Date Cost Availability Deposit Single Supp	08 Jun - 22 Jun 2024 £8450.00 2 Spaces £1690.00 £1750.00 Book Now

St Paul Island in the Pribilofs extension:

Dates: Fri 21- Wed 26 Jun 2024 Extension price £4,500 Extension deposit £630 Extension single supp £350 Should you wish to book this extension then please complete an online booking for the above Mainland section and contact us to let us know you wish to also take the extension. We shall then provide updated paperwork, once we receive your extension deposit payment.

Leaders	Darren Rees and David Wimpfheimer
Flights	United Airlines/Lufhansa, Scheduled Outbound: Afternoon, Heathrow-Anchorage Inbound: Overnight, Anchorage-Heathrow (outbound via San Francisco) (inbound via Frankfurt) Local airline for Anchorage-St Paul return

Days 1-2	Fly to Anchorage, via San Francisco - 2 nights Coast Inn Lake Hood.
Days 3-5	Drive north to the Alaska Range. Exploration of Denali NP - 3 nights McKinley Creekside Cabins.
Days 6-7	Drive east to explore the Denali Highway - 2 nights Maclaren Lodge.
Day 8	Continued drive through Alaskan wilderness - 1 night Sheep Mountain.
Days 9-10	Drive to Homer on Kenai Peninsula. First boat trip, bear-watching at Chinitna Bay - 2 nights Driftwood Inn.
Days 11-12	Drive to Seward for second boat trip exploring Kenai Fjords NP - 2 nights Hotel Edgewater.
Day 13	Return to Anchorage - 1 night Coast Inn Lake Hood.
Days 14-16	Fly to UK, land Day 15. Or fly to St Paul for exploration of Pribilofs - 3 nights King Eider Hotel.
Days 17-19	Fly to Anchorage - 1 night Coast Inn Lake Hood. Fly back to UK, via Frankfurt, arriving Day 19.

A wilderness and landscape like no other and a holiday to match – Denali, Kenai and the Pribilof Islands for bears, wolves, whales, fur seals and Pacific seabird colonies.

	*   Denali, the highest American peak, with Grizzlies, Wolves and Caribou
	*   Northern Hawk Owl, Long-tailed Jaeger and Gyrfalcon
	*   Coastal bear-watching at Chinitna
	*   Two boat trips for Humpback Whales, Orcas and Dall’s Porpoise
	*   Sea Otters at spectacular Kenai Fjords National Park
	*   The remote St Paul Island in the Pribilofs for Tufted Puffins and Crested Auklets
	*   The Pribilofs, the ‘Galapagos of the North’, home to fur seals and seabirds

