Tag Archives: Coast

Cruising the Galapagos

18 Tuesday Sep 2018

Posted by in Ecuador

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

,

Boarding a ship in the Galapagos puts you in a different world. Your cabin is compact, the windows and decks reveal water everywhere, the ship rolls, and you rapidly become accustomed to constant movement underfoot. I didn’t get seasick, and enjoyed most of the motion. Being surrounded by water was a pleasure. Any free time we had could be spent staring at the sea, waiting for a dolphin to jump or a turtle’s head to emerge for a moment. In the distance whales spouted. While we were having lunch looking out over the water, a huge manta ray leapt into the air, somersaulted and slapped back into the water. I couldn’t believe it.

The biggest plus to our visit was having two of our children and one’s partner, along. They made it much more fun, and it was a pleasure to have time to sit together and chat. We tended to stick with the kids, wanting to soak up as much time with them as possible, so we may not have been as sociable as we should have. Other people on the trip all had interesting stories and I was always impressed when I got talking to one of the other passengers. Everyone had traveled different places, had interesting careers or hobbies. It was an excellent group.

We cruised the Gapalagos on a relatively large ship the Lindblad/National Geographic Islander, with room for 48 passengers. Perhaps because of the season, the boat only carried 29 passengers, so there was always extra space in the dining room, the lounge, and on deck. It was the best possible cruising arrangement. Larger ships like ours are able to travel further, and as a result we managed to visit both Isabela and Fernandina Islands, a trip that would take too long for a land based group to reach and might be too rough for a smaller vessel. In addition, we stopped at N. Seymour, Rabida, Santa Cruz, and San Cristobal. We did not stop at Floreana, however, the island with the famous mail box (You leave a letter and perhaps take one going to a destination near you to deliver/mail).

By far the best way to see the Galapagos is by cruise ship. Not only can you see more of the islands but you don’t have to pack and unpack every day or two. All your visits are already scheduled, permissions applied for, fees paid. These are significant advantages. With all the advantages we had, I still have to say that I don’t enjoy organized tours. Sometimes it’s the best way, or the only way, but overall it’s not my favorite mode of travel. I am not a cooperator. I dislike mandatory timetables, even when I benefit from them. That is, there were two or three time slots for activity each day. Often the early slot was a walk, which I usually skipped to sleep in. Each of the other time slots offered two activities, one in the water and the other a hike or boat ride. There was always something for those who didn’t want to get wet. Scheduling all this meant that people had to wake up and have breakfast at specific times. Some announcements over the ships PA system could be muted, but many were mandatory and broadcast in all cabins and public areas. I found it difficult to accept that these were necessary.

Our cabin was the best on the ship, large and comfortable, the best bed we’ve had away from home that I remember. We had great views over the bow of the ship and off to the starboard side, as well as seating areas and a desk. We had a real shower in our bathroom, not the mini shower that wets the entire bathroom. Staff straightened up three times a day! They left us chocolates every night–it was fabulous.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The pictures of our room show how good we had it. Though the other cabins were much smaller, the public spaces were very nice, and with a smaller than average number of passengers, there was plenty of space for people to spread out and avoid spending time in their cabins during the day.

In addition to snorkeling and bird-watching, I went stand-up paddleboarding and looked at a animals at the same time. Another day I went kayaking along the coast and saw graffiti that has been left behind over the years. (It’s not permitted today.) Add snorkeling and boat rides and we were busy all the time and we knew what to do, very important in the Galapagos. There are lots of rules, one of which is that you cannot visit most places outside the towns without a guide. Each tour receives permission to visit specific places at specific dates and times. There is no pulling in to a pretty white sand beach to explore, as large areas of the Galapagos are closed to anyone without a specific research permit. It’s limiting, but also protective. No plastic is allowed, even on cruise ships. I appreciated the effectiveness of the Galapagos rules and regulations on the beaches where there was no trash at all. Not any. In a full week I found one tiny knot of nylon rope (1/2″ clump), Jimmy found a Gatorade bottle, and we saw a floating apple core and two halves of an orange. That was it. I have not been on such clean shores in many years.

