascade Canyon today. Even with the boat ride across Jenny Lake, it is still a 10 mile hike. We were rewarded with fine views of the changing Autumn foliage. Personally, I didn't find the view from Inspiration Point particularly inspirational - after the very strenuous hike through thin air, I was really hoping for something more - but I did have a sense of achievement for accomplishing the hike this far and enthusiasm to press on to the Forks - the majority of people get no further than Inspiration Point, but the trails flattens out after this, so why not press on?
We made an early start on our fist full day in Grand Teton National Park to join a float trip down the Snake River organised through Signal Mountain Lodge. Mountain and lake scenery does it for me every time. I would very much like to come here in Spring (I.e. last week June/1st week July) to see the alpine flowers in bloom. Now though, we have the beautiful fall colours of the cottonwood and aspen trees. It is such a short season here - soon (2 weeks max,) - the trees will be reduced to twigs again and the snow will come - up to 300 inches in Jackson usually and 700 inches in the mountains.
Signal Mountain Lodge is a very comfortable place to stay close to all Grand Teton National Park has to offer. Several excursions can be arranged at Reception, which makes planning your trip here a bit easier. The restaurant is good too.
We arrived at Signal Mountain Lodge much sooner than we had expected - I think we must got the distances a bit wrong somewhere in the planning. It only took a couple of hours from Yellowstone Lake. This meant we had plenty of time to call in at Colter Visitor Centre and plan the rest of our trip. The scenery on the drive into the Grand Teton National Park was absolutely stunning a provided a welcome change in colour from Yellowstone. Mount Moran dominates the landscape on the drive in - the turnout at Willow Flats gave us a beautful view of it nestled into the lake and tucked in with sagebrush and fall leaf colour. Absolutely stunning.
Lakeside Lodge Yellowstone National Park is reasonably comfortable - but the restaurant was a disappointing cafeteria style affair. The best thing you can say about it is that it is inside the park itself, which is a real bonus given the high driving distances here.
Old Faithful erupts pretty reliably every hour to hour and a half - hence the name - so we decided to take a pew and just wait it out - in case we missed it later on. We got a front row pew - they were all empty because OF had obviously only just done it's thing. We waited for 45 minutes - chatting happily to a couple from Florida and a Dutch couple - always interesting to talk to other people and share travel experiences etc, It really helped to pass the time. The suspense mounted - the crowd grew and was soon three people deep all around OF ... Eventually, OF began to hiss a bit and bubble and steam and then - yes - reliably enough (a bit later than predicted - but - hey, this is a natural phenomena. - so who's counting? she blew ... and yes, the sheer power and height of it was amazing.
Today, we took our longest hike of the trip - a 10 mile loop from Bear Lake past Alberta Falls to the Loch Valley, past Lake Haiwaya and back down to Bear Lake at the end. Bear Lake is at 9,475 feet elevation and the Loch adds another 990 feet - it was rough walking in places - a lot of up and not much down until the last couple of miles.
This morning, we visited West Thumb Geyser Basin. This was a quieter area than Norris and there some interesting things to see there. There were a number of interesting sights here, but the best were: Abyss Pool - one of the deeper hot springs descending to 53 feet and varies from turquoise blue to emerald green and various shades of brown ...
Today, we visited the Norris Geyser Basin. We stopped off at the Museum of the Park Ranger first. We learned that most of the Bears in the Park are in the higher territory where there is an abundance of worms - that made me feel a bit safer. We also learned that bison can run at 50 miles per hour - so now, I am scared again as there are far more bison here than bears! The bus one like to come to the Norris area in the Winter apparently, because the hot water melts the snow and they can forage more easily - although they can forage though up to 15 inches of snow, apparently. The museum is worth a trip. it tells you all about how the Park Ranger service grew from what was originally a military unit based at the park. Their mission is to interpret (help visitors to appreciate) and protect. In my second life, I think I might come back as a Park Ranger, though they say the most difficult bit of the job is to keep cheerful and smiling doing the same job day after day. They are without exception always friendly, helpful and very knowledgeable - I wish we had them in National Parks back home.
This morning, we headed out for Canyon Village. It took 2 and a quarter hours to get there from our hotel - our concept of distance has completely changed. We have to do that trip back the other way at the end of the day too, of course - but there is no alternative of you want to see all this place has to offer. We decided to do an 8 mile trail along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone River . It took us about 3 hours to complete this - and it was absolutely spectacular. I will let the pictures do the talking here, but this was without doubt the highlight of the trip so far. Artist's Point is definitely a "must do".
We drove into Yellowstone today and stopped at a cool saddle shop in Gardiner on the way to buy a belt for my camera. This was a shop for REAL men ... Saddles, gun holsters, cowboy hats, after shave and razors. You could buy an off the left saddle for $2,500 - or have one custom made at the back of the shop for $3,500. We visited Mammoth Hot Springs first off.
