Submitted by: Anne Carrick`
Hallo Kirsty,
I was on a tour of the Western Isles in late July/early August with Danny as our tour guide. It was great to do a tour where the number of days were really full (some tours count day 1 as having a meeting at night and breakfast as the last day). Booking was easy. I did it by internet. It was good to have the calendar to see what tours were booked and what dates were still available. Also, it was good to be only 16 of us.
Danny was great fun and cute in his kilt and head band (I can say that as I am old enough to be a grandmother). I particularly appreciated his knowledge of Scottish history and his enthusiasm for telling the stories at each site and his strong allegiance to Scotland and all things Scottish. (He made sure we had the opportunity to try black pudding, haggis and treated us to a strong very peaty whisky). Even in pouring rain, he made sure we got the history.
Danny also did what he could to meet our requests for extra activities such as visiting a whisky distillery, swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, Loch Ness and cruising through Manish.
I was really pleased to get the history of Bannockburn (it was not on the brochure I had) as well as the one at Culloden. There was time for me to nip into information centres at various sites to buy history brochures etc. At other places there was time to explore interests in greater detail. I will go back to most of the places we visited. The tour was a great introduction to the Western Isles and Scotland.
The hostels were good, had great locations, superb views (particularly when we had them to ourselves but ok if we did not), they were clean and comfortable. A treat when our beds had been made for us and it was good to stay at private hostels (i.e. not SYHAs). I particularly liked the Blackhouses. Two nights in the one place was good. My least favourite was the one near Loch Ness.
What I would change is the system for food. There was, to me, an enormous wastage of food (and our kitty money). Over catering and making dishes that many people did not eat. We did tend to eat late at night. Partly because we had such full touring days but mainly because we are not experienced caterers so too much food was being cooked. People also snacked during the day and while waiting for the meal so were not that hungry. Two people seemed to do mostly their own catering. One evening meal in a local pub was a treat.
I suggest a guide on how much to buy e.g. 60-70 grams dried pasta / dried rice per person, 44 grams for mince, number of slices of bacon etc. Also, before buying, get actual numbers of how many people eat cereal, bacon, will try black pudding etc. The tour guide could have a standard box of basics – tea, coffee, sugar, olive oil, tomato sauce, salt, pepper etc. It was awful to see the other tour guide throwing out good food. Even leaving it at the hostel for other travellers would have been better, although I suspect may not have been used and would’ve been eventually thrown out. Even offer it to those on the tour as many of us were self catering / staying in hostels.
I would do another Wild Tour and enjoyed the company of young people. Recommend you to young people and those over 40 who would enjoy adventurous basic small group travel and being with young people.
Best wishes to Danny and all At Wild in Scotland.
Regards,
Anne