We had guides who were qualified at the highest level, all Ecuadoreans who speak English. One had a background as a biologist, the others completed a training course for Galapagos guides. I would have preferred that all our guides had a background in science, and I regretted that our ship didn’t have a guide interested in birds, but that wasn’t promised. Our entire staff, guides, crew and captain were Ecuadorean–not a single American or Brit apart from the passengers. Now and then passengers filled in a word when the guide couldn’t come up with the correct one, but they got the job done.

The staff was well trained and rapidly instructed us on how to do what was required. This included wearing life-jackets, how to board and disembark from small boats, where to clean swimming gear, how to make onboard purchases.

Although we had a wonderful trip, why don’t I want to go on another cruise, ever? Most are built-in aspects of cruising that I would prefer to avoid if I have a choice.

-The tour companies exaggerate, even Lindblad/Nat Geo. You’d think they wouldn’t need to. Our trip was billed as ten days and it lasted seven. They count every minute of travel as part of the tour, and it’s not.

-On the final day of the tour, the seventh actual day, we were awakened at 6 am, told to have our luggage outside our doors at 6:15, given breakfast at 7 am and required to completely vacate our rooms at 8 am. Our flight back to Guayaquil didn’t leave until after 11 am. Why were we given the shove? Another tour was arriving on the plane we were taking back to the mainland and they needed time to spruce the place up. Wait! We were still guests! (No, by then we were nothing but outgoing flotsam). The final hour was spent in the lounge where a long loop of Lindblad cruise ads played. This was a tour day? Seriously?

-The tour was very expensive. Yes, we got the best cabin, but even the least expensive cabin was costly. Yet every evening during the 30 minutes before dinner there was a “recap” that never reviewed the day. Rather, someone spent 20 minutes telling us about how much our donations to Lindblad/Nat Geo organizations are needed. We had to sit through this to get to the final ten minutes before dinner, when they told us the details of the next day’s events. These are not provided in advance, so that you don’t forget, and so that you attend the briefing. It was a frustrating experience. We weren’t the only ones with a newspaper or crossword.

-Tipping. I hate the common practices of cruise tipping. I’ll leave it at that.

-Begging. We were all asked to donate at least $500 to the Lindblad/Nat Geo good works funds.

-Food. My husband is a fabulous cook and I am utterly spoiled. Only rarely are meals out better than what I get at home.

Ending on the bright side, here are some of my favorite photos from the trip.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Someone who shares my opinion:

At Sea and Underwhelmed, by Joyce Wadler

Wonders of the Galapagos

14 Friday Sep 2018

Posted by in Ecuador, Galapagos

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, ,

What makes the Galapagos strange is not the variety of birds and animals. Most are familiar. Pelicans, cormorants, and other seabirds are in the air, sea lions and iguanas on the beach, turtles in the water. We’ve seen these before, on beaches and in documentaries about the Galapagos. It’s their indifference to us. We ride by sea lions in the zodiacs, and we swim with them. Young sea lions are curious about us and circle as we snorkel, they dive and approach, they hang upside down, even blowing bubbles in the faces of some lucky swimmers. The sea lions flop around in the surf while we stand in the water only a few feet away, they loaf on the rocks as we hike along the beach trails.

In the water with our snorkeling gear, penguins come in for a dip, though they zoom by so fast most people don’t see them. Cormorants and boobies dive for fish just a few feet away. One day we swam in an area where sea turtles were stacked four deep, just hanging in the water. The largest tropical fish I’ve ever seen swim around and below the turtles and sea lions. Some move like flocks of underwater sheep, grazing  across the bottom, lazily waving their bright yellow triangular tails. Visitors may not touch any of the animals, but animals may brush against visitors and that’s a bit unnerving. What happens when a turtle wipes their shell on your chest, or kicks you? Do we want to swim along with marine iguanas? The iguanas don’t dog paddle with their tiny claws, but propel themselves along with their tail, like a snake. On shore, they pile up against one another in huge clusters.

