If Oban, Scotland, is known for anything, it is whisky. If it were Ireland, whisky would be spelled with an “e” and it would look like this: whiskey. But it’s not, so no hate mail. Oban, however, is more than just the distillery bearing its name. It is a vibrant community with a connection to the sea and fisheries that are found here. It is also a bustling tourist town and has many sites to see and participate in.
Steve Morello has had a long and colorful career in the natural history world. Born in New Jersey, he was lucky to be able to summer on the shores of Cape Cod. Whether it was exploring the tidal pools, snorkeling along the beach, or hiking in the dun...
Today we entered the famous Loch Ness, home of Nessie! We then visited the hallowed Scots battle ground of Culloden. On April 16, 1746, Bonnie Prince Charlie and his highland troops fought a courageous but doomed battle against the well-armed troops under the Duke of Cumberland, the son of King George II. Fifteen thousand highlanders were killed, while the English lost 300. Culloden Moor was soddened from a recent rain, which greatly impeded the highland troops and their traditional form of warfare. Additionally, they were massively outgunned by the English artillery. Bonnie Prince Charlie managed to escape despite a £30,000 bounty on his head, and he returned to France. This ended the Jacobite efforts to return the throne to the rightful Stuart heirs. The Culloden Museum was excellent and provided an overview of the tragic event that took place there. We next visited the Bronze age site of Clava Cairns. There circular stone grave sites, passage graves, and standing stone aligned to the solstice are 4,500 years-old and part of the megalithic culture from Malta to Shetland. They have been used by the local population for ritual purposes and infrequent burials until 700 CE.
Early this morning, Lauren, our resident Certified Photographic Instructor, took a group out for a pre-breakfast walk along the coast to catch the early light and found mallard ducks in number. Quack! Meanwhile, we prepared to depart and move along the system of locks called the Jacobs Ladder, the largest system of locks in the UK at 8 in 64 metres. Beautiful, scenic, and 200-years-old, this magnificent industrial complex moves thousands of gallons of water almost in silence. As we sailed, Ben Nevis stood to our south, the occasional whisp of cloud almost, but not quite, shrouding the summit of the mountain. The day passed with a pace we enjoyed immensely. Slowly, through lock after lock and freshwater loch after freshwater loch. Eventually, we ended up within striking distance of Fort Augustus at the southern end of Loch Ness where we cycled and hiked in order to stretch our legs before our day of travel tomorrow to Inverness.
During the course of a rather rainy morning, Lord of the Glens took a route to the east and through the Corran Gap, home to one of the shortest ferry journeys in the UK. The pretty white houses that are so characterful of this part of the world scattered the shoreline and local food vendors scattered the carparks offering delicious smells as we passed. Our afternoon between showers was splendid. An intrepid group of long walkers hiked through the bracken and bog myrtle to see a view of the famous viaduct from on high, while others went straight to the monument that features so strongly in the history of this part of the world, commemorating the point at which Bonnie Prince Charlie came ashore in 1745. An all-important ice cream was required to cool us off before the next soft rains eased us on our way to the ship. Photos by Gerard Baker and Emma Ridley
