Unfortunately many tourist activities weren’t on offer in Anchorage on the Columbus Day holiday in October. Thankfully the friendly staff at Salmon Berry Travel Tours took pity on me looking sad because it was my last day in Alaska and decided to run their Wildlife Tour activity with just me onboard.
If you’ve traveled in Alaska for a while but not seen any big wildlife than this is your best option to get up close to Elk, Moose, Bears etc.
The Salmon Berry Travel Tour runs in Summer & Winter, costs $US99 per adult and takes about 4 hours return trip from Anchorage to The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, which is about an hours drive each way on the Seward Highway.
The picturesque Seward Highway road trip was an added bonus because the weather that day was clear and sunny with blue skies. My guide said it was the nicest day in a month.
While technically not part of the Wildlife Conservation Center, the giant Ravens and Black-billed Magpies (Pica Hudsonia) which were flying around had great plumage.
Alaskan Moose are surprisingly large when you see them close up, they can weigh up to 800-odd kg according to National Geographic.
This male Elk looked quite magestic.
The Musk Oxen were quite sedate during the early afternoon.
A highlight of Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center was the 3 Bears, which happily happened to decide to photogenically snooze and play in the water while I watched them for a while.
The Wood Bison were not as big as I expected from reading about their lower 48 states counterparts the Plains bison in American history books.
Seeing a Bald Eagle up close was an equal highlight at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center besides the bears.
Nearby the Eagle were a pair of orphaned female Lynx (wildcats) with distinctive tufts of black hair on the ends of their ears.
Then it was back on the Salmon Berry bus back into Anchorage. A fun day out and definitely worth the fee if there’s good weather to see the animals clearly.
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