The water is breathtakingly cold and an hour is as much as anyone can take. Snorkelers put up a hand to be collected by the boatman. We swim toward the zodiac, the ladder is lowered. We hand in our fins and climb out of the water, get a towel and sit on the black rubber surface, enjoying the heat it has absorbed from the sun. We may sip from our metal water bottle as we wait for the others. When everyone is back on board and our life jackets are on, we head to the ship where we disembark one at a time, wearing our mesh bags of gear so that our hands are free to grab a hand or railing and haul ourselves onto the ship. On a side deck we begin to shed layers of protective gear, rinsing mask, snorkel, fins, wet suit, and then hanging it all up. More flights of stairs to our room to shed the rest of our layers in the hot shower. Once dried and dressed, the wet gear goes back down to the spinner to squeeze out as much water as possible. There may be more snorkeling in the afternoon and we want it to be as dry as possible. Once all the gear is settled, we go for the drinks and snacks set out near our entry point to the ship. The process has taken a while, giving each person time to contemplate what they’ve seen as they transition from sea to land.

For me, snorkeling is a high point, and also the most taxing activity. I wear all the layers I have available: bathing suit, leggings, full body thin wet suit, shorty neoprene wet suit, dive socks, headcover. I wish I had gloves–a complete water ninja. As soon as I get in the water, I make fists and tuck them under my arms to keep my fingers warm as long as possible. I move with my fins and keep my hands tucked in, taking in the view without uncoiling my arms, trying to keep warm as long as I can. Even with all my layers, a wet suit can only keep me warm for about thirty minutes. After that, I either grit my teeth and keep swimming, or I raise my hand and head back. I don’t mind waiting for the others, it is comfortable bobbing with the zodiac, watching for penguins and turtles. I can barely believe I am in the Galapagos Islands, as seen on TV. This week, my life could be narrated by David Attenborough. A segment of his documentary of the islands is shown each evening.

Lonesome George wannabe sticking out his long neck.

Even on land, this trip is a bit surreal—we are really here in the land of the giant tortoises. We walked by two of them on a hike and they blandly watched us as we stared at them, then turned and crept into the bushes when they’d had enough. At the Charles Darwin Research Center, we saw tortoises born this year, just a few inches across, and groups of larger and larger sizes. Tortoises are not released into the wild until they are around 25 years old. Lonesome George, the last surviving Pinta Island giant tortoise, has a place of honor at the center. Since his death in 2012 at the ripe old age of 100+ he is a taxidermied specimen, posed with his long neck extended as though nibbling at leaves on a bush. He left no offspring, but don’t worry. Another tortoise, SuperDiego, has 1000 offspring and counting. We visited tortoises in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island, where they roam very, very slowly around cattle pastures, or what look like pastures. Some have numbers that were carved into their shells years ago, before the development of RFID tagging used now. They ignore us as they munch methodically on grass, leaves, and branches. We tried not to step on them or trip over them. The land iguanas were not troubled by our group of visitors at all, and sat unmoving in the center of the path.  We tiptoed around them and continued on our way, circling the next one, the next one, and the next. The lack of fear in creatures, and the multitudes of them, is what makes the Galapagos remarkable. Birds, iguanas, sea lions, sea turtles, and tortoises permit us in their environment rather than hiding from us or running away. Anywhere else, they would be rare or extinct. In the Galapagos, the animals turn their cold eyes on humans and are unimpressed.

Tumbes to the north, Cabo Blanco to the south

24 Saturday Mar 2018

Posted by in Peru

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

We went to Tumbes because it was there. We said we were going to northern Peru and that’s as north as it gets. The Plaza de Armas has two elaborate monuments facing each other, a condor and llama on one side and a giant band shell filled with faces and figures on the other.  

I’m not sure I’ve seen another civic monument quite like it. We had lunch in Tumbes at Eduardo El Brujo, ceviche and fried calamari. The restaurant is upstairs around the corner from the Plaza de Armas. To make sure that clients get there, several people stand in the street indicating parking spaces and showing visitors where the door is located. We were interested to see that on the day we visited, most of the diners were locals having business lunches. No one drank alcohol with their meal, though having a beer or two with a seafood lunch is normal for vacationers.We stopped at Puerto Pizarro, the supposed site of Francisco Pizarro’s entry into Peru, the first step in a chain of events that devastated the Inca Empire. Lowlife Pizarro and his brothers melted down Inca treasures to make ingots. They had no sense of history, and no recognition of other cultures. We’ll never know for sure what they melted down, rumored to include an entire garden made of gold and silver.

