Vitamin N-ature

Obviously beautiful and rich with greenery. The once forest-covered island is now a patchwork of farms. The Irish are making an effort to conserve the few forests and natural land that’s left. Residents are even encouraging farmers to open portions of their land for public access. This will provide space for outdoor activities such as hiking.

It is proven that spending more time outdoors and in nature boosts the serotonin, endorphin and dopamine hormones. Hopefully there’ll also be efforts made to rehabilitate some of the landscape back to its former wild self. The few animals I saw would certainly benefit from it (the island once had wolves and bears which are no longer).

There is still plenty opportunity to see nature and some natural landscape. The day tours such as the Small-Group Wicklow, Powerscourt and Glendalough Day Tour from Dublin and Ring of Kerry Day Tour from Cork : Including Killarney National Park (Affiliated Links) provide the chance to see the more wild landscapes.

The highlight of my Irish stay was when I awoke at 3 am to a sound outside. There, outside my window was a fox! I noticed during my stay in Ireland, that one does not normally come across wild animals, so this was exciting. And, what made this even more special was the fox acknowledged me at the window and proceeded to gaze back in return for a little while.