Kenai Peninsula and Kenai Fjords National Park
July 27-August 1, 2011
The main attraction for us on the Kenai Peninsula was Kenai Fjords National Park (this was, after all, a national parks tour). Kenai Fjords is primarily a marine park that you visit by boat, but it also has a road that goes into the park as far as the Exit Glacier. You can walk right up to the Exit Glacier, and, goodness knows, you can't see too many glaciers on a trip to Alaska! The all-day boat trip offered opportunities to see glaciers (including calving), fjords, and a wealth of marine wildlife.
But the more I read and heard about the Kenai Peninsula, the more time I knew we needed to spend there. Alaska is positively enormous, with a large diversity of ecosystems, but, according to the Kenai Peninsula wildlife viewing guide (link above), "every Alaskan wildlife habitat type except Arctic tundra is represented here." The Kenai has incredible wildlife viewing opportunities, amazing scenery, and picturesque cities. I booked a hiking-and-kayaking wildlife viewing trip on the Kachemak Bay, and an encounter with a Pacific Giant Octopus at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward. We only had five days to spend on this wonderful peninsula, but we were determined to see as much as possible!