Puerto Pizarro is the launching spot for tours of the Tumbes mangroves. We preferred to do our birdwatching from the shore and saw enough to keep us looking.

The next day we went south along the coast on an unpaved road that runs from Playa El Nuro past Cabo Blanco. We had been to lunch at the excellent Cabo Blanco restaurant with neighbors from Playa Los Organos, Darryl and Arla. They invited us over to chat on our first day in the area. They built a house about ten years ago and it now is surrounded by a lovely garden area. We decided to go to lunch together and they introduced us to the Cabo Blanco area. Our return trip was a chance to walk on the beaches. Some of the coast is very rugged, with natural terraces of rock extending up the hillsides. For now the shore is still largely empty and untamed, though that may change as new houses and hotels are being built all along the coast among the folds in the hills.

Our hats are now so big that there is hardly any room in a selfie for anything else. This week has been much hotter around Playa Los Organos than in Barranca. Hats keep the sun off and that’s what’s important. We could have continued down the beach indefinitely, collecting driftwood and seashells, cooling off now and then in the ocean.

 

 

 

Sicily: Landscape, Beach, Archaeology

10 Tuesday Oct 2017

Posted by in Catherine, Sicily

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Sicily—Week One

Having a guest really gets you up and going. With my sister Catherine we hit high spots of the region so that she could take away a sense of western Sicily. Three themes emerged, landscape, beaches, and archaeology.Sicily’s landscape is Dramatic.

Huge rocky hills emerge from the sea, yet just beyond are broad plains of wheat in one area, olives and grapes in the next, then the dark green citrus leaves of lemons and oranges. The nearest airport to us is Palermo, located on a huge bay called the “Golden Shell”. From there we visited Erice, a tiny town outside Trapani that is perched on a high hill. Its medieval streets are largely intact, and the view out over the coast and the Mediterranean is superb (see opening photo).

Catherine at Erice
Medieval streets

On another day we went to the opposite side of the Golden Shell to Punta Zafferano.

Punta Zafferano

We saw the sea up close, where an abandoned lighthouse presides over the rocky coast and the waves plunge, swirl and surge onto the rocks. The “road” narrows to the width of a cart. Fortunately we were able to make about a 37 point turn and park, so that we could have our picnic. Opened the trunk to find that the picnic was still on the table at home…. “Forced” to eat out, we asked help from a woman we saw in nearby Porticello, and she led us to the improbably named Gasthaus Grill, where we had excellent seafood pasta.

Other days led us to the beach. The beach closest to our house is San Marco, but based on the recommendation of our host, Stefania, we went to Aloha Beach a bit further along. It was good for a swim and had great beachcombing; we found beach glass and intriguing colorful pebbles and sandstone carved into fantastic shapes by the wind and tides. In tandem with visiting an archaeological site we stopped at the beach in Eraclea Minoa, and combined marveling at the chalk cliffs (2nd photo above) and beachcombing followed by drinks on the terrace of Garibaldi, a restaurant/bar/beach club still open at the end of the season. The high tide washes under the building so you feel that you are on a ship. So far we have been to three of the beaches along the Mediterranean coast. We look forward to seeing many more of them.

The other resource found everywhere in Sicily is archaeology, and in this Sicily shines. There are many Greek temples on the island, and other layers of history as well, from the Elymi, the earliest named people, to the Greeks, Punic (north African), Roman, Byzantine, Muslim, Viking, Norman, Angevin (French), Aragonese, and Bourbon (Spanish), We began with the biggest and most impressive archaeological site in Sicily, the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento. Great trivia: The Temple of Concordia at Agrigento is the source of the logo for UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Agrigento is the most visited site in Sicily but was not nearly as crowded as some of the places we visited near Naples. Called the Valley of the Temples, it has five Greek temples built along a ridge overlooking the sea. The Temple of Concordia is most complete, and the others range from nearly complete to a heap of column fragments. A huge wall along the ridge was honeycombed with tombs carved at a later time.These are some of the innumerable tombs that were carved out of the old city walls. Many were so full of tombs that sections collapsed. These tombs are all shapes, from small boxes to large domes.

