(A) Our good luck seems to have run out, weather-wise. It was either threatening to rain or actually raining all day, and that’s the forecast for the rest of our time here. But did that stop us from making one more trip to the Highlands? NO! And the main reason for that is the fact that I needed to visit my land and make sure everything was okay.
Did you know that I own land in Scotland? Well, I do. Kim bought me one square foot of conservation land near Glencoe for my birthday last year, and that makes me Laird Andrew. We visited my plot of land, and I’m happy to report that all is well.
The surrounding land is really beautiful, and there’s a bunch of conservation work being done, including a Scottish wildcat rehab center, a hedgehog hospital, and forest maintenance.
Sadly, we didn’t find any hedgehogs or wildcats on my land… but that doesn’t mean it’s vacant. No, indeed…
I’ve got a frog sanctuary! They’re everywhere! I hope they like the cairn (balanced stones) that I constructed for them.
We hiked around the nature reserve and saw many beautiful things.
After we left the Reserve, we went to Oban. It’s a coastal town from which a person can take a ferry to the western isles. We didn’t do that, though. Our main purpose —well, my main purpose — was to visit the Oban Distillery. I rather like their products, and I was eager to sample some… maybe purchase some. But when we got to Oban, it was obvious that the tourist season is in full swing. Once we got to the distillery, we found no parking. So I got out of the car, took a couple of pictures, and got back in. I might go back to Oban someday… but not in the summer.
On our way to (and from) the Highlands, we passed alongside the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. It might not be as well known as Loch Ness, but it’s certainly got a firm place in Scottish history and culture. There’s a great old song about it, which you should listen to by clicking here (if you want a choral version) or here (if you want a folk version). Next to Loch Lomond is Ben Lomond. (‘Loch’ means lake and ‘Ben’ means mountain, more or less.) It was cloudy and misty on our way north in the morning, and it was totally fogged over on our way south in the afternoon. Someday, I’d like to do some hiking on Ben Lomond and around Loch Lomond.
The Scottish Highlands are rugged, mysterious, inviting, and unrelentingly beautiful. I will be back.
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