Orford Bay

Our day is mostly spent on a boat today. Wildlife tour - Grizzly & Culture. Our boat is called Howgus (name for 'Grizzly') and our guides are Cassie and Ron. It is a two-part tour, first by boat, in between we take a small bus. There are 12 people on board, making the boat full 😅

The first part of our boat ride heads north towards Church House as we enjoy coffee and snacks. Here, we also have a first distant encounter with a whale 🐳

Cassie talks about the cultural development of the native community (Homalco - people of the fast running water), their cultural customs (e.g., daily bathing in a river when one reaches puberty / matures).

The Homalco people want to preserve and reclaim their culture (they were driven from this place around 100 years ago). We see the former school building - it once had a diesel generator, otherwise oil lamps.

Since the church was built here in the early 1900s, the culture has been displaced. All buildings are abandoned and destroyed...

There is a bear in the area, but we don’t see it. At the viewpoint, we create jewelry bands made from cedar wood in pairs. Cassie shares a lot about her culture and how they name fish and plants in their language (self-learning: search 'First Voice' on Google 😉). In the end, she sings a song for us, accompanied by a self-made drum.

We continue towards Bute Inlet and encounter 4 orcas 😊 The water becomes increasingly emerald green due to the influx from the glaciers.

Just before lunch, we see paintings on rocks, which according to legend are about 10,000 years old. A few meters further, the Homalco people operate a salmon farm. We stop for

lunch at Orford Bay and enjoy our sandwich. This far north on the mainland can only be reached by boat, seaplane, or helicopter. Everywhere, there is an incredibly beautiful view of sparkling water and a stunning mountain backdrop!

Now comes the Grizzly part: Guide Calvin and bus driver Gloria provide us with a safety briefing, as we are now guests in Grizzly territory. Calvin tells us about the grizzlies, among other things, that they are born without hair and with closed eyes (naked & blind). After 18 months, they are then cast out. If the male bears return, they are eaten to prevent inbreeding.

We visit several viewpoints - at No. 3, several bald eagles circle above us. 🦅 Later, we discover several salmon (Pink Salmon) under a bridge. Unfortunately, we have no luck with the grizzly bears today, even though the guides make every effort 🤷🤷‍♂️ We do feel a bit wistful, but that's wildlife... you can't just 'book' bears. And the salmon season has just begun - yesterday was the very first tour of the season.

On the way back, we encounter the orca family again. And we are indeed lucky with the weather. ☀️☀️☀️ The sun glimmers on the water as we zip back south along Bute Inlet.

We receive a few Spotify tips: including the Whale Tales podcast or their own radio station.

Just before the end, we cross paths with two humpback whales. Our guides assume it’s a mother and calf 🙂

After our full-day tour, we treat ourselves to a giant pizza by the harbor at the Plaza and listen to the sounds of a live musician (the sound and outfit very similar to Johannes Oerding 😅😅😅).

Tomorrow, we want to treat ourselves to the sunrise 😉

Good night🙂😴