Temple of Concord

The Temple of Concord is the best preserved, but the other temples are imposing.

Temple of Hera, AgrigentoTemple of the Dioscuri

Temple of Hercules

There were piles of broken columns, and broken segments with deep U-shaped grooves in them. I don’t know what they could have been used for.

We also visited the site of Heraclea Minoa, a huge valley covered by an ancient city. Most of the site remains unexcavated, and here you see the competition for attention among archaeological sites. Agrigento is the most visited archaeological site in Sicily and who can match five Greek temples? Heraclea Minoa is extensive but not as attention getting as Agrigento. It has far fewer visitors as a result and is also not as well kept up.

The cover over the amphitheater at Heraclea Minoa reminds me of a scene from a James Bond movie.

For the moment, these are the three axes of Sicily: landscape, beaches, archaeology. We’ll see what happens next week.

 

Riding the ferry along the Amalfi Coast to Capri

28 Thursday Sep 2017

Posted by in Salerno

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

I’ve been lax on posting lately and will now catch up by posting a few pictures from some of the places we’ve enjoyed this month. Taking the ferry along the coast gave us a great look at Amalfi and Positano from the water. The ferry stops at both places on its way to Capri.

Amalfi

Marina Piccola, Capri

We had a glorious day in Capri. Now that it’s September, the weather was perfect. (Yes, there were a thousand people there. Welcome to Capri, a “top ten” sight in Italy. 4 million people a year visit this tiny island.)

 

 

 

We stopped for coffee when we first arrived on Capri and sat sipping while we looked out over the busy harbor at Marina Grande. Before we left, we stopped for a spritz at one of the cafes off the Piazzetta. Again, we watched the many tourists and general bustle. Having read a few restaurant reviews before going out there, we decided to have a picnic lunch.

People who have trouble walking up and down a lot of steps may not enjoy the Amalfi coast, but on Capri, there is a walk from the top of the funicular in the Piazzetta of Capri out to the Belvedere Tragara that doesn’t include a lot of steps. The view over the rocks “I Faraglione” is stunning and there are some patches of light blue water when the bottom is sandy that are straight out of the Blue Grotto. There are benches here and there so you can stop and savor the view and picnic.

We did not visit the Blue Grotto while on Capri. This wasn’t restraint on our part, it was closed. The entrance is only accessible at low tide with calm seas. Later, I heard people saying that the Blue Grotto was very crowded and there was a long wait. From what I’ve read the water is clear blue illuminated from below and objects immersed in the water look silvery or ghostly. It sounds like a magical place even with many other visitors.

Practicalities of visiting Capri

It takes a full day to visit Capri whether you start from Naples, Sorrento or Salerno. Our ferry left at 8:40 am and we returned to the landing about 6 pm. We took the ferry from Salerno, 1.5-2 hour trip depending on conditions, €26 per person plus fees. The funicular from the ferry landing at Marina Grande, Capri, to the town center was very crowded (€2 per person each way), but better than walking. There are also buses, just as crowded. All vehicles on Capri are mini-sized. High end shopping is a serious activity on Capri. Every designer you’ve ever heard of has a store there and there are quite a few fine jewelry and watch stores on the streets radiating out from the Piazzetta.

Boat trips around the island start at €18 per person in an open boat with about 25 people, to private charters at €250 and up per boat that can include a stop for swimming. All tours include a stop at the Blue Grotto if it is open. The Blue Grotto is €14 per person in a small rowboat.

There are walks available on Capri if you stay longer than one day and have good stair-climbing ability. The island has a few tiny coves where you can rent lounges and umbrellas and take a swim. Remember that when Italians say “beach” they don’t mean sand they mean sunbathing. If you stay longer than one day, you might visit the second town on Capri, Anacapri, a short bus ride from the ferry landing.

We returned on the ferry, enjoying one last view of Positano and Amalfi, like tidepools caught on the rocky coast.

Positano

 

Sorrento

10 Sunday Sep 2017

Posted by in Salerno

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Need I say anything?We ate lunch looking over the Bay of Naples, Vesuvius in the background, a six-masted cruise ship moored nearby and a ferry to Capri at the landing. Sorrento is charming for a stroll, shopping and lunch.

