KAMCHATKA LAND OF MYSTERY AND MISTS - Page 9

Our intrepid helicopter crew led as the more energetic of us climbed to the rim and then went inside the crater of the 1st volcano. Although all the volcanoes we saw were dark gray, the crater was a fairly bright rusty red inside. I was happy wandering around admiring magnificent views and miniature flowers and trying to photograph everything in sight, from the volcanoes to the largest ant I ever saw. After quite a while, when all the botanists were happy with the surprisingly large number of plants they had found, all the climbers were happy with the volcano they had climbed and all the photographers were happy with the vast number of pictures they had taken of everybody and everything, we flew to another volcano. This is where we had our picnic lunch, complete with a fire built from wood carried with us. Very near our landing site, water from hot springs and melting snow had eroded a deep gully with a stream at the bottom and a waterfall on the far side.

One thing I especially liked came about by accident. Late one morning as Victor, Bob, George and I were returning to the Alyona Guest House after visiting the Esso Aboriginal Regional Museum {Pic. 27} [by far the best of the small, local museums we saw] and exploring the town, we were in no hurry, stopping to look at views and taking pictures and fell behind the main group. We were admiring one flower garden when a woman asked if we would like to see the inside of the house. We thought she lived there and said, "Yes". The house actually belonged the woman's friend, but when told she had visitors from America who liked her garden, Olga [not the Olga from Petropavlovsk] immediately invited us in. Olga, a lawyer, and her husband, a judge, had moved to Esso several years before because they felt it was a much better place to raise their 5 children than any city. The 4 older children are now grown and Olga's husband died 1-2 years. Since then, she has struggled tosupport herself and her 15 year old daughter,who is studying to be an English translator and plays the piano beautifully, by working part time for the local unemployment commission. The living space was 4 rooms, bath and entry; 1 side of a double house. {Pics. 28-30}

She invited us to return the next morning with the whole group.We were surprised with a refreshment table featuring a delicious herbal tea Olgahad blended from various leaves and berries she gathered locally and dried.The daughter played the piano for us but was too shy about her English to talk. Olga is justifiably proud of, and took pleasure in showing us, her large vegetable garden and greenhouse, {Pic. #31} which provide a wide variety of much needed fresh foods.

Saturday, 12 July, was First Fish Day, a tribal celebration of the salmon run, held in a beautiful location on the river bank outside Esso. The tribal council and Victor had worked to coordinate the dates of the festival and our trip so we could attend. Families came from long distances. Some men rode their horses for several days to get to the festival. Activities included wrestling,lassoing reindeer antlers being swung rapidly at the end of a rope, horse races, a salmon butchering contest, aboriginal dancing by the "Biserinka" ensemble, lots of food, visiting and gossiping with friends and relatives not seen for a long while. Everyone - old, young, aboriginal, Russian, American - had a great time! {Pic. #32}