Sea Safari Specular

During a day trip to Dingle, a few of us decided to skip the group activity and do a sea safari instead and it was the BEST decision. We got all bundled up in these overalls and jackets and got on this little boat to travel in the water to see sea stacks, islands, and wildlife.

Unfortunately for us, we didn't see much wildlife on out safari. We saw some different species of birds but no water animals like dolphins or sharks. However, we did see a beach filled with one hundred seals and it was so cute! They were swimming in the shallow parts of the beach, and some came close to the boat but not close enough that they were right on top of us.

It was so cool being out on the water and being able to look up at these giant mountains and see the different carvings and shapes they took on. I have had the opportunity to look down and out on some amazing mountains but there is a different feeling associated with being underneath them and looking up. It really puts things into perspective since you can really see how tall the mountains are. I always joke that one day I am going to buy a house on a mountain in the middle of nowhere so every day when I wake up, I have a beautiful view of the world with no one to bother me. I sometimes see houses alone on mountains and I get a bit envious of the serenity and views they get to enjoy on the daily.

Being on the water made me feel free in a way. As we were speeding across the sea is helped me realize how big the world really is. Everyone has things going on in their life but in that moment all my problems became so small, so insignificant. All that mattered was the vast sea that surrounded me. It also brought me back to a poem written by The Peninsula written by Seamus Heaney. This poem references Irish landscape and encourages the ideas of place and memory. Since Dingle is a town on the coastline, I found a lot of similarities to the poem's message and the adventure I went on. Heaney also evokes a sense of identity and belonging to land - which is similar to the deep connection the citizens of Dingle feel about their town. Some line from the poem that really spoke to my time in Dingle are:

"The islanders must be dreamers.

It is not where they are, but who they are

that makes the perfect."

The isolation of the peninsula is like the isolation of the Dingle islands, and it speaks to a certain kind of importance and rootedness in the landscape as well as the people who live there. If you are ever in Dingle, I strongly encourage you to check out a sea tour. Even if you aren't able to see any wildlife other than the seals, I can almost guarantee you will have the greatest time on the water. It is truly an experience like no other.

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