The basic itineraries for the 0901 and 0902 tours are listed below. For detailed descriptions of the locations we visit and the activities we enjoy, click on the hot links below or visit the Venues page.

In 2009 there are two Wildlife of Alaska tours you may choose from. Both go to the same venues, but Tour 0901 starts in Anchorage on 22 June, and Tour 0902 will start in Fairbanks on 5 July and visit the locations in reverse order (so read itinerary from the bottom up).

Basic Itinerary

Day 1: You'll arrive at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and be transferred to your downtown hotel in Anchorage. At 7:00 pm we'll have our welcome dinner at a nearby eatery.

Day 2: We'll board our deluxe motorcoach, Raven 1, for a drive through some of Alaska's most dramatic scenery along the Seward and Sterling Highways. Our destination is Homer, but we'll stop frequently along the way for the scenery and birding. In Homer, your afternoon is free to enjoy the art galleries, the Pratt Museum, or the Islands & Ocean Center to learn more about the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. There are also excellent birding sites along the shore.

Day 3: Today we board a water taxi to cross Kachemak Bay. The rugged coastline here combines with the bay's 6 m tides to form tide pools with some of the greatest biodiversity found anywhere in the world. We'll board sea kayaks to tour the protected waters of this amazing place. Our guide lives on this coastline and has subsisted off it for decades.

Day 4: Back on board the motorcoach for a quick trip back up to Soldotna to board a bush plane. We'll fly across Cook Inlet to the coast of Lake Clark National Park for some of the best Alaska brown bear viewing to be found. The flight along the coastline takes us past snow-covered Redoubt and Iliamna volcanoes and is incredibly scenic.

Day 5: At bear camp on Chinitna Bay

Day 6: This morning we'll reboard the bush planes to return to Soldotna. Then Raven 1 will take us to Seward, a fishing community and cruise ship terminal. Nestled in the temperate rain forest of the Chugach National Forest, rugged peaks rise up from Resurrection Bay to make this area picturesque in many ways. We'll drive to the trailhead for the short hike to the terminus of Exit Glacier. Then it's time for a visit to the Alaska Marine Researchh Center (read aquarium) to see what's below the waves off the coast of Alaska. Our hotel is nestled in the woods with a glacier river nearby.

Day 7: Today we board a small sightseeing boat for a day on Resurrection Bay and the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge along the shores of Kenai Fjords National Park. Our skipper will ask where our interests lie and gear the day's journey to emphasize them. Wildlife we can expect to see include humpback whales, Dall's porpoises, orca, sea otters, Steller sea lions, oyster catchers, common murres, and two kinds of puffins.

Day 8: Raven 1 will take us back to Anchorage for lunch on your own in the downtown area. After a couple hours of shopping, or strolling along the displays at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, we'll head farther north on the Glenn and Parks highways to the quaint town of Talkeetna. People come to Talkeetna to fish for salmon and for flights to the flanks of Mt. McKinley to begin their journey to the summit. You can use the afternoon to take an optional flight seeing trip, with these same pilots, or an exciting jet boat ride up the Susitna River to the Devil's Canyon rapids. Our hotel sits on a ridge with a spectacular view of the mountain when clouds permit.

Day 9: Today our journey takes us further north on the Parks Highway. By midday we'll be at the east end of Denali National Park. This is where all but a small percent of this park's visitors will find their accommodations. We'll board a lodge bus to ride west 150 km (about 95 miles) to the far end of the park's road where our lodge is located.
The park road takes us up out of the boreal forest and into tundra realms where we'll find commanding views over much of the terrain. There will be excellent opportunities to spot moose, Dall sheep, Toklat grizzly bear, caribou, and many species of breeding birds. Many of the birds have flown thousands of kilometers to nest here.

Days 10 & 11: At our lodge in Kantishna in the heart of Denali National Park. Free to relax, hike, and go birding.

Day 12: We ride back along the park road to the east end of Denali National Park to board Raven 1 to drive to Fairbanks along the remaining stretch of the Parks Highway. The afternoon will be free to see some of Fairbanks' attractions, which include a number of birding sites and their natural history museum. This evening is the farewell dinner.

Day 13: Transfer to Fairbanks International Airport for flight home.