A Scottish sojourn

My tour of the west coast of Scotland and the islands was a wonderful experience. As a small group of fifteen from 7 different countries we set out from Edinburgh on a five day tour of the islands. Myself and two others then joined another tour at Spean Bridge and headed to the Orkney Islands.

 

The highlight of my tour was seeing the puffin birds on Staffa Island. We travelled by ferry to Mull Island then a further ferry to Iona Island and by this time the weather had set in. Very windy and very wet. For the optional boat trip to Staffa Island the skipper warned us it would be very very rough and this was in a much much smaller boat. Some decided to spend the day on Iona but I somehow put my faith in the skipper and I thought I could do it. The skipper could not guarantee we would be able to land.

But land we did although it was very rough and coming into to the island my photos were often the side of the boat or people as the boat rolled. We could walk across basalt rocks to visit the cave immortalised by Mendelssohn in his Hebridean Overture "Fingal's Cave". Once again we were warned this was very dangerous as the salt water and rain together made the path very slippery.

 

With my history I opted out of this and climbed up a steep stairway to walk along the cliff tops to see the puffins. The sea gulls in this part of the world are scared of people, so once they left the puffins came in. The puffins like people and came very close. I just wished I could see better through the rain on my glasses and camera and the wind blowing. But I did see them and took many photos, some of which are quite clear. I had hoped to see puffins again on the Orkney Islands but it is rare in that part of the world. They fly in from the Baltic Sea to nest and are only around for a few weeks.

 

I did however enjoy driving through Glen Coe and onto the Isle of Skye. On the Orkney Islands we visited many archeological digs which were fascinating, some only being discovered in the 1990's.

Altogether we saw some spectacular scenery of the rugged part of Scotland, both mountains and seascapes. We visited villages, castles and took walks in beautiful glens, forests and a spectacular gorge. We savoured fresh seafood and breathed the clean air. What more can you ask for?

 

Scotland was brimming with tourists, not a vacancy to be seen. All my hosts were friendly and gave great service. All in all it was a wonderful wee taste of bonnie Scotland.