Wildlife Tour of Mull

Holiday Backblip - Day 4

An early start today to drive back to Craignure (where the ferry landed on Saturday) to pick up the minibus for our wildlife tour (best booked before arrival, as they fill up quickly). There are lots of different operators of these tours and all get glowing reports, so it doesn't seem to matter which one you choose and you often meet up with the others along the way:-)

The mists had come down again, but we didn't mind too much as we knew what was hidden beneath them now, after yesterday's glorious sunshine! It didn't affect the wildlife much either, although it did make spotting them a bit harder and might have been impossible were it not for the experience of our tour guide and the use of very powerful binoculars and scopes.

We toured much of the same areas as we'd driven ourselves yesterday and were rewarded with a sea-eagle perched in a tree, porpoises (at a distance) on a loch, ditto some otters and some excellent views of golden eagles soaring over the hills on thermals. One or two red deer were seen miles away and only through the scope and lots of wild flowers were pointed out and identified for us. Had we not had such a wildlife-filled day yesterday, we would probably have been more excited about this tour, but we thoroughly enjoyed the running commentary from our guide (and his wife's delicious cakes!)

We just had time to get back to our cottage to smarten up for our evening meal at The Ninth Wave in Fionnphort, a famed seafood restaurant run by a Scottish fisherman and his Canadian wife, who cooks the seafood he catches! We pushed the boat out and had the four course menu and it was all superb, from my hibiscus flower stuffed with langoustines to the whole lobster (with personal instruction from the owner on how best to tackle it!) Not a cheap meal - but what a special treat!

Another unforgettable day on Mull:-)