Day 3 of our cruise found us still going into Juneau. For a state capitol, it's a small city. But it has charm. We had prearranged our excursions, and we were about to go on our first--whale watching. We paid a lot more than it was worth having bought it through the cruise line. Lesson Learned: take your chances with your cruises and either book them with local companies or make the arrangements when you get there.
There were lots of waterfalls along the way, some small, some huge.
Juneau from the docks. There were four cruise ships in port that day, making it a very busy and crowded city.
Juneau from the distance.
Seaplane. The only way to get to Juneau is by boat or plane, no roads lead to the island.
Mendenhall Glacier from a distance. those that saw it close up said it was huge!
Shops in downtown Juneau. I learned that a lot of the jewelry and fur shops are actually owned by the cruise line. Kind of makes you want to support the locally owned shops.
Juneau Public Library. What self-respecting city does not have a library? Parking lot on the first three levels, library on the fourth level.
Our ship from the parking lot. We had a wheelchair-equipped van with a private tour. He was very enjoyable and very informative.
Whale spouts and flukes before they dive. it was frustrating for DeeAnn to be able to see any of the whales, as the whole boat would stand when a whale was spotted. Fortunately, the crew found a special place for her to hang out so that no one would stand in front of her, though several ill-mannered passengers tried. One of the very cool things we saw was a technique called bubble netting where the whales blow bubbles to stimulate nets (or maybe the nets stimulate bubbles) to gather the fish for feeding. The whole pod works together in this technique. This was the first bubble netting of the season and really excited the crew of the boat. Another cool thing was when the crew lowered the hydrophone and we actually listened to the whales communicating with each other. Very special.
Whale spotting is easy once you learn to look for their spouts.
Whale spotting is easy once you learn to look for their spouts.
There were probably two dozen eagles in the area, including these two that were sitting on a cross to memorialize fishermen that had not survived.
Our whale watching boat.
Dessert from our third night, anglefood cake with strawberries.
Strawberry gelatinous-type dessert. not too bad but a lot of people loved it.
Our waiters perform a song for us.
Towel animal - Elephant
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