Exploring a little...

My cruise on the Sea Lion is called the Cultural Tour of Annette Island. During my cruise our guests have the opportunity to explore Metlakatla, a Tsimshian Indian village. This week I was able to go on the tour myself and it was pretty great to get to experience the culture of the Tsimshian Indians.

Cedar carved Totem Pole

View of the harbor at Metlakatla

Tsimshian artwork at Metlakatla

The Tsimshian have beautiful artwork, and we were allowed to explore the Healing Arts Center where they had a lot of their artwork on display. We also got the chance to go to the Longhouse to witness a native dance ceremony. We were invited to dance with them after a few of the dances. Thankfully Bryce (one of my housemates) was nice enough to share his pictures with me.  

Dance ceremony at Metlakatla

Friday was CPR day...thankfully for me, I already had mine...which meant I had the day off. So Kayla and I did some grocery shopping and explored the tourist shops a little. Then we found some places for our hammocks in the backyard for some napping! We found a local place with 1/2 wings and nachos.  

Basically this week has been training and more training. But I did get to co-lead my first tour this week. We saw river otters and a humpback whale. While my group was on the tour of Metlakatla, I had a little time to bird watch. There was a beautiful eagle that hung out around the breakwater. I also had the chance to do a little exploring with the creatures that were growing along the dock. There were amazing anemones and urchins! Along with training, it has also been cleaning! 

View from Surprise beach at our Cookout.

After my first cruise, I went to do a little beach exploring with some of my housemates (Danielle and Matt). We had a cookout on one of the beaches, basically Matt cooked while Danielle and I explored. We did some tidal pooling and climbed around on the rocks. The tide was rising, so we missed out on the sea stars. But we did get a great view of a Humpback that was swimming around the beach. We had grilled asparagus, corn on the cob, and brats. It was a great way to end the day! 

Just a little tide-pooling! 

So far I have really enjoyed living here. Everywhere you look it is absolutely beautiful! This week the weather has been incredible, only one day of rain showers! It was even warm enough to wear a tank-top a couple of days!  This week the weather is supposed to be sunny as well! I'm looking forward to my first Misty Fjords tour tomorrow, and then my first tour on my own Tuesday! It is looking like it will be another fantastic week in Ketchikan!