Zdravstvuite to the Russian Alaska

As we were heading west on the peninsula leaving Seward, the names of the towns started changing: Soldotna, Nikiski, Kasilof, Ninilchik, Nikolaevsk... We were wondering if we were still in Alaska. The names were only the first glimpse of how influenced by the Russians this part of Alaska still was. The Russians had migrated to the peninsula and established their own communities there a while ago. As you travel, more than the names of the towns will remind you of their emigration to Alaska.

Two different Russian experiences

In Soldotna, we were very fortunate to be all invited by friends of Ali to stay at their place. Savuth, Neldon and Kathy invited us for dinner that night, and as we were enjoying the delicious Buffalo Chili they fixed, we decided that the next day, girls and boys would split for the day. The guys would go and fish in the Russian river and the girls would explore the upper peninsula, towards Kenai, Nikiski and finally the Captain Cook State Park.
We all left at the same time the next day, girls on Caroline's bike and guys in Savuth's car. As you know, fishing is all about the experience and the peace and calm, while living the thrill of potentially catching some great fish. Needless to say, the guys had a great time on the river, watching the salmons jump in the Russian river falls, even if they did not catch anything that day. The girls got their first taste of Russian culture as they visited Kenai: the town had a beautiful Orthodox church, right next to the beach, where they decided to go for a walk since the sun was out. What a treat to hang out on the beach, even if going for a swim was definitively not an option. The other thrill of the day was on the way to the State Cook Park when Isabelle saw her first moose in Alaska: it was just hanging out on the side of the road, chewing some grass as we stopped to have a closer look. We all had a good time that day and met in the evening at the house to share dinner.

Chased by a Buffalo herd

Neldon and Kathy, our hosts, and their family have a herd of 18 Buffalos on their property. As we stayed in their house, we enjoyed some view of the herd through the living room windows. That evening, Neldon offered to do something much more exciting: why don't we take his 4-wheelers and take a closer look to the herd? Of course, we could not resist the offer. The only thing we had to be careful about was to lock the dog in the house as the Buffalos really don't like him. We all rode through the property and opened the gate to enter the fenced area where the Buffalos were. After a short ride, we finally found the herd. It was pretty exciting to be so close, we were maybe 50 feet (15 meters) away from them when suddenly the dog showed up out of nowhere! One thing Neldon had told us before we left is that the only thing we should worry about is when the Buffalos lift their tail: this means there are fired up and ready to charge. Well, when the dog showed up, all tails were up. Neldon told us to turn around and leave but Caroline's 4-wheeler would not move as it had an electrical problem. By the time she managed to restart the machine, the Buffalos were charging. We had a herd of 18 huge animals coming towards us. Finally, the 4-wheeler started again and we were all able to move and turn back but they had already closed the gap so Neldon had to turn around and scare them off. They came really close to his machine twice but we all finally outrun them, driving our 4-wheelers like crazy. We all made it safely to the gate and went outside the fence, finally protected from the beasts.

We had an exciting day for sure and a great story to tell. We all blamed the scare on the dog or maybe we were a bit grateful that he spiced up our day a little, not really intentionally. Neldon argued though that the red hat that Chad was wearing was the reason for the charge of the herd and not the dog. We will never know for sure but what we do know is that we had an unforgettable time in Soldotna thanks to Kathy, Neldon and Savuth.