Our last port of call – Ketchikan. It was rainy when we arrived in Ketchikan. It wasn’t an outright downpour, but it was pretty misty throughout the day. Once we got off the ship, we walked along the docks towards the town. There were lots of ships arriving that day, so there was a nice crowd along the streets. We did a quick tour around downtown Ketchikan, then walked over to Creek Street, which used to be the red light district in the city.

Afterwards, we returned back to the ship to get ready for our excursion to the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary. Our group loaded onto a bus which would take us directly to the rainforest. The ride only lasted 15 minutes, but our tour guide was entertaining us along the way. As we reached the sanctuary entrance, our group split into two. We would be heading to the rainforest canopy and zipline expedition by unimog. A unimog is a multi-purpose four-wheel drive vehicle that can travel over steep terrains. It was a little daunting seeing one for the first time!

Once we got up to the visitor’s centre, we met our guides for the day and got a safety rundown. After getting strapped into our gear, we were off towards the zipline. I was terrified at first when we approached our first ‘training’ zipline. It was pretty short, but nevertheless I was scared at the prospect of slamming into a tree. Luckily, after my first two runs I got the hang of it really well. The rest was just a piece of cake.

Since we were in the rainforest, the whole experience was really peaceful. The air was super clean and it felt really refreshing being outdoors. Unfortunately we didn’t see any bears in the area, even though there were signs of them throughout our journey. The zipline course was a lot of fun. There was even a suspension bridge and a rappel towards the end of the course. The one thing I hated was the slide of doom at the very end. It was a giant 250-feet mountain slide. I think I was more frightened of that than the actual zipline.

Once we made it down, we took off our gear and were awarded medals for completing the course. I was actually very proud of my medal. =)

Soon after, we loaded back onto the bus and arrived back at the docks. We grabbed a late lunch on the ship, then headed out again to do some last minute shopping. Once we spent the last of our money, it was back to the boat for one last day of scenic cruising.

On the very last day of the cruise, they had prepared this magnificent dessert buffet. It was incredible. I’ve never seen so much cake in one setting. The one thing I missed the most when we arrived in Vancouver was the food we had on the ship. Overall, my experience in Alaska was quite unforgettable. The scenery, the excursions and the food – it was definitely worth the trip. I really hope it will still be there if I ever come back in the future.