Houses dangle from the cliffs.
Italians don’t go to the beach, there isn’t any. You can still swim and sunbathe.

We had a lovely day. We did drive to Sorrento from Salerno, parking in the first garage we came to.

Cyclists who ride in the center.
Traffic.
Roads carved into the hillside.

Driving hazards include cyclists who ride in the center of the road, heavy traffic, and narrow roads carved into steep hillsides. it’s not a place where you can cruise. Walking is the solution. You will be offered free tastes of limoncello so many times in a day that walking might be mandatory. There is lemon-themed everything in Sorrento.

 

 

I had not seen majolica-covered domes on the top of churches before.

 

 

 

Recipe of the Day

Seafood is on the menu when in Sorrento, and all of Italy. Here’s Jonathan’s latest. It was delicious.

Neopolitan Dish of the Day: Fish in Crazy Water

Good to know about Sorrento

Trains and buses serve Sorrento, and distances are not great. There are great walks outside of town and out onto the tip of the Sorrento Peninsula. Everything is steep.

That said, the ads that suggest you base your visit to Pompeii etc. in Sorrento are insane as far as I can see. You would be in traffic every day for every trip in and out of town. If you were to visit Sorrento, Amalfi and their neighbors with Capri and Ischia thrown in, and nowhere else, you could stick to ferries and avoid traffic, but anything toward Naples means traffic. Ferry rates are €6-20 each way depending on where you are going. If you’re not interested in archaeology, it could work, though this is not for us.

We found local parking for €2 per hour next to a supermarket and intended to do some shopping on the way home (70 minutes of complimentary parking, too). Then we discovered that the grocery store is closed from 12:30 to 5 pm. This is a holiday town.

The Wild Atlantic Way

14 Monday Aug 2017

Posted by in Ireland

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Promoting the tourist potential of the west coast of Ireland is the Wild Atlantic Way, an initiative started in 2014 that marks 2500 km of roads, from Cork on the south to Malin Head, the northern tip of the country. I, for one, am not convinced that the west coast of Ireland needed to be flogged as a destination. It has a substantial reputation already. The Wild Atlantic Way does have a memorable stylized wave logo (vvvv). The route includes many scenic roads like the Slea Head Drive outside Dingle, and Conor Pass.

Along Slea Head Drive
Conor Pass

There are also lots of beaches. Since we love beach combing, we visited every beach on the Dingle Peninsula. Then we started north. This is Fenit Beach, northwest of Tralee.

It’s not all beaches. The arrows pointing down small country roads may encourage visitors to go just a bit further. We decided to find the ruins of Wardtown Castle. I later read that it’s the ruin of one of the first Palladian structures in Ireland.

Wardstown House

Sadly, it burned down and not much is left. It was a good ruin, in any case.We’ve followed the WAW around half of the Ring of Kerry, all around the Dingle Peninsula to Banna Beach in north Kerry. We went to Tarbert, on to Limerick, the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren, and into Galway. We haven’t driven every kilometer of the route, but now we are extending our reach north from Sligo to the Slieve Lieg and beyond. Sometimes we’ve visited an area for one of the sights and been captivated by the scenery instead. That’s what happened at the “Ghost Village of Port”. The ruins are nothing special but the views are wonderful. There is another beach and another cliff around every corner.

We’ve seen birds on land and seabirds on the rocks. We’ve watched ships sailing by, sailboats tacking back and forth. We’re on the lookout for whales, but haven’t seen any yet. (Whale Watch Ireland 2017 is this coming weekend. I hope the whales will come out for it.) We pass ruins everywhere, from a 20th century Coast Guard station to neolithic ring fort and dolmen (tombs).

For anyone traveling with children, there is a Wild Atlantic Way passport you can buy and then get a stamp in the local post office of every participating town. If you get 20 stamps, they will send you a prize. I can imagine kids watching the map like little hawks to avoid missing any stamps. It could be fun.

