Aran Islands, Cliffs of Moher
We started out this spectacular day landing on the island of Inishmore, the largest of the three Aran Islands. The Zodiac ride into the island's harbor village Kilronan was breezy and a bit bumpy, but the skies were perfectly (if not abnormally) clear as we set foot onto this Irish island of stone, rock, boulders, and more stone. The first half of the group hopped onto a bus that took them to a hiking path leading up to the fortress of Dun Aonghasa. This giant promontory fort is perched on top of a cliff 300' high and dates back to the Bronze Age. The fortress has four concentric stone walls and features protection by a chevaux de frise, a ring of very sharp, pointed stone stakes.
The other half of the group climbed into a caravan of three smaller coaches for a guided, bouncy ride across the island. The entire 14 kilometer island is crisscrossed and divided into small farming and grazing plots by low walls of limestone rocks. As we passed along from one green plot to the next, we could see within these walls various cattle, horses, small potato fields, and also many beautiful homes - some still with roofs of traditional thatch. We learned that good soil is a rarity on this rocky island, so the inhabitants have found ways to grow their crops by harvesting sand and seaweed from off the coasts to create expansive shoreline plots for agriculture.
After a lunch back aboard the ship, we found ourselves parked beneath the dramatic Cliffs of Moher along Ireland's western coast. The winds were calm and the sun was shining, so we jumped back into the Zodiacs for a rare tour from directly beneath these towering green and black cliffs. The cliffs themselves are made of black shale and sandstone and loom some 200 meters above the water below. As we meandered directly beneath these massive walls, we could peer up and see the perches of puffins, kittiwakes, guillemots, and other sea birds along the sheltered ledges. There were many birds floating in the water around us, and it was such a treat to see the little characters lined up along the rock walls above the water, too. It was fun to see them spring from their perches all together in one giant swoop, while others, not unlike the penguins of the Antarctic, would take turns leaping off their ledge to splash into the water just below. The verdant walls were spectacular as we passed by towers and arches and dark caves along the cliff sides and watched as the surging waves crashed at their feet. It was hard to pull ourselves away from such a magical place, but at last we climbed back aboard the National Geographic Endeavour, primed and ready for our next location in Ireland to venture.
We started out this spectacular day landing on the island of Inishmore, the largest of the three Aran Islands. The Zodiac ride into the island's harbor village Kilronan was breezy and a bit bumpy, but the skies were perfectly (if not abnormally) clear as we set foot onto this Irish island of stone, rock, boulders, and more stone. The first half of the group hopped onto a bus that took them to a hiking path leading up to the fortress of Dun Aonghasa. This giant promontory fort is perched on top of a cliff 300' high and dates back to the Bronze Age. The fortress has four concentric stone walls and features protection by a chevaux de frise, a ring of very sharp, pointed stone stakes.
The other half of the group climbed into a caravan of three smaller coaches for a guided, bouncy ride across the island. The entire 14 kilometer island is crisscrossed and divided into small farming and grazing plots by low walls of limestone rocks. As we passed along from one green plot to the next, we could see within these walls various cattle, horses, small potato fields, and also many beautiful homes - some still with roofs of traditional thatch. We learned that good soil is a rarity on this rocky island, so the inhabitants have found ways to grow their crops by harvesting sand and seaweed from off the coasts to create expansive shoreline plots for agriculture.
After a lunch back aboard the ship, we found ourselves parked beneath the dramatic Cliffs of Moher along Ireland's western coast. The winds were calm and the sun was shining, so we jumped back into the Zodiacs for a rare tour from directly beneath these towering green and black cliffs. The cliffs themselves are made of black shale and sandstone and loom some 200 meters above the water below. As we meandered directly beneath these massive walls, we could peer up and see the perches of puffins, kittiwakes, guillemots, and other sea birds along the sheltered ledges. There were many birds floating in the water around us, and it was such a treat to see the little characters lined up along the rock walls above the water, too. It was fun to see them spring from their perches all together in one giant swoop, while others, not unlike the penguins of the Antarctic, would take turns leaping off their ledge to splash into the water just below. The verdant walls were spectacular as we passed by towers and arches and dark caves along the cliff sides and watched as the surging waves crashed at their feet. It was hard to pull ourselves away from such a magical place, but at last we climbed back aboard the National Geographic Endeavour, primed and ready for our next location in Ireland to venture.
