After Tracy Arm we set sail for Ketchikan to the south and arrived at 9.00am the following morning to a glorious sunny day. This is another small (8,000 people) isolated town with only air or sea access. They have a chequered history and a quick walking tour introduced us to the bars, banks and brothels. We didn't make a business call at any. A hundred years ago the town survived on fishing and forestry however the forestry has diminished and been taken over by tourism...cruise ships.
Our afternoon was filled with a tour into the rainforest where we were assured we would get our money back if we didn't see a bear, sounded like a fair deal to us. Not too far into the woods, we are walking on skyway walking bridges, we see a black bear and two cubs. We could watch as the bears feasted on the spawning salmon which are in full run at the moment, the rivers are full of them. The bears are gutsing as much as they can in preparation for hibernation. Because we were in the canopy of the forest we seemed unobtrusive to the bears and very safe. Seeing them was a real treat although the locals here tend to get a bit sick of them as they venture into the edges of town when they are very hungry and can't get to sleep......for the winter.
Back on the boat in the evening and we are set on our run home to Vancouver, 36 hours away. Not looking forward to the 'on ship' part of the excursion as it is organised and predictable and becoming a tad boring. However as I write I have just spotted a whale off the balcony so will close off for now.
This blog is very long due to the fact that internet costs are prohibitive on board so we have only got to send it once in the past ten days.......don't worry if you skip most or just look at the pictures....we would never be offended.
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