We woke this morning to the rushing sound of Kasnyku Falls. The captain positioned the ship perfectly for us to take selfies with the beautiful waterfall cascading down the mountainside behind us. Some of us were lucky enough to get a very brief sighting of a brown bear waltzing across the front of the falls.

We reluctantly left the falls so we could make tracks to continue to the next adventure scheduled for the afternoon. It was a relaxing morning with an amazing talk by Luke Manson about the evolution of humpback whales. After lunch, we started activities in the rainy Keku Islands. We became one with the weather and enjoyed an afternoon kayaking and doing Zodiac tours. Harlequin ducks, a mink, and a bald eagle nest were some of the highlights.

The Global Explores had a lesson on driving the Zodiacs, and each took a turn driving the other explorers around National Geographic Quest as the proud parents took pictures of the next generation that will assume our jobs. Zoey Greenberg, National Geographic field educator, told the young explorers to hold on and took the tiller for an exciting ride to the cheering delight of the kids.

We all made our way back to the ship. We looked like we had showered under the Kasnyku Falls after a long day in the Alaskan “liquid sunshine.”