Isle of Mull and Iona
Captain Bob Rait set sail from Tobermory at 6:00 a.m., giving us all a wake-up call for a busy day at sea and on the isles of Mull and Iona, ending at the mainland town of Oban. We needed an early start as the drive along the southwest coast of Mull to the tiny ferry port for Iona took an hour and a quarter, but our coach driver, Bill, gave us an insightful commentary and spotted wildlife for us too.
This was an extraordinarily rich day for experiencing the natural world and the cultural-historical world of Scotland. On the way to Iona we saw an otter swimming in a sea loch, a rare sighting of this very shy species, and on the way back to the ship we viewed a white-tailed sea eagle soaring majestically on its ten-foot wings. Later, two red deer stags grazing on rich green grass among the bracken lifted their antlers to check us out before going back to their meal.
The grey cloud cover broke as we approached the holy island, Iona, where countless pilgrims have preceded us to visit the sites of St Columba’s monastery, the cradle of Christianity in Scotland, founded in A.D. 563 and continued today by members of the ecumenical Iona community. We toured the island; some went with Rick on a nature-based ramble while others spent more time looking at the ancient monuments with Konia and Iris. We all met together for lunch at the St Columba Hotel and enjoyed piping hot lentil soup and open sandwiches before free time for exploration and shopping.
The sun had come out, and with blue skies above we drove to Duart Castle, residence of Sir Lachlan Maclean, 28th Chief of Clan Maclean. The impressive fortress situated on a cliff top overlooking the Sound of Mull was a great finale to our visit to Mull and we got a superb view of the castle as we sailed to Oban where we came alongside in the centre of the waterfront for our overnight stay. We were rewarded by a magnificent sunset, heralding another beautiful summer day ahead.