An Idyllic month ends

01 Tuesday Aug 2017

Posted by in Ireland

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

Colorful storefronts in Cloghane

I have learned a few things about Ireland in our first month here. Most people are friendly and everyone seems glad to be here. People often refer to our surroundings as “god’s own country.” There are many signs of prosperity,  even a construction crane in Dingle. Restored houses dot the peninsula, usually with well kept gardens. There are abandoned stone houses, but few abandoned storefronts in town, and no charity shops.

Seals near Cloghane

I’ve learned that life in Ireland can be very different even for people of the same age. I spoke to a young woman cutting hair. She was just back from some months working in Melbourne and plans to return to travel. We talked about what Australia was like and what she saw while she was there. New Zealand was one of her favorite stops along the way. She returned to Dingle when she heard there was a job opening–she has an excellent family grapevine in the area.

I spoke to another woman of about the same age who said she was not from the area. I asked where and she said, “North Kerry.” That means the other side of Tralee, maybe an hour’s drive away. She and her husband moved to Dingle for his job. They have two small children. Her friends and family look at Dingle as terribly remote because of the narrow roads. Tourists singing the praises of Dingle don’t impress her at all. “Why do you live there?” ask her family. She said they don’t see her family much, often three weeks between visits. I couldn’t tell her how close to her family that seems to me, since I see my family twice a year, maybe three times. She would think me heartless.

We’ve walked all the beaches on the Dingle Peninsula that are more than a few meters long.

Coumeenoole Beach

Our beachcombing has been a pleasure and we’ve enjoyed the wind and tides. Though Dingle is very popular as a vacation spot and the town is full of visitors, we often had the beaches to ourselves.

On the right is Coumeenoole beach, where the movie Ryan’s Daughter was filmed. That was in 1970, but apparently people still visit to see the location. Much of the coast is rocky and steep, another reason that in a month we managed to visit all the beaches.

Brandon Point

There are spectacular clifftop walks. We spent a morning at Brandon Point, looking out over the Atlantic. “Next stop, Boston,” joked a hiker we chatted with in the parking area.

Overlooking the sea at Brandon point are abandoned houses that may date back as far as the famines that began in 1841.

Archaeological sites are thick on the ground. Since everything is built of stone, my colleagues must tear their hair out trying to figure out which comes first. Everything from the Neolithic (8000 yrs ago or so) to the early 20th century is built of the same stone. There weren’t a lot of household goods, so there aren’t a lot of castoffs and broken pieces lying around. The pottery pieces that archaeologists rely upon to tell the age of a settlement are long gone or buried. We visited only a fraction of the 1200 or so archaeological sites on the peninsula, but we have enjoyed the fact that there is often an informational sign on sites even when they are not marked on maps. Many sites are melting into the fields, but how many stone enclosures can a person visit? How many can be restored when they all look alike?On Brandon Point, peat is still cut for fuel. The hillside is scarred from digging and someone had just set aside their tools, a peculiar peat shovel and a fork used to spread the peat blocks to dry.

In addition to the abandoned farmsteads and peat-cutting on Brandon Point, we’ve seen Ogham Stones, early Christian crosses, monastic settlements, beehive huts and many historic houses that collapsed in place after the famines drove people away. When the population of Kerry was over 293,000 in 1841, there were tiny farms everywhere. In 2016 the population of Kerry was 147,500. I have trouble imagining double the present population with no automobiles.

We will miss the lovely view from our living room, yet we are on to another adventure. We head to Bundoran, a summer holiday town on the west coast of Ireland in the north, nearer to Belfast than to Dublin.

 

 

Summer came on Monday–at Great Blasket Island

22 Saturday Jul 2017

Posted by in Ireland, Paula

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

The boatman made the quip as we left, “Tell them this year summer came on Monday!” That’s because the weather is never forecast to be as fine as it was on our trip out to Great Blasket Island last Monday. The sun shone all day long. The boat ride from Dunquin to Great Blasket was smooth and the 35 passengers smiled and chatted all the way.Great Blasket Island was an independent community lived there from early in the 19th century until Nov. 17, 1953. They were completely Irish speaking, cut off from the mainland as they were. The distance is short, but the water can be rough, and boats were the traditional naomhog, or currach, rowboats framed of wood and covered with tarred cloth.