We finally arrived at Chico Hot Springs hotel just in time for dinner. This is an old historic lodge our room is tiny and three floors up with no lift - a bit exhausting hauling the bags up all those creaky stairs. Dinner was fabulous. The food on the trip so far hasn't been anything to write home about really - standard American menus. Last night was different though - Beef Wellington for two carved at the table. We washed it down with a bottle of The Crusher Merlot - a Californian Merlot which tasted.absolutely wonderful despite it's less than romantic name! No room for dessert, sadly. Overall, this was a great place to stay and I would definitely recommend it.
We left Billings behind us and continued to head West towards the Beartooth Highway. This 68 mile stretch of road runs right into Yellowstone Park. We passed through Red Rocks on the way, which is a lovely little place. This would have been a better overnight stop than Billings I think, although we had travelled about as far as we could go yesterday, so another hour would have maybe been too much.
Billings was our choice for a "one night stand" - only because it was about as far as we could drive towards Yellowstone without stopping really. We walked up the top end of Main Street to buy a few bits and pieces we needed. The hotel was located right next to a liquor store with a friendly notice "No Soliciting" - and there was an all pervading smell of frying. We reached the CVS Driv Thru Pharmacy and asked the shop assistant if we should walk down the rest of MaIin Street to downtown Billngs? People drive, they don't walk. go if you like - but "I've lived here all my life - it's not real fun". thanks - We'll take a rain check on that!
The Country Inn & Suites by Carlson was easy to find in Billings and the room was massive and comfortable. You can see from the photos that there was a rather oddly placed hot tub right in the middle of the bedroom. It had full length mirrors and a plant in the corner of it and a basket of folded towels at the side - I am searching for an adjective here - and a few (pejorative) come to mind - but I am going to plump for ..... AWESOME! the power shower was excellent too.
Today, we leave Rapid City and continue our journey to Yellowstone. We chose to include the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn on our trip and were glad we did. The road there also passes through Devil's Monument, sop it turned out to be a very full day, which is always a good thing I my book!
We headed off on the Interstate 90 towards the Badlands National Park with Lucinda Williams ("too rock to be country, too country to be rock!) belting out Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. The road took us through Wall, on the edge of the Park. from a long way away, roadsigns for Wall Drug started popping up every c5 miles or so. We were driving too fast to photograph them - "Frosted Mug Beer", "Badlands Maps", "Homemade Pie", "Breakfast Roll, Donuts, Fudge and Pie" - all available at Wall Drug. It seems like you can get just about everything at Wall Drug, I was beginning to wonder if there was anything you couldn't get? "Be Yourself" at Wall Drug - you can even get therapy?! OK - the temptation was just too much - we just HAD to pull off at Wall Drug.
Staying in Rapid City South Dakota gives you the chance to explore two National Parks and Mount Rushmore. We set off early this morning headed for Wind Cave for a spot of spelunking. It was a long and winding road through the prairie to get there. The cave is situated where plains meet mountain, so we had lovely views of the Black Hills of South Dakota covered in ponderosa pine and also the vast sweeping expanse of prairie. The landscape is soft and undulating - all colours of pale green and gold - like a rich tapestry you could reach out and touch - only you couldn't because there is just so much of it!
Cambria Suites Rapid City A reasonable place to stay in Rapid City - not far from Mount Rushmore.
We have a long drive ahead of us today from Denver to Rapid City where we will be able to tick the Must Do Mount Rushmore off our bucket list. I would have liked to spend another day in Denver. There is a lot to see here. the Money Museum would have been interesting, but it was shut on a Sunday. There is a big Arts Museum and lots of History Museums too.
Denver in 1 Day - How best to tackle it?! We started by renting a car. This wasn't our original plan, but the heat was high as early as 7am this morning, so the amount of ground we wanted to cover would have been exhausting without some wheels. Taxis downtown are about $20 anyway, so the car hire covers its costs quite quickly. It was easy as there was an Avis desk in the hotel lobby.
The Hilton Double Tree Denver is a very comfortable hotel. The location isn't great though - it is a distance from Denver centre, so we had to hire a car to get around easily, although there is a free shuttle to the airport.
Denver airport covers an area of 53 miles. It is the largest airport in the States apparently - massive! The free shuttle bus took us to the Hilton Double Tree in half an hour, driving through wide open prairie country - This was a surprise - I had expected it to be all built up? The hotel is 5 miles from Downtown Denver, so we haven't actually had a glimpse of the Mile High City yet.
Yellowstone What I'm Packing for a 3 week road trip.
Yellowstone - A 3 Week Road Trip Itinerary from Denver through 3 of the Wild West's greatest National Parks and crossing 5 state borders. Yea Hah Yellowstone!
Alaska - Travel Tips. Now that our trip has come to an end, it is time for some final reflections. This is the first travel blog I have ever written and my purpose is really threeefold:
Today, we boarded a bus and then a small boat to take us to Neet's Bay. Bear tracking in Ketchikan is not difficult! There is a not-profit-salmon hatchery based there, which makes it good territory for bear tracking. Keeping a plentiful supply of salmon going is very important to the isolated communities in this area, which is known as the salmon capital of Alaska. Apart from providing a good food source generally, there is money t be made from sport fishing, which is a popular passtime here. We saw a large black bear almost immediately we arrived at the bay.