Days 1-2	We fly to Anchorage via a US stop, for our first two nights here. Nearby Parks and waterways offer an introduction to Alaskan birding with Bald Eagles, Red-necked Grebes, Alder Flycatchers and Pacific Loons. We’ll explore several habitats looking for Hudsonian Godwit, Wilson’s Snipe, American Three-toed Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadee and Bohemian Waxwings.
Day 3	We travel north into the boreal forest, an expanse of spruce, willow and birch that harbours extensive terrestrial and wetland habitats for huge numbers of nesting passerines and waders. We’ll meet many Alaskan birds: Lesser Sandhill Cranes, Blackpoll Warbler and Pine Grosbeaks are all possible. Driving over Broad Pass in the mighty Alaska Range we descend to Denali NP arriving at our lodging in late afternoon for the first of three nights near the Park.
Days 4-5	We have two full days of adventure in Denali NP. With no vehicular traffic to worry about, our shuttle bus takes us through some of the most extraordinary scenery in North America, in the shadow of the continent’s highest peak. Some of our target species will be Willow Ptarmigan, Hawk Owl, Gyrfalcon, Northern Shrike and Arctic Warbler. This is no ordinary shuttle bus, as it stops for just about anything we want to look at and there’s a wide selection of mammals present including Arctic Ground Squirrel, Grizzly Bear, Gray Wolf, Moose, Dall’s Sheep and Caribou.
Days 6-7	The remote Denali Highway takes us east through a mosaic of spruce bogs and ponds, willow riparian and dry tundra. Target species include American Golden Plover, Common Redpoll, Long-tailed Duck and Golden-crowned, Fox and Tree Sparrow. From our base we’ll look for Long-tailed Jaegers, Lapland and Smith’s Longspurs.
Day 8	Our continuing wilderness loop takes us by the Wrangell-Saint Elias Range whose snowy peaks exceed 14,000ft. In the forest here our targets will be interior breeding species such as Spruce Grouse, Gray Jay and White-winged Crossbill. We’ll overnight at Sheep Mountain Lodge – last time we saw Boreal Owl here!
Days 9-10	The long road to Homer, our next base for two nights, takes us along the coast through Chugach National Forest to the beautiful Kenai Peninsula. From Homer, our all-day boat trip takes us across Cook Inlet to Chinitna Bay in the spectacular Lake Clark National Park, home to coastal Brown Bears. With local guides we should find these charismatic animals combing the shore, foraging for food in the most dramatic setting.
Days 11-12	We continue our exploration of the Kenai Peninsula enroute to Seward. The coastline of Kenai Fjords NP is home to some of the most pristine, rugged, breathtaking glacial vistas in North America. Dall’s Sheep are often seen on the cliffs above the road as well as the more elusive Mountain Goat. Islands busy with birds and mammals await us on our full-day boat trip from Seward into the Park's dynamic fjords. Alcids rule the day as we watch for Horned and Tufted Puffins, Kittlitz’s and Ancient Murrelet, Thick-billed Murre and Parakeet Auklet. We’ll head towards the Chiswell Islands where thousands of nesting Black-legged Kittiwakes have painted the islands white. Marine mammals include Sea Otter, Harbor Seal, Steller’s Sealion, Pacific White-sided Dolphin, Orca, Humpback Whale and Harbour and Dall’s Porpoise.
Days 13-14	After birding around Seward, we’ll take a leisurely pace back to Anchorage for the night, stopping at any habitat that offers the last chance for a missing species. Favourite stops between Seward and Anchorage may add that last Barrow’s Goldeneye, Hudsonian Godwit or Rusty Blackbird to our list. The following day those who are returning to the UK depart in the evening, via a US stop, arriving in the UK on day 15. For those going to St. Paul, one of the Pribilof Islands - the famed ‘Galapagos of the North’, they depart in the afternoon. Our naturalist tour starts immediately upon arrival, with local species that include Pacific Wren, Rock Sandpiper, Red-faced Cormorant, Gray-crowned Rosy Finch, Lapland Longspur and ‘Blue’ Arctic Fox. St. Paul is the largest of the Aleut communities and our base for the next three nights.
Days 15-16	We have two full days to visit the teeming seabird colonies and Fur Seal rookeries of St Paul – they have to be seen to be believed! Rugged cliffs are stuffed with hundreds of thousands of Horned and Tufted Puffins, Common and Thick-billed Murres, Parakeet and Least and Crested Auklets. This is also one of the few places on the planet to view Red-legged Kittiwake. We shall also visit blinds (hides) and viewing areas that allow access to the incredible Northern Fur Seal colonies, one of the greatest gatherings of mammals on earth!
Days 17-19	We fly back to Anchorage for our final evening in Alaska. The next day we leave Anchorage for our return to the UK, on an overnight flight, via Frankfurt.

Just some of what we hope to see..

Black Bear	Bald Eagle	Steller’s Sealion
Grizzly Bear	Gyrfalcon	Blue Arctic Fox (P)
Moose	Long-tailed Jaeger	Red-legged Kittiwake (P)
Caribou	Northern Hawk Owl	Crested Auklet (P)
Gray Wolf	Rock Ptarmigan	Least Auklet (P)
Sea Otter	White-winged Crossbill	Parakeet Auklet (P)
Humpback Whale	Pine Grosbeak	Horned Puffin (P)
Orca	Smith’s Longspur	Tufted Puffin (P)
Dall’s Porpoise	Northern Fur Seal (P)