The speaker, Geoff Evans (who in his day job is a racehorse stud owner in Newmarket) had come to talk about Alaska, but actually it was about his 4 week holiday in Alaska in 2004 which, he told us with some pride, had cost him and his wife £13,000!
His photos of this incredible holiday started with arrival at Anchorage, then the small planes they flew on to get to the cabins and trekking areas.
The main purpose of going to the area they visited is to see the bears and the photos he had taken were stunning. They have guides with rifles to accompany them while walking through the paths and then across a river on a special bridge which has iron gates at each end providing a safe area. During the summer the bears spend a lot of their time by the river catching the salmon which are on their way back up river and this is where he got the best photos of bears and their cubs. Brown bears are solitary creatures but tolerate each other to mate and fish at this time of year. Females have a delayed pregnancy so they are pregnant through the winter and give birth while in hibernation then don't take the cubs out until late spring.
Males are HUGE and he had one photo that showed a big male and the battle scars from fights. When they stand on hind legs for a better view across the river they can be 10 foot tall.
I found THIS ONLINE if you want to read more about the bears of the Kodiak archipelago.
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| photo of brown bear and cub from Google |
He also gives talks about Iceland, Borneo and Racehorses among other subjects so if I'm going to be going to 2 WI's next year seems I'm bound to be listening to his bad jokes again sometime!
Thank you for all the comments about the Job List yesterday
Back Soon
Sue
Martin went and did some WI talks after climbing Everest he took along all his equipment so they could see and try on all the different things needed for the expedition he also had them trying there hand at tying some climbing knots, next year he is planning a trip to Alaska perhaps he should put himself forward for some more talks.
ReplyDeleteOMG that is impressive.
DeleteBlimey..Everest.........that's amazing!
DeleteIf you get onto the WI list he could be going to talk all over the place
Sounds a very interesting speaker.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you are enjoying the WI Sue. We had our meeting last week and committee was re-elected. There are only 12 of us but we all pull together and are a happy band. Our charity for 2017 is women in a local refuge. We are filling 12 gift bags with various toilet items wrapped in bright paper each bag will have the same items in and when the ladies and children come back from Christmas dinner the bags will be under the tree for them. We were told that the children get lots of things but the Mums are left out. Is your WI doing anything?
I am hoping to move soon and. There is a WI in the village which I shall try.
Have a good weekend.
Hazel c uk
I like the big WI where I went Monday better than the smaller one I joined because of Cols sister being president, so I have a dilemma for the coming year!
DeleteHi, the bigger WIs are good because there is more chance that you won't get to be asked to do a major job but can help on the side,Ives if you choose to. Because we are small we get to do more hands on things, next month we are making mincemeat also we only need cars for outings (we contribute towards the cost of petrol). By having a bigger WI the load is shared when it comes to helping out at fetes etc. if the one Cols sister is president of is an evening one maybe you could try saying you prefer afternoons to evenings or vice a versa. Hazel c uk
ReplyDeleteThey are both Monday evenings in different weeks so I can still do both one will be via dual membership but which one?
DeleteSue, the only real difference between dual or full membership apart from the subscription is you can not usually vote on big decisions if you are a dual i.e. Resolutions also I don't think you can go on the Institute committee. I expect you know that you pay from the subscription so much back to the institute and it is the same from dual or full membership. ( I am not sure but I think if you are a dual you don't pay anything back to County or national). Good luck with choosing. Hazel c uk
DeleteIf I was fit enough and had that kind of money....that would be my kind of holiday.
ReplyDeleteAlsaska fascinates me and I have always wanted to go.
Hugs-x-
Hello. You don't need to spend that much money. There's some very reasonable one week Alaskan cruises leaving out of Seattle. Believe me, the nature and sights you will see are amazing! Pat
DeleteHave you ever watched the Bear Cam live from Katmai National Park in Alaska? I'm fascinated watching the bears catching Salmon. The link is at https://explore.org/livecams/bears/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls, but if you'd prefer to take it out you can find all sorts of livecams at explore.org. My grandson loves to sit on my lap while we look at different animals in their environments :)
ReplyDeleteI have this web site open most of the time and check on the bears quite regularly, it's very fascinating!
DeleteI adore talks like this I need to go to more
ReplyDeleteAlaska would be great to visit. My husband has been there quite a few times for work with a company. Interesting stories to share. An interesting place to visit for sure and meet people that have visited there too.
ReplyDeleteFYI: I did go to the Bentwaters Cold War Museum website and was quite an interesting read of the history. Some I didn't know about. Thanks for the information, Sue!
It is just the time of year to get away from short days but evening talks are often cold in village halls and a dark drive back. Think I am going to join an afternoon gardening club.
ReplyDeleteWow - I would love to go to Alaska, but I'll keep dreaming at that price! My daughter talked about moving there but ended up in Minnesota - really cold but not quite as pretty lol. I wish there was something like WI around here.
ReplyDelete