As the Irish language fell into disuse in the 19th century, linguists and writers discovered the community on Great Blasket and visited to study the language or expand their proficiency. Visitors such as the poet Robin Flower encouraged the islanders to write about their lives and several did just that. The strong tradition of storytelling among people who have to entertain themselves on long winter evenings seems to have eased the transition to writing stories in a book. Best known are: An tOileánach (The Islandman) by Tomás Ó Criomhthain, Peig by Peig Sayers and Fiche Blian ag Fás (Twenty Years A-Growing) by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin. The remains of each author’s house is marked on the visitors map.

Most houses lie in ruins today, though one was being renovated during our visit. That’s puzzling because there’s only seasonal ferry service, no central water source, no electricity, no store, all part of the reason the island was evacuated years ago. We looked at the ruined community and hiked up the spine of the island. At the peak of the island, I could see the faint outline of  the Skellig Islands on the horizon to the south.

Blasket harbor–tiny
At the harbor

We waited for our trip home just above the tiny boat landing on Blasket. Arriving at Dunquin we struggled up the steep incline from the beach.                                               (This is an internet photo–see the upturned naomhog boats in the lowest bend of the ramp.)

An Epic Day: Star Wars and Puffins in the Skellig Islands

15 Saturday Jul 2017

Posted by in Ireland, Paula

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

Had my sister Paula not read in her guide book about an offshore rock group with an ancient monastery at the top, we might never have visited the Skellig Islands. We considered hiking to the top of the 600+ steps to see the domed stone cells that may date back to 600 AD. If that weren’t enticing enough, the site appears at the end of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and in the trailer for the next Star Wars movie.

Skellig Michael in the trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi

It’s an intimidating place. 12 km off shore, a jagged triangle juts from the water. After reading about landing, where there is no dock and heaving seas may toss you in or out of the boat, we decided against it (Tours are sold out for the entire season, too). We decided to take a ride around both islands to see the steep steps and birdwatch. It was a wonderful tour!

We had total weather karma. The day dawned sunny for the first time since we arrived in Ireland and stayed sunny and warm ALL DAY. It took us just over two hours to drive from our house in Dingle to Port Magee, mostly along the Ring of Kerry drive, so you could say we were multi-tasking in the tourism department. Our boat left at 11:45 am and we were asked to arrive at the dock by 11:30 am. A friendly young man named Brendan, dressed in a dirty tshirt and jeans strolled out and ticked our names off a list on his phone. He led us to the boat where there were 12 outward facing seats hung with life jackets. Dressed, we took off, heading straight out to sea for 45 min. The islands, two triangular chunks of rock, stick up out of the sea and are easily visible from shore. Cliffs and hills line the coast on the way out to sea from Port Magee, then Puffin Island off to the south, then sea birds zoom alongside the boat or bob on the water. (What are they doing, just hanging out in the middle of the ocean?) We saw gannets and then puffins, the world’s cutest birds.

7.12.17 Skellig Islands-0287.12.17 Skellig Islands-027crMore steps wind up the face of the rock. Made of slabs of the island rock, it’s a long hike. The path on the right is not used today, though rock climbers can access the top this way. The safety video that is recommended for people considering a landing on Skellig Michael shows what the climb looks like in wet weather. (As I write this, the fog is so thick that we can see nothing beyond the front yard of our house. I wonder whether the Skellig boats will go out today.) The safety video shows the stone steps.

Skellig Islands safety video

One reason to make the climb to the top is the archaeological site, a tiny monastery of stone beehive huts enclosed by a wall that was in use at various times from the 8th century until the 13th century. Monks rowed out to the island, climbed to the tiny settlement and lived their hermit existence. The island was finally abandoned when the climate began to shift toward colder weather after 1300. There are beautiful views of the archaeological site on the Heritage Ireland website.

Skellig Michael history and photos

From Skellig Michael we went on to Little Skellig, a bird sanctuary. The entire surface of the island is alive with birds. This is home to one of the largest gannet colonies anywhere.Up close, you see the white area is all birds, calling, flying, wriggling and doing what birds do. The majority of the birds are gannets, but in the lowest most sheltered crevices we could see puffins.So many birds, so little time.

From Little Skellig, we sailed back to Port Magee, delighted by our brilliant day.