Ibrahim Jaffar introducing Angoon

The lone settlement on Admiralty Island is Angoon, a predominantly Tlingit community. Tlingit tribes occupied the site for centuries, but the original village was wiped out in 1882 when the US Navy, sailing out of Sitka, bombarded the indigenous people after they staged an uprising against a local whaling company. In 1973 Angoon won a $90, 000 out-of-court settlement from the Federal government for the bombardment.

Today the economy is a mixture of commercial fishing and subsistence, and in town the strong indigenous heritage is evident in the painted fronts of the 16 tribal community houses. The old lifestyle is still apparent in this remote community, and time in Angoon can be spent observing and gaining some understanding of the Tlingit culture. Tourism seems to be tolerated only because the village is a port of call for the ferry. It's also a dry community, so you'll find no bars.

The village is perched on a strip of land between Chatham Strait on Admiralty Island's west coast and turbulent Kootznahoo Inlet, which leads into the national monument's interior. The community serves as the departure point for many kayak and canoe trips into the heart of the monument, including the 32-mile Cross Admiralty canoe.

Ibrahim jaffar INTRODUCING ADMIRALTY ISLAND

Only 15 miles southeast of Juneau is Admiralty Island National Monument, a 1493-sq-mile preserve, of which 90% is designated wilderness. The Tlingit Indians, who know Admiralty Island as Kootznoowoo, ‘the Fortress of Bears, ‘ have lived on the 96-mile-long island for more than 1000 years.
Admiralty Island has a wide variety of wildlife. Bays such as Mitchell, Hood, Whitewater and Chaik contain harbor seals, porpoises and sea lions. Seymour Canal, the island’s largest inlet, has one of the highest densities of nesting eagles in the world, and humpback whales often feed in the waterway. Sitka black-tailed deer are plentiful, and the streams choke with spawning salmon during August.
But more than anything else, Admiralty Island is known for its bears. The island has one of the highest populations of bears in Alaska, with an estimated 1500 to 1700 living there, enjoying a good life roaming the drainages for sedges, roots and berries much of the year, but feasting on salmon in August before settling into dens on the upper slopes to sleep away most of the winter.
Admiralty is a rugged island, with mountains that rise to 4650ft and covered by tundra and even permanent ice fields. Numerous lakes, rivers and open areas of muskeg break up the coastal rain forest of Sitka spruce and western hemlock.
You can fly in for a stay at a USFS cabin, spend time kayaking Seymour Inlet and Mitchell Bay or arrange a bear-watching trip to Pack Creek. The most unusual adventure on the island is the Cross Admiralty Island canoe route, a 32-mile paddle that spans the center of the island from the village of Angoon to Mole Harbor. Although the majority of the route consists of calm lakes connected by streams and portages, the 10-mile paddle from Angoon to Mitchell Bay is subject to strong tides that challenge even experienced paddlers.a

Ibrahim Jaffar introducing Albama

Azeem ibrahim says that if you are Obsessed with football and race – two things Southerners never stop discussing – this rectangular state has a complicated and fascinating heritage. It has been home to one of the world’s greatest musicians (Hank Williams Sr) and one of gridiron’s most legendary coaches (Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant). Jefferson Davis became the first president of the Confederacy here in 1861, the year the Civil War began. Nearly 100 years later, when an African American woman named Rosa Parks refused to budge on a bus, the American Civil Rights movement was galvanized.

Known for incredible acts of activism, Alabama and the actions that happened here in the 1950s and ’60s led the way for civil rights triumphs throughout the USA. All that struggle and strife came at a cost and, ever since, Alabama has had to conquer its reputation of rebels, segregation, discrimination and wayward politicians.
Alabama has a surprising diversity of landscapes, from foothills in the north and a gritty city in the middle to the subtropical Gulf Coast down south. Visitors come to see the heritage of antebellum architecture, to celebrate the country’s oldest Mardi Gras in Mobile, and to learn about the civil rights struggle. Every fall, the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn University Tigers continue one of college football’s greatest rivalries.

Ibrahim jaffar- Introducing Alaska

Big, beautiful and wildly bountiful. Far away, rurally isolated and very expensive. Alaska is a traveler’s dilemma. There are few places in the world with the grandeur and breathtaking beauty of Alaska. Not only is Mt McKinley the highest peak in North America, it’s also a stunning sight when you catch its alpenglow in Wonder Lake at Denali National Park. A 900lb brown bear catching a leaping salmon in its jaws is not something seen in Iowa, but a common apparition on Kodiak and Admiralty Island and in the scenic Katmai National Park, a hop-skip-jump from King Salmon or Homer. A 5-mile-wide glacier shedding chunks of ice the size of small cars is another unique Alaskan sight; for this quiet thrill, venture down to Juneau, gateway to Glacier Bay National Park, or to Prince William Sound, boasting the largest collection of tidewater glaciers.

ibrahim Jaffar introducing Albany

Despite its status as the center of legislative power in the state, Albany (or ‘Smallbany’ to jaded locals) remains a tourism backwater. It became New York State’s capital in 1797 because of its geographic centrality to local colonies and its strategic importance in the fur trade. The railroad reached town in 1851 and helped solidify the city as an important transportation crossroads and manufacturing center. Albany is an architecturally diverse city, from the ostentatiously modern to the classically Victorian, but several blocks from the city center stately government buildings give way to derelict and neglected streets and a general feeling of malaise