Programmes By Date - Aigas Field Centre

This trip to Aigas excelled our highest expectations. Sir John and Lady Lucy Lister-Kaye know how to incorporate their lifetime commitment of conservation of both endangered species and careful planning of forestry and gardens. Combine their knowledge and experience with their team of Aigas Rangers and staff and you will be educated and fed well throughout the entire time. There was never a spare moment to become bored. Traipsing through the Scottish Highlands with history as its companion with great enthusiasm from the Rangers as fountains of knowledge is an extraordinary life experience.
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dianestyles

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dianestyles

This trip to Aigas excelled our highest expectations. Sir John and Lady Lucy Lister-Kaye know how to incorporate their lifetime commitment of conservation of both endangered species and careful planning of forestry and gardens. Combine their knowledge and experience with their team of Aigas Rangers and staff and you will be educated and fed well throughout the entire time. There was never a spare moment to become bored. Traipsing through the Scottish Highlands with history as its companion with great enthusiasm from the Rangers as fountains of knowledge is an extraordinary life experience.
I returned to Aigas for the fourth time for the Monarchs of the Glen programme and it was a wonderful experience in the true sense of the word. I have previously been on the Wildlife Weeks in three different seasons and thoroughly enjoyed them, so thought a programme with a more specific focus would be interesting. Our tour leader, Dr David Dixon, was a pleasure to be with: full of fascinating information about a huge variety of wildlife, well beyond the deer we had gone to see. We had excellent talks from David, Sir John and Jeff Dymond, an experienced deer stalker, that enhanced the sightings we had of red and roe deer enormously. Supporting this was the brilliant Aigas experience: the welcome, the food and the baronial hall in which it's eaten, the comfortable and warm (even when it dropped to minus 4) lodges, the spectacular highland scenery and wildlife on the estate and, of course, the people. They are what really make Aigas the place I go back to again and again. Guests temporarily become part of an extended family and every effort is made to deal with special requests. The rangers are incredibly knowledgable and a pleasure to spend time with; their enthusiasm for what they are showing you is infectious. Anyone who watched Autumnwatch will be aware of the variety of wildlife on the estate - beavers, pine martens, badgers, red squirrels and probably thousands of birds - and the days out cover a variety of different habitats and their inhabitants. A couple of people I've recommended Aigas too have said it looks expensive. It's not a bargain break but once you've paid there's no need (and few opportunities) to spend any more money: all food and drinks with dinner is included. Add to this the expertise of the rangers all day and on several evenings and I think it's worth every penny. On the long train journey back to London, we were trying to think of one thing that would make an Aigas holiday better. The only idea we came up with was more hours in the day so that you could see more - and find some time to sleep!
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LondonRuby

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LondonRuby

I returned to Aigas for the fourth time for the Monarchs of the Glen programme and it was a wonderful experience in the true sense of the word. I have previously been on the Wildlife Weeks in three different seasons and thoroughly enjoyed them, so thought a programme with a more specific focus would be interesting. Our tour leader, Dr David Dixon, was a pleasure to be with: full of fascinating information about a huge variety of wildlife, well beyond the deer we had gone to see. We had excellent talks from David, Sir John and Jeff Dymond, an experienced deer stalker, that enhanced the sightings we had of red and roe deer enormously. Supporting this was the brilliant Aigas experience: the welcome, the food and the baronial hall in which it's eaten, the comfortable and warm (even when it dropped to minus 4) lodges, the spectacular highland scenery and wildlife on the estate and, of course, the people. They are what really make Aigas the place I go back to again and again. Guests temporarily become part of an extended family and every effort is made to deal with special requests. The rangers are incredibly knowledgable and a pleasure to spend time with; their enthusiasm for what they are showing you is infectious. Anyone who watched Autumnwatch will be aware of the variety of wildlife on the estate - beavers, pine martens, badgers, red squirrels and probably thousands of birds - and the days out cover a variety of different habitats and their inhabitants. A couple of people I've recommended Aigas too have said it looks expensive. It's not a bargain break but once you've paid there's no need (and few opportunities) to spend any more money: all food and drinks with dinner is included. Add to this the expertise of the rangers all day and on several evenings and I think it's worth every penny. On the long train journey back to London, we were trying to think of one thing that would make an Aigas holiday better. The only idea we came up with was more hours in the day so that you could see more - and find some time to sleep!
I went to Aigas at the end of June for the Wildlife week, it was brilliant. There were about 20 of us split into two groups and we went out on trips in mini buses every day. The rangers were amazing, knowledgeable not only on their own subjects but local history, geology of the area, stories of the clans and if you had a question they usually knew the answer - if not they found it when we got back to the house either from one of the other staff or the huge range of books in the library. The rangers could spot wildlife that to the rest of us didn't appear to be there, then set up the 'scope so we could see it too. All of us were 'wildlife spotting' out of the buses and alerting the rest with 'eagle at 11 o'clock' that then turned out to be a buzzard! I hadn't been to Scotland but driving around the highlands was amazing. The weather was pretty good and one day was very bright and sunny which made some of the bays with the white sand and turquoise water look like some I have seen in the Med. My log cabin was cosy and comfortable and the bed was the best I have slept in away from home. There were late nights watching badgers and pine martins, early evenings to spot beavers feeding on lilies in the loch and early mornings to watch otters. The food was amazing, all home cooked by the lady of the house, local produce whenever possible. Everyone on the staff were lovely and couldn't do enough for you, it really was like being part of a large family. I went by myself, single lady, not always good in social situations, but there were other single people and it was so friendly and relaxed that it was easy not to feel excluded. It was great to get together in the common room before dinner to exchange details of what creatures had been seen during the day and at breakfast who had been daft enough to stay up until 3am waiting for badgers to arrive. Whatever age you are, if you love wildlife, go to Aigas. You won't be disappointed. I am going back next Sept, hopefully to watch the deer rut. Can't wait.
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LINDA J

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LINDA J

I went to Aigas at the end of June for the Wildlife week, it was brilliant. There were about 20 of us split into two groups and we went out on trips in mini buses every day. The rangers were amazing, knowledgeable not only on their own subjects but local history, geology of the area, stories of the clans and if you had a question they usually knew the answer - if not they found it when we got back to the house either from one of the other staff or the huge range of books in the library. The rangers could spot wildlife that to the rest of us didn't appear to be there, then set up the 'scope so we could see it too. All of us were 'wildlife spotting' out of the buses and alerting the rest with 'eagle at 11 o'clock' that then turned out to be a buzzard! I hadn't been to Scotland but driving around the highlands was amazing. The weather was pretty good and one day was very bright and sunny which made some of the bays with the white sand and turquoise water look like some I have seen in the Med. My log cabin was cosy and comfortable and the bed was the best I have slept in away from home. There were late nights watching badgers and pine martins, early evenings to spot beavers feeding on lilies in the loch and early mornings to watch otters. The food was amazing, all home cooked by the lady of the house, local produce whenever possible. Everyone on the staff were lovely and couldn't do enough for you, it really was like being part of a large family. I went by myself, single lady, not always good in social situations, but there were other single people and it was so friendly and relaxed that it was easy not to feel excluded. It was great to get together in the common room before dinner to exchange details of what creatures had been seen during the day and at breakfast who had been daft enough to stay up until 3am waiting for badgers to arrive. Whatever age you are, if you love wildlife, go to Aigas. You won't be disappointed. I am going back next Sept, hopefully to watch the deer rut. Can't wait.