A Springer spaniel puppy made the rounds of all 25 guests at the table pushing a friendly nose on our laps as a gentle reminder that the chef's dog was starving. Making the short drive to Connemara National Park we arrived just as Sean, the Park Ranger and his assistant from Galway College, majoring in environmental study, were starting a guided hike of the bog. They advised that everyone needed sturdy shoes. Glad we had dragged our hiking shoes to Ireland, we fell in step with the group. The Bog We followed them through the bog like ducklings.
Bogs are squishy, wet, lush and oozing water.
Once Connemara was a heavily forested area but long ago ancient man chopped down pretty much the last of the trees. Sean said it has only been in recent prosperous times that the Irish people could look to preserving their precious resources. As the blanket bog plants die they never completely decompose due to extraordinary amount of rain falling over 250 days a year, the highest precipitation in Ireland. Today was one of those rain days. While his assistant pointed out the four different kinds of heathers, I scrambled to pull on rain pants and jacket.