{"id":518,"date":"2007-12-11T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-12-11T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2007\/12\/an-ireland-vacation-safari\/"},"modified":"2018-03-24T15:12:50","modified_gmt":"2018-03-24T20:12:50","slug":"an-ireland-vacation-safari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2007\/12\/an-ireland-vacation-safari\/","title":{"rendered":"An Ireland vacation safari"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Nathan Borchelt\"View\"<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n

As someone who attempts to travel beyond the expected, I tend to cringe whenever dreaded travel clich\u00e9s creep into my in-country experiences. But my disdain for the predictable utterly dissolved after my Ireland vacation<\/a><\/strong> last October.<\/p>\n

And not just because of all the Guinness<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Well, actually the Guinness did play a part (to say nothing of Black Bush whiskey — neat, please), but really it was the people and the landscape that proved intoxicating during my weeklong foray in Connemara in western Ireland.<\/p>\n

Starting in the small port town of Clifden, I joined up with a motley crew of like-minded travelers and travel writers (as well as the folks from Connemara Safari), and we spent the better part of five days exploring the isles off the west coast.<\/p>\n

We spent the day hiking and cruising from island to island via fishing boat, then hiking some more before hitting the local pub (because there\u2019s always a local pub — even on an island with only 160 inhabitants), and crashing in small B&Bs.<\/p>\n

Throughout, the people were gregarious and easy-going, the Guinness like nectar from the Celtic gods, the smoked salmon and champagne pure heaven. And as the clich\u00e9s of the Emerald Isle go, each night evolved into sing-along celebrations, the color green has forever changed, and I simply have to get back.<\/p>\n

Related resources<\/strong><\/p>\n