Be prepared to spend twice as much for food as you would in Seattle. A few items are obtainable in stores in Koliganek, Manokotak, New Stuyahok and Togiak.

All the villages are “damp” or “dry” with no alcoholic beverages sold, and the importation of alcohol is prohibited for some of the sites; this includes the importation for personal use. The extent of “dry” varies from village to village and year to year. Please visit the “Local Option Restrictions” page of the Alaska Public Safety Alcoholic Beverage Control Board at http://www.dps.state.ak.us/abc/restrictions.aspx for more information.

In Dillingham the major sources of groceries are the N&N Market, Bigfoot, and Alaska Commercial Company (A.C.). They will box and ship groceries to your site.

Costco, a membership grocer in Anchorage, has good prices, and you may shop in person or through mail order. Span Alaska out of Washington State ships case quantity items. Mr. Prime Beef will ship beef, pork and poultry meats to any site. Wal-Mart and Fred Meyer in Anchorage also provide “bush” mail services. Postage from Anchorage is affordable. If you have frozen items shipped, it will need to be sent airfreight, and it is best to be at your site when the boxes arrive.

Many people pack coolers with frozen food and ship them as luggage. Remember that the airlines only allow baggage weighing up to 50 lbs. Anything in excess of 50lbs. will constitute extra charges.

If you are planning to mail things from Anchorage, the airport post office is open longer hours (8:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.) Monday through Friday, (9:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.) Saturday and Sunday.

We recommend you plan to spend a couple days in Anchorage to shop for food items and mail or freight them to the village. Hotel rates are extremely expensive during the summer months so it is also recommended that you stay at a Bed & Breakfast. Your travel agent should be able to provide you with recommendations.