All Aboard! Our First Night on the Safari Endeavor

Our Great Alaskan Adventure continues — embarking in Juneau and setting course for the Inian Islands

The skittering cry of eagles punctuates the very air in Alaska. Ubiquitous as crows, they’re everywhere — peering down at you from the treetops, soaring across the waters of the bay. What they must see from that vantage point….

If you’ve been following along with my “Great Alaskan Adventure” series, you might recall that we left off with an “eagle eye” view of the Juneau Ice Field — a vast reach of untouched land which we were able to glimpse from the windows of a small seaplane.

Flying over these glaciers and looking down at the silt-laden “braided rivers” evoked more than a little bit of awe in my soul. It’s like peeking into the very forces of creation itself. I can just imagine the Goddess stepping back to take a look at what she has set into play and sighing with delight, patiently waiting to see how the tongue of “this” glacier or “that” river will mold the landscape of this vast bit of heaven-on-earth.

After we landed in the bay of Juneau once more, we had an hour or so to fill until we would be able to board the Safari Endeavor, the small cruise boat run by UnCruise Adventures which would carry fifty-four of us out into the wilderness, far, far away from any towns or villages for the next week.

We decided to fill our hour with partaking in a glass of Alaskan cider on the wharf. My husband is proudly wearing his new “UnCruise” cap.

It turned out that the people at the table next to us had just gotten off of our sister ship, the Safari Explorer, and could not stop gushing about the things they had seen and done. We were a little beyond excited at this point.

We strolled over to take a peek at our boat, which was in port, but still being prepared for us to embark. As you can see, it was loaded up with kayaks (which we used every day) and skiffs (which took us right up to Harbor Seal rookeries and breaching whales and so many other amazing sights each day).

There were also two jacuzzis up on the mid-deck. They turned out to be the perfect post-excursion spot to post up with a glass of wine as we pulled anchor and headed out to our next destination.

Pretty soon, we found ourselves queued up with the other intrepid explorers, anxious to board the boat. This was to be the first journey of the season. The captain greeted us and announced that they had decided that masks were going to be required in the indoor public spaces while we were onboard because so many of the other boats had been affected by COVID already this year. It’s really hard on these small businesses when their crew get sick. And if a certain number of passengers get sick (which had happened on some of the other boats), they’d have to return to port.

We’d been asked by UnCruise to be very careful in the couple of weeks leading up to the trip and while traveling to Juneau. And we were. It sounded like the other passengers had all been respectful of this request too. UnCruise also required all passengers to have two doses of the vaccine and at least one booster. We had gotten our second booster a month before the trip. We were happy to comply with their requests— and we did not get COVID on the trip.

I just recently purchased the new Nikon Z9 camera and was really looking forward to trying to capture some photos of this gorgeous place. We had popped for one of the four rooms with a “Juliette” balcony so that I could step out the door and be at “whale level” at a moment’s notice.

This was our cabin. I forgot to take a picture before we began to “sprawl,” but it still looked fairly neat here.

The view from the bedroom was pretty spectacular. Since the ship is small, the view of the wildlife from the window and the balcony is “front and center.” I can’t tell you how many times we woke up in the morning to the sight of a whale “blowing” or an otter floating on its back just feet away from us.

We were soon summoned to dinner and were gliding out to sea, watching the sun setting on the peaks surrounding Juneau.

We asked for a table “for two” for the week and were given one with a spectacular window view. The photo above was taken from our table.

We soon left the sheltered waters and headed out to sea.

We gathered for a compulsory “life vest drill” and a presentation about what to expect for the week. I ducked out the side door (much to my husband’s chagrin) for a couple of quick shots to capture the moment.

All around us, the mountains were gathering shadows to their bosoms. Night was beginning to fall.

After the presentation, we returned to our room with a glass of wine and kicked back to watch Alaska float by.

Remember that Juliette balcony? It was put to use.

The “alpen glow” hour was beginning. It’s the time when the very air begins to pinken and the faces of snow on the mountains begin to blush.

The world began to descend into silence and to dip into indigo and faded light.

The peaks we were headed towards grew larger and larger.

And as sleep began to tug at our eyelids, the pinks and blues began to melt into the darkness.

We laid our heads on our pillows, unwilling to close the drapes yet for fear of missing out on unseen vistas. And we said goodnight to Alaska, already dreaming about what tomorrow would bring.

Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, neurophilosopher, cat-mom, photographer, and lover of travel and nature, spreading her love and amazement for Mother Earth’s glories, one photo, poem or story at a time. (MS Neuropsychology, MA Yoga Studies).

Here are parts I and II of our adventure, if you’d like to follow along:

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