Knowing that we would be in Ireland for five full days, I wanted to do some of our favorite activities, and find some new adventures for us. My newest favorite travel website is Trip Advisor, and across the board, everyone said that I needed to sign up for an hour with Killarney Falconry. I really couldn't believe that it would be much of anything, nor that anyone would actually trust any of us with their birds of prey. However, I've found Trip Advisor to be very accurate, so I contacted the business a couple of weeks before we came.
I really had no idea what to expect, and I must admit that for the price, and knowing the experience would only be an hour long, I was doubtful.
Holy smokes, I had no need to fear.
Believe it or not, we plugged actual latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates into our GPS to find our meeting place. And thank goodness because every set of directions I have received from any Irish person includes no periods or the strangest capitalization. I've tried to figure out things with the directions and a map, but there's a reason that writing rules have been set up! For example, here's just a bit of what I was sent to get where I needed to be:
Goodness. I could hardly even type that without fixing things, and my poor computer is telling me that there are a million things wrong with that paragraph :-)
No worries though. We did indeed find that Killarney Falconry vehicle, and our guide, Liam. Turns out, Liam is a new partner in the business with Geoffrey...the guy who sent me those crazy directions. Liam was a park ranger in Killarney National Park only a few years ago, but he contracted a bad case of Lyme disease and had to take 18 months off to recover. He became a partner with Geoffrey after he had recovered, and never returned to the park service. Kind of interesting. Plus, he had just returned from Iceland so we could compare notes :-)
Words can't honestly describe the whole experience. Liam took a Harris Hawk (indigenous to the American Southwest) out of the van, and Michel (short for Michelangelo) was squawking non-stop. It's a combination of being hungry (and ready to go for a walk to get food), being a baby (he's only nine months old) and calling for his brother, Donny (short for Donatello) who lives with him. We had all donned kangaroo leather gloves on our left hands and wellies on our feet. Within minutes, each of us had a chicken foot in our hands, and from out of nowhere (somewhere in the trees), Michel would swoop in, land our on hand and begin eating. It was INSANE! I thought some of us might be scared, but there was nothing to fear. He would eat his chicken, sit there for a moment, and then fly back to the nearest tree. It was amazing to see how he could see that chicken leg in our hand from such a far away distance (turns out, hawks can see a dime from across a football field, and they have infrared vision).
So we went on our "hawk walk", just walking along a country road in Killarney with our hawk, Michel. It felt surreal. All the while, Liam was telling us everything we wanted to know about hawks, and birds of prey in general.
That alone took an hour (although it felt like 15 minutes to me), and just when we thought we were done (and Michel was safely packed up in the van), Liam started bringing out OWLS. Yes, OWLS. Oh my goodness, I am speechless again.
They were so beautiful. And soft. And yes, they actually turn their heads all the way around. In fact, it was easy to take a selfie with Michel when he wasn't looking at the camera--just turn my body to work with where he was facing. But with an owl? They just keep turning their head to keep looking at what they were looking at, so the selfie proved a bit harder.
And the funniest moment? A big truck came barreling by, and my owl, George, got scared. Turns out, owls either poof themselves out to make themselves look bigger all around, or they scrunch up their bodies (and eyes) to make themselves look taller. Since Liam was taking a picture of us at that exact moment, George is captured forever, trying to look menacing to that big old mean truck (LOL!)
I promised Liam that I would leave him a review on Trip Advisor...which I will go and do now :-)
I really had no idea what to expect, and I must admit that for the price, and knowing the experience would only be an hour long, I was doubtful.
Holy smokes, I had no need to fear.
Believe it or not, we plugged actual latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates into our GPS to find our meeting place. And thank goodness because every set of directions I have received from any Irish person includes no periods or the strangest capitalization. I've tried to figure out things with the directions and a map, but there's a reason that writing rules have been set up! For example, here's just a bit of what I was sent to get where I needed to be:
Leaving The Priory Paddocks Head in for Killarney town center,muchross road, onto horse&carriage stand, around the horse&carriage stand taking a left for Main Street, through High Street, Rock Road onto Cleeny Roundabout take 2nd Exit for Tralee/Kerry Airport continue 1km approx taking 1st Turn Right for Kilcummin L3018, Over the railway bridge pass the "new Cemetery" Graveyard,through the crossroads continue 300mtrs approx to the bend on the road, take Right Turn for Paudie Fitzgerald Motorcycles/Cul De Sac, down the small hill over the little bridge and Park on the Left where you will see a Killarney Falconry vehicle.
Goodness. I could hardly even type that without fixing things, and my poor computer is telling me that there are a million things wrong with that paragraph :-)
No worries though. We did indeed find that Killarney Falconry vehicle, and our guide, Liam. Turns out, Liam is a new partner in the business with Geoffrey...the guy who sent me those crazy directions. Liam was a park ranger in Killarney National Park only a few years ago, but he contracted a bad case of Lyme disease and had to take 18 months off to recover. He became a partner with Geoffrey after he had recovered, and never returned to the park service. Kind of interesting. Plus, he had just returned from Iceland so we could compare notes :-)
Words can't honestly describe the whole experience. Liam took a Harris Hawk (indigenous to the American Southwest) out of the van, and Michel (short for Michelangelo) was squawking non-stop. It's a combination of being hungry (and ready to go for a walk to get food), being a baby (he's only nine months old) and calling for his brother, Donny (short for Donatello) who lives with him. We had all donned kangaroo leather gloves on our left hands and wellies on our feet. Within minutes, each of us had a chicken foot in our hands, and from out of nowhere (somewhere in the trees), Michel would swoop in, land our on hand and begin eating. It was INSANE! I thought some of us might be scared, but there was nothing to fear. He would eat his chicken, sit there for a moment, and then fly back to the nearest tree. It was amazing to see how he could see that chicken leg in our hand from such a far away distance (turns out, hawks can see a dime from across a football field, and they have infrared vision).
So we went on our "hawk walk", just walking along a country road in Killarney with our hawk, Michel. It felt surreal. All the while, Liam was telling us everything we wanted to know about hawks, and birds of prey in general.
They were so beautiful. And soft. And yes, they actually turn their heads all the way around. In fact, it was easy to take a selfie with Michel when he wasn't looking at the camera--just turn my body to work with where he was facing. But with an owl? They just keep turning their head to keep looking at what they were looking at, so the selfie proved a bit harder.
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| I love this picture of Allison because she got the first owl out of the van....and owls are her favorite animals. |
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| Glo with "Scruffy". He was the runt of the litter and would have been "left to die", but Liam got him and saved him. He doesn't like people all that much...which was just perfect for Glo who seems to attract ALL the animals who don't like people all that much. (*cough* Cherry....) |
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| Me with George. Isn't he so handsome? I honestly would have taken him home if I could have. |
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| Mark and Gandalf. A perfect match. |
And the funniest moment? A big truck came barreling by, and my owl, George, got scared. Turns out, owls either poof themselves out to make themselves look bigger all around, or they scrunch up their bodies (and eyes) to make themselves look taller. Since Liam was taking a picture of us at that exact moment, George is captured forever, trying to look menacing to that big old mean truck (LOL!)
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| The only reason this picture worked so perfectly (with all of the owls looking at the camera0 was because that truck was coming up behind Liam (who was taking the picture). Look at funny George, trying to look all TALL! |
Sounds like I need to search on Trip Advisor before we head to Scotland next month. This looks like such a neat experience!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like the coolest thing! Those owls are THE CUTEST! Also, the hats you and Glo are wearing are equally as adorable!
ReplyDelete