Kodiak, Alaska - USA, Sept 25, 2014

Rezanof, Baranof and Ismailov Streets, Baranov Museum, one may think that we are not in United States but that we are actually in Russia. It was the Russian's who were the first to settle this part of the world somewhere back in the late 1700's. Russian came here for the furs and the seals and once they pretty much pushed these populations to the edge of extinction they no longer had any use for what they called "the white elephant" out here in on the edge of nowhere. They sold this piece of North America to the Americans for a mere $7 million dollars or about 2 cents and acre. Yes there were the peoples native to this land here, the Alutiq's which we were told go back some 7,500 years but as far as outside settlers it was the Russian's that originally colonized this land.

We did not know what to expect and we floated into this community which sees over 300 days of rainfall or heavy cloud shroud a year, so we were very delighted to see sunny and clear skies all day and not a breath of wind, 13 celsius (56 f) just beautiful.
Where are we, well look southeast of the landlocked area of Alaska and you will find Kodiak Island, this is the largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago. Kodiak serves as the largest out of the seven cities on the island and fulfills its primary industry of fishing while catering to tourists who seek backwoods adventure. This area is popular with hunters as several large game species call this area home, the best known of which is the Kodiak bear. Sitka deer and mountain goats abound as well as salmon and halibut for the fishermen. There is also great hiking for those less inclined to hunt and fish.

Cristel, the guest relations manager, gave us a great tip on where to find a local hike and as mentioned since the day was just perfect a good 2 hour hike was just what we needed after three days at sea. Sail away under these weather conditions was amazing for the scenery was as far as the eye could see. This included not only the incredible mountainous landscape but also the distant plumes from the Humpback whales some of which have not left the area yet as they are getting ready to make their long journey to warm waters of Hawaii. We hope you enjoy our pictures of the day...