Alaska is nicknamed The Last Frontier. I looked up Alaska. What do I already know about Alaska for travellers? I have seen TV programmes about driving for a living along dangerous snow-covered roads.
Members of my family have taken cruises on cruise ships (or cargo ships with cabins for a few fare-paying passengers). Every day is another different photo opportunity.
It's a good thing if you are good at photographing snowflakes and snow boots. A fish eye lens can be bought as part of a set for £12.
You might not see the larger and more distant wildlife you are seeking. In South Africa I spent a large part of an evening sitting in a safari bus in the dark trying to photograph a grey elephant hiding behind a mountain. (It was hiding behind the mountain. I was hiding behind plastic windows.)
Whale Trail Real Life
I have spend a week in Hawaii in the hotel famed for whale watching and sat on my balcony for hours watching the sea until I fell asleep. I didn't see a single whale. The whales were obviously hiding.
I wondered whether it was like parts of Asia, where nothing happens unless you tip the right people. Who do you have to tip to see a whale?
Fortunately, I was eventually forced by companions to spend money on a trip (in New Zealand) on a flight guaranteed to see a whale or your money back. I saw a whale's tail and had a whale tale.
Whales In Literature
I first read about whales as a child, hearing about whales in the bible. Jonah survived being swallowed by a whale. I am not sure where he was travelling from and to.
I suspect he was seriously off course. Either his map was wrong. Or the guides took his money and sent him on a ship going in the wrong direction.
Documentaries And Discovery Channel
Discovery programme and National Geographic usually investigate old stories and myths and manage to find links to some practical situation and place with a lesson from life which can be applied today. (Discovery Channel did a great program on the ten plaques and other documentaries have been done on the parting of the sea.)
Jonah And The Whale
I think this gives a misleading view (to children - and adults) of your likelihood of being miraculously saved from wildlife. God may have saved Jonah from the whale but neither God nor the guide were able to save a lady just died in a lion park in South Africa (Jun 2015). Maybe God was too busy saving people from whales.
Travel And Government Advice And Updates
At travel shows I have met crews of ships which take travellers to Alaska to see the sights, the land, ice, icebergs, glaciers, polar bears, polar people, endangered animals, endangered fish, endangered people.
When I went onto the Alaskan official government website I discovered 511 for travel alerts. Road are listed with symbols showing them as currently: good, fair, difficult, very difficult, and hazardous!
Alaska Wishlist
Alaska is still on my wish list. I have two wish lists: 1) Wish to go there. 2) Wish not to go there. The first list increases with each trip I take. So does the second list. Often once is enough. I prefer just to stay safely at home and read and research whilst other people take the risk and the video.
Frankly, the older I get, the less I like being bitten by mosquitos and stuck in snowdrifts. I never felt the film Titanic was good for the travel industry.
Landmarks and Sights
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_Historic_Landmarks_in_Alaska
Sites include: WWII, battles against the Japanese; Russian architecture including churches; mining for gold; fur trading; 'Eskimo' or native history.
Travel Films On Your Trip To Alaska:
North to Alaska. (Movie/film starring John Wayne.)
White Fang (Film of Jack London's book Call of the Wild.)
Titanic. (Not Alaska, but the villain is an iceberg.)
Travel Tales To Read And Discuss On Your Journey to Alaska:
Call of the Wild by Jack London. (About a dog taken to Alaska.)
Moby Dick. (Classic about hunting a whale and revenge.)
The Bible. (Jonah and the Whale - escape story from Old Testament? Apocrypha?)
Wildlife
Albatross - the short tailed albatross is endangered.
Bears: brown, black and white (polar)
Caribou: (In Alaska only the tame ones are called reindeer, think of deer on reins.)
Owls include snowy owls.
Whales:
Endangered whales include the Blue whale - think that you would feel blue if you were endangered.
The Orca is a dolphin misleadingly named the 'killer whale' which swims in groups to kill sea lions and whales.
Quick Facts On Cities And Travel:
Capital Juneau
Four major cities: Anchorage (largest), Fairbanks (second largest), Juneau
Connections by road - highway through Canada, constantly under repair in summer after/before and ready for winter
Package tours from Seattle and San Francisco
Airline connections to USA, Canada and Russia
Outdoor activities include trails, cabins and kayaking
Cruise and tour companies
audleytravel.com
Websites on Alaska
alaska.gov
511.alaska.gov
http://wikitravel.org/en/Alaska
Angela Lansbury B A Hons
Travel writer, author, photographer, speaker, comic poet.
PS I may update this later so check back every so often.
