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Silversea Explorer Nome to Seward August 13-25, 2018-live

RachelG

By RachelG,
in Silversea

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spinnaker2 "Live from...." Rare

spinnaker2

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Labrasett, the food is not the best we have had on this ship but definitely not the worst, and it is certainly very edible. I would like a more generous portion of veggies or salad at dinner, but I am a big veggie eater. And I could ask for extra veggies as a special order if I wanted. I just don’t like to be needy.

 

 

 

Spinnaker, definitely looking forward to Unga Island.

 

 

 

Will you be at Dutch Island? Our visit to the church and guide was enlightening, and also quite evocative, as I had no idea that the USA transplanted the Aleuts in WWII. Prompted me to buy the book "when the wind was a river".

 

 

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RachelG "Live from...." Rare

RachelG

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August 20, 2018–Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Island, Alaska

 

Waking up from a wonderful night’s sleep with the ship just slightly rocking, I looked out on a beautiful sunrise peaking through light fog. In front of the ship was a large island, Unalaska, with high snow covered peaks on the right and lower hills to the left. Just the perfect morning to enjoy a cup of tea up in the library as we sailed in.

 

As we drew nearer to the harbor, we encountered a huge pod of whales. It was a whale convention. They were on all sides of the ship, coming up, spouting, diving. It was chilly and spitting rain, but everyone was out on deck to watch the show.

 

After lunch, Mexican themed and very tasty but not really Mexican, we had our face to face inspection with US customs which took all of 2 seconds. We were then free to explore. It was raining pretty steadily, so no hiking for us. The ship was running shuttle buses on two different routes.

 

We first went to the WWII museum which is small but very well done. George loved it and had to look at every exhibit and read every label. Then we went to Alaska Ship Supply, a huge store which has literally everything a person could need to survive in Alaska. My waterproof pants had lost their waterproofness, probably because they are 18 years old and have been used a lot. At any rate, I got some very nice new ones for less than I spent for the original pair. George bought some very strong waterproof pants and jackets for use on the ranch, much higher quality than what you could find at home and at a very good price. The prices for food and household goods were high, double or more than what we would pay at home, but the cold weather and outdoor gear were well priced.

 

We had a look at Safeway and the lobby of the Grand Aleutian Hotel where some local crafts people had tables set up. George bought a beautiful glass weight originally used for fishing nets.

 

I went on to visit the outside of the old church while George went back to the ship. I did see a couple of eagles fairly close up, but frankly, I was somewhat disappointed as far as eagle sightings. We saw way more in Sitka earlier this year, and I have seen as many in Tulsa down by the Arkansas River. Maybe it was because it was raining.

 

Back to the ship, it finally stopped raining, so sailaway was held outside. It was cold, and water started pouring down on us from the umbrellas where it had accumulated during the day, so we quickly retreated.

 

Dinner was Asian. Our spring rolls were great, but the sweet and sour chicken was just weird. My tofu stir fry was really good though.

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spinnaker2 "Live from...." Rare

spinnaker2

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Orthodox Church in Unalaska

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It's just as I remember!

Thanks for sharing the photographs.

We also went into the store! While there a fellow pax bought a huge jar of giant stuffed olives for his martini, as he was dissatisfied with the ones onboard. To their credit, Silversea offered to reimburse him, but of course, he declined.

 

 

 

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Ngaire

Ngaire

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I just decided to respond to you here Rachel. Love the pictures and reports. When I was there I went into the grocery store and bought some cherries. I misunderstood the pricing - cost way more than I expected - but I decided "I was worth it" I enjoyed this port too, small but charming and we saw a lot of eagles.

 

Really enjoying your reports - thanks for doing that for all of us

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RachelG "Live from...." Rare

RachelG

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George bought his preferred brand of orange juice and kefir at Safeway. They were a little more expensive than at home but not bad. The fresh fruits and veggies were very expensive though. And a bag of Purina dog chow, which I would pay $12 for at home was $30. Our dogs had better be happy they don’t live in Alaska. They would be going on a diet.

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RachelG "Live from...." Rare

RachelG

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August 21, 2018-Unga Island, Alaska

 

The morning started with sun peaking through low clouds, with slight rocking. Since we were not to arrive at Unga Island, it was a lazy morning. There was a really interesting lecture about the WWII battles in Alaska. Then the crew drill.

 

Lunch buffet featured a major fail at the carvery—beef ribs as tough as shoe leather. I did not even try them as I excepted as much, but George did and offered my services to go back to the kitchen and teach them how to cook ribs properly. The key is low and slow.

 

By the time we arrived at Unga Island, the day was brilliants sunny, with temp about 50F and little wind. The steep cliffs of the island were covered in dense green. There were lots of birds flying all about, and on the island, we could just make out the largest mammals which live there, wild cows.

 

Getting closer in the zodiacs, we could see the ruins of the village that had been there until 1969 when the last family left. Lots of old falling down wooden structures, the top of the church with its steeple, everything slowly decaying. We landed on a pebble beach and set off. Since there are no bears on Unga Island, we were free to roam wherever we wanted, just be back in time for the last zodiac.

 

We walked over bog covered with dense brush in areas, the same willow and birch tree species that are flat on the ground further north here as tall as my shoulders in areas. There were some cow trails, which helped in places. I found some really nice wild blueberries for a snack. We could see the cows in the distance, but they didn’t want to have anything to do with us.

 

After a couple of hours of pretty rough hiking, we were ready to head back to the ship. To dinner at Hot Rocks. Wonderful steak and shrimp. I am stuffed as a pig.

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RachelG "Live from...." Rare

RachelG

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Hi Rachel, lovely pics, who are the members of the expedition team?

Leader is Louis Justin. We have not sailed with him before. We have sailed Robin Aiello before, and she is one of my favorites. Also Susan, the geologist, and Danny, the historian who are both Brits.

 

Scott is the bird expert. Very smart nice guy, and a local. Javier, Maryanne, Isabella, and Tyrone are also new to us, but a great team.

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labrasett

labrasett

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We always said we would go anywhere with Susan on board. Such a lovely gentle person, so knowledgeable and such a good presenter. Please send her regards from Geoff and Frances Firmin (to remind her of who we are say "We are the couple who dressed up for the onboard field trip"! She will laugh. More lovely photos today thank you.

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jpalbny "Live from...." Rare

jpalbny

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Great to hear that Robin Aiello is on board. We were with her in Svalbard and she is fabulous. Susan was with us on our last trip down the coast of South America last fall. Enjoyed meeting her as well. SS really has some great expedition crews - they make the trips so special.

 

Those cows probably knew that you were looking for some better beef than the shoe leather that you had for lunch, and thus they stayed away.

 

Enjoying your pictures and stories. Looks like another beautiful part of the world that we'll have to visit some day!

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