Sail through Scotland's Caledonian Canal and the Inner Hebrides aboard Lord of the Glens, the only ship capable of transiting both with ease and grace. The 62-mile Great Glen seems to have been created by uncorking bucolic landscapes and spilling them over the Atlantic and North Sea in a colossal rush of isles, lochs, and canals.
National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson shares some of his favorite highlights from traveling in Scotland aboard the intimate Lord of the Glens.
To the uninitiated, Scotland’s wildlife amounts to a whole lot of sheep, those shaggy Highland cows, and of course, Nessie! But there’s an abundance of other species if you know where to look.
There are a select few destinations with which you connect at some deep, intangible level and the Highlands and Islands of Scotland does that for me, says David Barnes, Expedition Leader aboard Lord of the Glens. See why.
Experience Scotland as few others have on a stirring voyage that cuts through the heart of the Highlands and out into the wild isles that surround this fabled region.
Early morning we arrived at Raft Point where we disembarked the ship for a sunrise Zodiac cruise around the bay. We cruised below towering cliffs of red sandstone and discovered isolated caves, coves, and white coral sand beaches all whilst looking out for some of the birdlife that call these rocky outcrops home. Late morning we arrived at Montgomery Reef, described by David Attenborough as “one of the greatest natural wonders of the world”. It’s a huge coral reef that is exposed as the tide drops, creating hundreds of ocean waterfalls, a remarkable sight for all to witness. The marine creatures were spectacular, with hundreds of sea turtles, rays, sharks, sea snakes, and many types of birds out feeding on the exposed reef.
Kelp Bay was our destination on the first day of our expedition. Under the shelter of the bay, we had a day full of surprises. Our first iconic Alaskan animal was a young brown bear walking along the shore. A mother and calf humpback whale pair were spotted cruising along the steep fjord’s edge, right next to the forest. Shortly after that, lunch was interrupted by a male killer whale that appeared right next to the dining room window! After a morning of good wildlife sightings, we ventured ashore to explore Kelp Bay by foot. We found bear tracks and baby salmon in the streams. We learned about some edible and poisonous plants and ended the day with a deeper understanding of the intricacies of the Alaskan temperate rainforest.
We started the day with Zodiac tours of South Sawyer Glacier, a tidewater glacier. The air was cool, and it rained throughout the day, but that made the waterfalls gush. The walls of the Tracy Arm were dark yet glistening, and blue icebergs recently calved from South Sawyer Glacier stood out. The sea water stood in contrast against the ice. The brown of the land flushing into the sea swirled with a rusty hue that turned out to be a zooplankton bloom. The misty afternoon was spent kayaking from the base of one of the waterfalls with icebergs in various forms carried by nearby currents. It all made for a fantastic backdrop with swallows swooping close to the output of the falls, arctic terns darting and calling above, harbor seals cautiously following along, and pigeon guillemots surfacing with a whole silvery fish in their bills. After such a fantastic day, we finished up by viewing numerous waterfalls cascading down the steep fjord walls and a look at Sawyer Glacier misted in fingerlike clouds. What a beautiful sight.
The day began with an incredible sighting of a blue whale north of Itilleq, right before reaching the destination of Sisimiut. After some mandatory preparations, we were greeted by the colorful town of Sisimiut, revealing itself as the fog dispersed. We conducted several operations with some local tour operators, with the first operation being the Arctic Circle Hike, part of a route that locals and hikers trek to reach Kangerlussuaq. Other groups were introduced to a shorter town walk and a longer town walk that included a close encounter with Greenlandic sled dogs and a lecture from a dog owner and local guide. The guided tours continued through town to a local greenhouse for more presentations and eventually reached the old town of Sisimiut for a tasting of local cuisines, including dried capelin, dried cod, snow crab, musk oxen and reindeer. The evening included the daily recaps, the captain’s welcome, and ended with a lecture about Greenlandic culture from the former Prime Minister of Greenland, Aleqa Hammond.
Today we visited North Seymour Island, a small, 1.7-square-km uplifted landmass. The island is home to various species of marine birds, including the frigates and blue-footed boobies nesting in the area. The Galapagos National Park has put forth significant effort to control the number of introduced species. We admired the results of their successful conservation efforts. On Rabida, we spent the afternoon on the beach. We enjoyed our first snorkeling opportunity of the expedition. We observed groups of playful Galapagos sea lions, sea turtles, and a large variety of colorful fish. After snorkeling, we went on a walk along the beach, where we encountered a group of American flamingos nesting by a coastal brackish water lagoon. What an amazing adventure exploring the Galapagos!