County Kerry Adventures, August/Sept. 2011

West Coast Scenes

Ireland is great in fall...no crowds, good weather and plenty of Guinness as always. From Ancient ring stones (left) to fresh seafood, colorful towns and Celtic music, there is lots to explore and experience. Aren't we lucky that we have a son and daughter-in-law living in Ballybunion? This time we explored the Beara and Iveragh Peninsulas using Kenmare as our headquarters. A highlight on the Beara Peninsula was the cable car journey of about 10 minutes over to Dursey Island. The car carries six people or one cow! There is a small village with perhaps 10 houses as well as acres of sheep and fine cattle. The one tarred road didn't have too much traffic, but then we were not walking during commute hour. The last cable car leaves the island at 4 p.m.

Son Glen found plenty of back roads for us to travel and we admired heather, St. Joseph's lilies and fuchsia bushes lining many of the roads. The sea is seldom far away on any West Coast road, so take time for a pub lunch of seafood chowder or mussels--always washed down with a Guinness, of course. Slainte!

New Adventures in Africa

Early September found us exploring wildlife and humanity in Zambia and Malawi. We spent time in the remarkable Wildlife Camp on the Luangwa River just outside of S. Luangwa National Park. For selected pictures of our adventures go to https://picasaweb.google.com/norma.wightman/SouthernAfrica2011 . Elephant, giraffe, zebra, numerous species of antelope and birds highlighted our visit. Big cats remained elusive. We loved the view across the river as the sun set and the hippo came out of the water for their evening grazing.

The elephants even came to visit us in our rustic chalet, one rubbing up against the roof thatch one night as it reached for succulent leaves in the tree next to our verandah. It was exciting to wake up to a large black sihouette visible through the netting. Then on our last morning in camp an elephant family visited the delicious bushes just behind our chalet (photo above).

The humanity story is less exciting. The women of Africa work harder than one can imagine. The load carried by this woman through the bush (photo above), miles from town, is indicative of how part of each day is spent gathering fuel and water. Deforestation is rampant in both Zambia and Malawi, as in much of Africa. As we drove to the park, sacks of charcoal awaited pick up along side the road. It is the only resource rural people can sell for a few kwatcha at the expense of the environment.