PS No penguins in Alaska. Penguins are Southern in Antarctica, south of New Zealand, where Scott went to the South Pole.
Members of my family have taken cruises on cruise ships (or cargo ships with cabins for a few fare-paying passengers). Every day is another different photo opportunity.
It's a good thing if you are good at photographing snowflakes and snow boots. A fish eye lens can be bought as part of a set for £12.
You might not see the larger and more distant wildlife you are seeking. In South Africa I spent a large part of an evening sitting in a safari bus in the dark trying to photograph a grey elephant hiding behind a mountain. (It was hiding behind the mountain. I was hiding behind plastic windows.)
Whale Trail Real Life
I have spend a week in Hawaii in the hotel famed for whale watching and sat on my balcony for hours watching the sea until I fell asleep. I didn't see a single whale. The whales were obviously hiding.
I wondered whether it was like parts of Asia, where nothing happens unless you tip the right people. Who do you have to tip to see a whale?
Fortunately, I was eventually forced by companions to spend money on a trip (in New Zealand) on a flight guaranteed to see a whale or your money back. I saw a whale's tail and had a whale tale.
Whales In Literature
I first read about whales as a child, hearing about whales in the bible. Jonah survived being swallowed by a whale. I am not sure where he was travelling from and to.
I suspect he was seriously off course. Either his map was wrong. Or the guides took his money and sent him on a ship going in the wrong direction.
Documentaries And Discovery Channel
Discovery programme and National Geographic usually investigate old stories and myths and manage to find links to some practical situation and place with a lesson from life which can be applied today. (Discovery Channel did a great program on the ten plaques and other documentaries have been done on the parting of the sea.)
Jonah And The Whale
I think this gives a misleading view (to children - and adults) of your likelihood of being miraculously saved from wildlife. God may have saved Jonah from the whale but neither God nor the guide were able to save a lady just died in a lion park in South Africa (Jun 2015). Maybe God was too busy saving people from whales.
Travel And Government Advice And Updates
At travel shows I have met crews of ships which take travellers to Alaska to see the sights, the land, ice, icebergs, glaciers, polar bears, polar people, endangered animals, endangered fish, endangered people.
When I went onto the Alaskan official government website I discovered 511 for travel alerts. Road are listed with symbols showing them as currently: good, fair, difficult, very difficult, and hazardous!
Alaska Wishlist
Alaska is still on my wish list. I have two wish lists: 1) Wish to go there. 2) Wish not to go there. The first list increases with each trip I take. So does the second list. Often once is enough. I prefer just to stay safely at home and read and research whilst other people take the risk and the video.
Frankly, the older I get, the less I like being bitten by mosquitos and stuck in snowdrifts. I never felt the film Titanic was good for the travel industry.
Landmarks and Sights
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_Historic_Landmarks_in_Alaska
Sites include: WWII, battles against the Japanese; Russian architecture including churches; mining for gold; fur trading; 'Eskimo' or native history.
Travel Films On Your Trip To Alaska:
North to Alaska. (Movie/film starring John Wayne.)
White Fang (Film of Jack London's book Call of the Wild.)
Titanic. (Not Alaska, but the villain is an iceberg.)
Travel Tales To Read And Discuss On Your Journey to Alaska:
Call of the Wild by Jack London. (About a dog taken to Alaska.)
Moby Dick. (Classic about hunting a whale and revenge.)
The Bible. (Jonah and the Whale - escape story from Old Testament? Apocrypha?)
Wildlife
Albatross - the short tailed albatross is endangered.
Bears: brown, black and white (polar)
Caribou: (In Alaska only the tame ones are called reindeer, think of deer on reins.)
Owls include snowy owls.
Whales:
Endangered whales include the Blue whale - think that you would feel blue if you were endangered.
The Orca is a dolphin misleadingly named the 'killer whale' which swims in groups to kill sea lions and whales.
Quick Facts On Cities And Travel:
Capital Juneau
Four major cities: Anchorage (largest), Fairbanks (second largest), Juneau
Connections by road - highway through Canada, constantly under repair in summer after/before and ready for winter
Package tours from Seattle and San Francisco
Airline connections to USA, Canada and Russia
Outdoor activities include trails, cabins and kayaking
Cruise and tour companies
audleytravel.com
Websites on Alaska
alaska.gov
511.alaska.gov
http://wikitravel.org/en/Alaska
Angela Lansbury B A Hons
Travel writer, author, photographer, speaker, comic poet.
PS I may update this later so check back every so often.
PS No penguins in Alaska. Penguins are Southern in Antarctica, south of New Zealand, where Scott went to the South Pole.
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