Today we ventured to the Cliffs of Moher, about two hours from where we are staying in Galway. The cliffs themselves are situated in the southwester region of Ireland in the County Clare. What makes these cliffs famous, other than the sheer 600 ft drop from the top into the Atlantic, is the Burren landscape throughout. Burren comes from the Irish word "Boireann" which means rocky place, an apt name for this place. Now in Colorado, the natural landscape typically looks like one of two things: prairie fields with ponds, or red dirt with scarce trees and shrubs clinging for dear life. That as contrasted to the Burren landscape here, which I could best describe as to look like sheets of rock growing out of a lush green cliff. Like the grass on this cliff covered almost every inch of the landscape with bits of rock sticking out of the ground, which was very odd to see compared to my native land.
The Cliffs of Moher are actually part of the Burren national park area. The total area of this park covers 1500 hectares of land. I was a little curious as to why someone would institute a national park and preservation area for rocks, however this became clear after visiting the cliffs. The area is full of limestone and various unique grasslands. After seeing the cliffs, and the few remaining stone pillar areas such as O'Brien's tower.
The entire span of the cliff was simply massive. We began where the bus dropped us off at, next to the visitor centre which was constructed into the side of the cliff. The Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience was built this way intending to minimize the amount that it would take away from the natural landscape, and also minimizes its impact on the environment by using solar energy, geothermal heating and cooling, as well as water recycling. The visitor centre contained a gift shop, a cafe, as well as a walk-through mini museum that gave some good information on the geology and local fauna that could be found by the cliffside as well as in the water below.
The total cliffside area that we traveled was around 8 km. We began by heading towards O'Brien's tower, an 1835 tower built by a descendant of Brian Boru for tourism purposes, which was maybe a kilometer from the visitor center. Then we traveled south along the cliffside towards Hags Head, the southern tip which has a similar but older tower. This was the larger portion of the trek across the cliffside, and took about and hour or so to get there (factoring in time for way too many pictures).
The Cliffs of Moher are actually part of the Burren national park area. The total area of this park covers 1500 hectares of land. I was a little curious as to why someone would institute a national park and preservation area for rocks, however this became clear after visiting the cliffs. The area is full of limestone and various unique grasslands. After seeing the cliffs, and the few remaining stone pillar areas such as O'Brien's tower.
The entire span of the cliff was simply massive. We began where the bus dropped us off at, next to the visitor centre which was constructed into the side of the cliff. The Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience was built this way intending to minimize the amount that it would take away from the natural landscape, and also minimizes its impact on the environment by using solar energy, geothermal heating and cooling, as well as water recycling. The visitor centre contained a gift shop, a cafe, as well as a walk-through mini museum that gave some good information on the geology and local fauna that could be found by the cliffside as well as in the water below.
The total cliffside area that we traveled was around 8 km. We began by heading towards O'Brien's tower, an 1835 tower built by a descendant of Brian Boru for tourism purposes, which was maybe a kilometer from the visitor center. Then we traveled south along the cliffside towards Hags Head, the southern tip which has a similar but older tower. This was the larger portion of the trek across the cliffside, and took about and hour or so to get there (factoring in time for way too many pictures).
For the most part, a very simple but very beautiful day. Tomorrow we will be heading out to Dingle, and later to the Blasket Islands to get a first hand look at them.