Alaska - a trip to remember

[Lisbeth]

It is certainly something different, especially coming from South Africa

[Mel]

Luckily it's winter here, otherwise I'd be freezing looking at your photos.

The thundering and echoing must have been quite an experience!

[pooky]

What an awesome experience
But it sure looks freezing cold - head ache material

The glacier is a pretty colour Even with no sun the pics. are great

[okie]

Lisbeth , Mel , Pooky ...

And stay with me , lots more to come

[Duke]

Got the cold shivers looking at those pics okie

[okie]

The visit to the glacier was certainly a highlight of our trip , and seeing it disappear in the mist behind us , left us with a feeling of loss , and yet , also , fulfilment .
But then , more excitement to come . The route back to Seward , took us through a number of those tiny little islands and rocky outcrops that line the Alaskan coast , and what a pleasant surprise , when this appeared in front of us .




These rocks rise/stand straight-up from the sea , and are populated by thousands upon thousands ( actually , millions ) of sea-birds of all kinds , and it is estimated that there are as many as 100 million birds inhabiting these shores .






There are gulls and cormorants , kittiwakes and fulmars , and shearwaters , and ,amongst many more , my favourite , namely puffins .
We also saw a couple of albatrosses , but these appeared and disappeared in the fogs , without any chance of taking a pic at all .

Now , about puffins .
Puffins are black and white coloured , with a bright-coloured parrot-like beak , and it looks like they wear old-style flying goggles . Their wings are relatively short , so they fly with very rapid beating , and also giving an impression of then flying quite fast . And they are so comical , not only in their looks , but often coming in to land on the cliff-face .
Whereas other birds , coming in to land , would do so grace-fully , sometimes almost hovering in the wind , and then softly steps onto the rock , a puffin would come straight in to land , and sit down very rapidly . But sometimes , it appears they sort of misjudge the speed or distance , and slam into the rock , losing there balance , and then have to recover a bit , shaking the head in order to get their bearings again . They are the clowns of those cliff-faces . Unfortunately no pics of them . We were not near enough to identify from the photographs .

.

[okie]

Birds birds birds






A green cauldron against the cliff . Can make you sea-sick looking at it .






A small outcrop even with a few trees

[nan]

lot and lot of birds

[Dewi]

Nice pics again Okie.

Glaciers are always a thrill to see up close.

Seabird breeding cliffs are spectacular, they have their own atmosphere.

[okie]

.
And then , another big , pleasant surprise . Wow , just look at that .





These are Steller's sea lions . ( Remember , RP asked about this way way back on page 2 , I think )