It was another beautiful morning here in Alaska. We have been lucky with the weather so far. Each one of the places we have stayed at so far has given us a different view of Alaska. In Homer, we are staying right on the beach. It is so cool to see the tide come in and go out out our front window.
Because Karen, Steve, Linda and I have a big adventure planned for this afternoon, we decided to take it easy this morning. Linda, Cathy and I did laundry, while Karen headed to the Spit to check out the shops. Steve relaxed in the RV before headng down to The Fishing Hole to catch up with Dave, Michael and Liam. After finishing up the laundry and checking out the fishing, I headed back to the RV to have lunch. Just as I was finishing up, Karen came back from town.
Our cab arrived at 2:00pm to take Steve, Linda, Karen and I on our big adventure. You see we were going on a Bear Viewing Helicopter ride with Alaska Ultimate Safaris ($740.94 USD / person including taxes). We got to their office on Beluga Lake and met up with Kirsten who is one of the owners and a pilot. After she got us situated with hip waders, her husband Eric (who is also a pilot) arrived to take us to the Homer Airport. We met up with a couple from Begium who would also be going on the trip. The six of us along with Eric walked onto the tarmack to the helicopter. Before boarding, Eric gave us a safety briefing. Besides the normal stuff regarding helicopter safety, he gave us great information about bears. I can not remember everything he said but points that stuck with me were bears are not interested in us and bears are actually scared of everything. They are also creatures of efficiency. They will not do more than they have to. I think the bears and I will get along just fine. After getting cosy in the helicopter, it was time to take off for Lake Clark National Park & Preserve. During the fifty minute flight we saw Kachemak Bay, Cook Inlet, Iliamna and Redoubt Volcanos and may more things I do not remember.
As we were flying over, Eric was looking for bears and determining where would be the best place to land to see them. This was one of the reasons why we choose Alaska Ultimate Safaris. They are the only company offering helicopter flights to see the bears. Using a helicopter gives them more flexibility because if there are no bears in one spot, just jump back in and fly somewhere else. In total we landed at three different areas and were lucky enough to see bears each time.
I could try and explain what the experience was like but I do not think I can do it justice. It was everything I expected it to be and more. Sometimes the bears were far off in the distance but then on our last stop, you did not need alot of zoom to see them. In total we were on the ground for a total of four hours. We did have to do some walking and thankfully we had the hip waders. We walked through sedge and mud and streams while trying to avoid the bear scat. Eric was an excellent guide always making sure that everyone was having a good time. While we were sitting on a rock observing some bears, Eric pulls out of his backpack snack bags for everyone that Kirsten had packed. It was like a buffet .. there were Kit Kats, granola bars, cookies, gummy candies, etc. The time flew by and soon we had to go. We landed back at the Homer Airport and Eric was kind enough to give us a ride back to the RV park but not before going through the McDonald’s drive thru so that Steve could get an Iced Coffee. Now that is service.
After getting back at around 9:30pm, Steve and Linda cooked up Steve’s halibut and we all had fish tacos in Dave and Cathy’s RV since it was pretty windy outside. By now it was 10:45pm and it was time for bed.
Today’s miles = 0
Total miles = 265.6
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