Small Town Sitka

We arrived in Sitka early on June 19th with was a misty reception. Many of us were present above decks to witness the ship drop anchor. There wasn’t really much to the town itself, but it exists amid a dramatic natural backdrop.

Navigating through the protection islands to approach the harbor, a tug arrived to guide us among the clouds and fog. Lots of people woke up early to witness our arrival, still plenty excitement about the events of arrival to a new port. We arrived to find another (legitimate) cruise ship anchored off the town.

The ship dropped anchor off shore since there aren’t facilities in the town for a vessel our size. We’d have to use our lifeboats to tender there and back. However, I embarked straight away on a whale watching trip whisking me away at great speed. Yes, that’s a fluke in the left picture! We also saw seals and otters out off the rocks.

I took some time to walk around the town and got some nice pictures of the clouds and our ship as well as the picturesque small streets and shops. There wasn’t really much going on there, beyond the bevvy of tourist shops waiting for cruise passengers. There’s a legitimate fisherman’s harbor and a Russian fort. We were told by a guide that the one traffic light in town was installed not because of traffic, but to accustom the youths to patterns they would encounter when they one day set out of Sitka. Sounds like an urban legend to me.

The next day I took a trip by bus out of town to the Tongas National Rainforest. Still lush and vibrant it was certainly different than my preconceived notion of a typical rainforest. We hiked a well-cared-for trail out to Mosquito cove and back, taking full appreciation of the natural surrounds. Be careful not to slip on the Banana slugs.

I hopped on the bus and returned to town for more of the highlife of historic forts and tourist shops.

The next port of call for Semester at Sea is
Kodiak, Alaska