We have had another wonderful season spotting wildlife from our cruises and onshore. There is no doubt having a dedicated Wildlife Guide helps idenitify habitat and find species and you never know what you are going to see! Amazing one-off sightings in 2019 include a unique appearance of an adult minke whale with calf; a very rare sighting of a fin whale and several sightings of the snowy owl on St Kilda. Here are some photos sent in by crew and guests - as always, puffins feature greatly and we have seen dolphins and white-tailed eagles on most cruises, often multiple times. Many other sea birds are well represented as well as seals, otters, red deer and cetaceans.
This must be one of the most relaxing holidays I have ever been on. A lifelong ambition was fulfilled be visiting Staffa and seeing Fingal's Cave and it was every bit as spectacular as I had hoped. Not only did we walk down the route to it to look into it but, thanks to Chris judging the tide to be right, he was able to get us right inside it. Iona and its abbey were impressive too of course and being able to land on Lunga in the Treshnish Islands and see the seabird colonies - puffins galore - was equally marvellous. The sail round Mull was an eye-opener too, seeing lochs from the sea rather than from the land. They were wonderful locations to spend the nights. And the weather was glorious. The wildlife was in abundance too with lots of seabirds and seals and good sightings of cetaceans. Bottle-nosed dolphins were the first up to bow-wave and we also had 4 or 5 Minke whales fishing and a few porpoises, but the most spectacular were over 100 Common Dolphins which came leaping from all directions to accompany us for over an hour. The hospitality on board was as friendly as ever on a Hebrides Cruises's trip thanks to Chris, Craig, Zoe and Sian with her delicious meals. Add to that very compatible fellow-travellers and no WiFi (so no gloomy news) and this was a holiday to be long treasured in the memory.
Helen Mainwood: 23 April 2022Idyllic Islands: Mull, Iona, Staffa & the Treshnish Isles