Tonight, we were due to meet the chef and maître d' and 8 other passengers for hors d'oeuvres in the galley (kitchen) at 7 to begin an indulgent dining experience. Dining at the Chef's Table on the Sapphire Princess was one of the big highlights of our trip and a definite "Must Do" if you can secure yourself a place.
Juneau is the capital of Alaska with a population of 30,000 people and accessible only by sea or air because of the mountains and huge ice field that surround it. it was a rainy day today and fog obscured the best of the views of Mendenhall Glacier. It is a great place for whale watching!
Exploring Gold Rush Country - In an attempt to prevent starvation, the authorities at the time of the gold rush required all men to carry all their requirements with them for a whole year so that they wouldn't have to depend on any other man for survival. It was a good job that they were self sufficient as there was stiff competition on the tail and a reluctance to help out a fellow stampeder. They let their horses die on the road, which was littered with horse carcasses in places. Carrying a year's supplies entailed many trips backwards and forwards up the trail - men would have to retrace their steps 20 to 40 times, depending on the size of the load they were prepared to carry each time.
What left a lasting impression of Glacier Bay for me was the sound of it. You could hear the glacier almost crunching as it creeped icily into the sea. Occasionally, you could hear a sound like a thunderstorm when it calved. You could hear the screams of gulls and seabirds too, which seemed to echo around in the otherwise still air of the icy bay.
with my camera a bit more today - nice to have the time to do that properly! We sailed past an iceberg or two and then came face to face with the beauty of Hubbard Glacier. It was totally awesome - I have seen nothing like this before and it was definitely a highlight of the trip so far. It appears to be a beautiful fluorescent blue in places, which is apparently because when the light hits the compacted ice, long wavelength colours (reds) are absorbed whilst short wavelength colours (blues) reflect back through the ice to your eyes.
Princess Cruises - Sapphire Princess - Accommodation Review. When I say cabin, that is something of an understatement... We have a large, comfy bed, a lovely bathroom with a deep bath, a lounge area and, best of all, a huge balcony that wraps itself around the front of the ship with a dining table and chairs, 2 steamer chairs and still plenty of room to walk around! Flowers, fruit and a full bar - I could get used to this!
Goldilocks and the 3 bears ... We were rewarded by seeing a family of three brown grisly bears on the journey back to civilisation out of Denali National Park. It was amazing to see this bear family walk across the road right behind the bus as though we were part of the landscape.
Yesterday, we were just practising. We missed the cut off for the guided hike sign up - 11 people got their names down before us and that is the maximum limit. So, we decided to go it alone - well - not quite alone. We found 3 other brave explorers to hike with us - Vash, Lindsay and a guy named Doug. Armed with pepper spray, a hand drawn map (?) and borrowed walking poles, we set off to climb up to Quigley Ridge.
OK - this is the wilderness, but I was kidding about the accommodation. We were in the Denali Backcountry Lodge, which has warm rooms, comfortable beds and hot showers. Thank goodness, because it is cold now. There was a frost this morning. The bit about the key was true though - it still feels odd to leave your room unlocked all day - even out here!
We had a morning to kill before the bus ride to the Denali Backcountry Lodge, so we took the shuttle up to the Denali National Park Visitor Centre and learned a bit more about the flora and fauna and the history of the gold rush. I particularly liked the recipe for blueberry pie made famous by one of the early pioneers, Fanny Quigley. First, catch, your bear ... - see the photo for the full recipe! Life was very tough here.
Today, we took the great Alaskan Railroad train to Denali National Park. Check in was 7.15 for an 8.15 departure. It took 7 and a half hours to arrive at the park entrance. There is only bus a day that goes into the wilderness - no other vehicles are allowed in the park - so we stayed overnight at Denali Cabins at the Park Entrance.
Alaska is such a big state! To get to the heart of it - Anchorage - we took an early taxi yesterday to Sea-Tac airport to catch a 10 am Alaska Airlines flight. The flight took around 3 hours 40 minutes. We are booked into the Embassy Suites, Anchorage for 2 nights. The hotel is in Midtown Anchorage, but there is a free airport shuttle Downtown, so exploring is easy.
Comfortable rooms, not far from shops and restaurants - we had to go to nearby Walmart to get some teabags so we could have a cup of tea though!
The Arctic Club Seattle - Accommodation Review A great choice for a stay in Seattle. Centrally located - great facilities. HOTEL WEBSITE Exterior of the Arctic Club Seattle Eskimos keep…
Seattle proved to be very possible in one day - with the benefit of some careful planning and research in advance, of course. One fully packed day, with plenty to see and do.
Alaska - The Last Frontier. It's so far away that you can't fly directly to Alaska from the UK - you have to go via Seattle. Seattle is a fascinating city to visit though, so I'm not complaining!
We start our big trip to Alaska in less than a month now. I always really love the planning and looking forward bit of a trip though. Sometimes, I think the looking forward and then re-living the memories when you get back are as much fun as the actual trip itself?! Read More for our Alaska Itinerary.
