[img nocaption float=”right” width=”319″ height=”480″ render=”<%photoRenderType%>”]8870[/img] Ketchikan

ANOTHER DAY, another interesting port of call. We docked in Ketchikan early this morning and while it’s the smallest Alaskan town we’ve visited this week, it’s also the most charming. Ketchikan still has the feel of a frontier town, the first gateway before entering the great wild. One headline from page 1 of today’s edition of the Ketchikan Daily News: “Bear dies from tranquilizer shot.” Elsewhere the paper notes that today is the longest day of the year, with Ketchikan set for more than 17 hours of light.

Anyway, most of us spent the day exploring town and the surrounding rainforest either on foot or by plane, ducking the occasional misty shower, which seemed to alternate with brief bursts of sun. By lunchtime, it was back aboard the Oosterdam for an afternoon of the serious stuff.