PROGRAM

02  July
Flight to Anchorage (not included).
Overnight at Hotel Coast Inn at Lake Hood***.

03  July
July is the perfect month to travel to the Brooks Falls to watch the Brown Bears fishing salmons that come here to spawn at this time of the year. The waterfalls, located in the territory of Katmai National Park, offer one of the most spectacular experiences in the world with these large plantigrades.
Our day will start early in the morning with a scenic flight aboard a hydroplane chartered for our group, we will all have a window seat, lasting approximately two hours, flight times vary depending on weather conditions. Once at the destination, a packed lunch is planned and then we will have a few hours to observe the Brown Bears as they try to catch the salmons that go up Brooks Falls.
On the return flight, as well as on the outward flight, we will have very good chances of spotting Beluga, Moose and Bighorn Sheep from our aircraft.
Overnight at Hotel Coast Inn at Lake Hood***.

04  July
In the morning we will go to the airport in time for the flight to St. Paul Island where we will arrive in the afternoon and will be transferred to our hotel.
It is a small windswept island in the Bering Sea which is part of the Pribilof Islands archipelago. St. Paul is wild and rich in fauna, in the month of July there are over 200,000 seabirds and tens of thousands of fur seals, half of the world’s population, but it also hosts the authentic Unangan culture and it is characterized by great spaces, barren landscape, flowering tundra, dunes and cliffs overlooking the sea.
Overnight at Hotel King Eider***.

05 – 10  July
The next 6 days will be fully dedicated at the exploration of St Paul’s Island. Every day excursions will be offered aboard vehicles at exclusive use of our group. The meteorological conditions will determine the order of our visits which however include the numerous and spectacular cliffs located in the southern part of the island, the hilly tundra areas of the interior, in this season covered with colorful flowers, some coastal dunes and small lakes. Some of the most common and iconic flowers on the island of St. Paul are the Arctic Poppy, Lupin and the beautiful Forget-me-not. Each evening we will return to the small village of St. Paul where we will stay at the King Eider Hotel, our modern little haven of comfort on the wild island of St. Paul. Here we will get to know the Unangan culture, the indigenous inhabitants of the islands, by visiting the interesting museum and the Orthodox church.
The fauna of the Pribilofs is peculiar to the Bering Sea and is characterized by a large number of Seabirds and Fur Seals, but there are also Arctic Foxes in the Blue morph and Reindeers.

Seabirds
The huge colonies of birds that nest on the cliffs located in the southern part of the island such as Ridge Wall, Tolstoi Point and Black Bluffs are full of life and action in this season, the breeding season, and there are over 200,000 birds on the island. The colonies can be reached by land, thus offering an excellent observation point.
We will meet some rather rare species, absent in the European regions. Are here quite common and noteworthy:
– some species of Alcids such as the Crested Auklet with 5,000 nesting pairs, the Parakeet Auklet with 20,000 pairs and the Least Auklet with 20,000 nesting pairs too;
– two species of Puffins, the Tufted Puffin with 1000 nesting pairs and the Horned Puffin with 3000 nesting pairs;
– the Red-faced Cormorant with 500 pairs;
– two species of Kittiwakes, the Black-legged Kittiwake 15,000 pairs and the much rarer Red-legged Kittiwake, nesting here with 1,500 pairs, this bird nests only on three other islands in the Bering Sea where the entire world population is concentrated.

Northern Fur Seal
This large dark-colored fur seal is endemic to the northern Pacific Ocean and over half of its world population in the month of July is concentrated on the Pribilof Islands to breed, around 500,000 seals. Every year about 10,000 pups are born in the archipelago, we will visit some of the 14 colonies where we will be able to observe adults and pups.

Arctic Fox
The Arctic Fox has a completely white coat in winter and brown-gray in summer. However, there is a variant, the blue arctic fox, which is dark in color, brown with bluish shades, both in winter and in summer. The blue morph represents only 2-3% of arctic foxes, but in the Pribilof Islands it is quite common and not difficult to spot.

Reideer
On the island of St. Paul there is a large herd of reindeer, about 700 animals, introduced in 1911, today it moves freely across the island.
Overnight at Hotel King Eider***.

11  July
We will have the entire morning and early afternoon available for further naturalistic excursions or to visit the local museum or the small Orthodox church where we will be able to get in touch with the local inhabitants.
In the afternoon flight St Paul – Anchorage and arrival in the evening.
Overnight at Hotel Coast Inn at Lake Hood***.

12  July
Reserve day in case of flight delay from the Pribilof Islands and free time to discover Anchorage and for any optional excursions.
Overnight at Hotel Coast Inn at Lake Hood***.

13  July
Flight home (not included).