Atka Island, Aleutian Islands

This large island has a population of just 70 people.  The village has no post office, and the only available communication mode with the outside world is a 50-watt radio transmitter.  Most of the inhabitants have no electricity, so there is no refrigeration.  Must be a very hard life!

There was an excursion to shore this morning for those interested in a slippery hike to visit the wreckage of a WWII B-24 D Liberator bomber which miraculously managed to find one of the few flat areas on the island to crash land.  Amazingly all of the crew survived, but the plane was in pieces and remains where it came to earth some 80 years ago.

After hearing that a couple of people who left for the excursion ahead of us had fallen, we decided to err on the side of caution and stay on board -- especially after repeated announcements from the expedition staff about how rough the boarding and unloading of the Zodiacs were (due to swells), and how slippery the rocks on the beach were.

This is a watercolor-y view of some of the lush green volcanic landscape.