Alaska is by far the largest American state. It has thousands of miles of coastline, five times more than Florida, which comes second. The total land touching the sea is ten times greater than its coastline, because of all its islands, inlets, and fjords. The southeast coast of Alaska stretches far south, along the Canadian border, and it is the perfect doorway to this fascinating state.
Because there are very few paved roads, the best way to explore southeast Alaska is on a boat and the easiest way is to board a cruise ship. We opted for a cruise that started in Vancouver, with ports of call in Ketchikan, Haines, Sitka, and Juneau, the capital. Each of these towns has a colourful past and a modern-day dynamism. Although we were told to expect mist and rain every day, we did not have a single day of rain during our ten-day cruise.
There were lectures on different topics offered on the ship throughout the voyage. In addition to our own preparation, those talks, given by an eminent naturalist, a geographer and other experts, brought the economic and social history, natural history and magnificent scenery to life. As we travelled up the Inside Passage along the British Columbian and Alaskan coasts, we marveled at the pristine landscape surrounding us. We sailed through fjords, lingered close to several glaciers, observed wildlife, visited frontier towns and witnessed the seasonal salmon run in two rivers.
We learned about the history of the Indigenous peoples of the region, the Russian colonization of the area to exploit the fur trade, and the purchase of Alaska by the United States in 1867, negotiated by Secretary of State William Seward, for $7.2 million or about two cents an acre.
Alaska has a lot of glaciers, about 100,000 separate ones, covering five percent of the state. Each glacier, each fjord has its own story and characteristics. The scenery, truly breathtaking, made us made us rename the state: Awe-laska! Four natural locations we visited were particularly memorable.
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