Programmes By Date - Aigas Field Centre

We selected the Road Scholar trip that brought us to the Aigas Field Centre for a 7 night stay. Each day taught us about and brought us to a varied selection of Highlands' experiences from the Culloden Battlefield to the Cawdor Castle. We took hikes, observed wild life from hides (blinds) and enjoyed the hospitality of Lady Lucy and Sir John. The manor home is amazing and social time and dinners were held there. We each stayed in guest cottages a short walk away. Accommodations were comfortable....it felt a little like staying at a camp for a week but with much better beds and an ensuite bathroom! The field rangers who led our varied experiences are young, enthusiastic and very knowledgeable about the nature, geology and history of the region. They took great care of us on the hikes including helping me down some rather step rock steps on one hike. They also served us tea, coffee, or hot chocolate out of the back of their vehicles for our picnic lunch stops and at tea time if we were not getting back in time for tea at Aigas. The scenery is amazingly varied, rugged and beautiful. Other folks who stayed for a more nature centered week also were enthusiastic about their experiences and the wide variety of bird and plant species seen. Social times were fun too as the Americans in the Road Scholar group met and talked with the local UKers visiting for the wildlife experiences. This was such a great way to experience the Highlands and its amazing environment.
read moreread less

Barbara N

×

Barbara N

We selected the Road Scholar trip that brought us to the Aigas Field Centre for a 7 night stay. Each day taught us about and brought us to a varied selection of Highlands' experiences from the Culloden Battlefield to the Cawdor Castle. We took hikes, observed wild life from hides (blinds) and enjoyed the hospitality of Lady Lucy and Sir John. The manor home is amazing and social time and dinners were held there. We each stayed in guest cottages a short walk away. Accommodations were comfortable....it felt a little like staying at a camp for a week but with much better beds and an ensuite bathroom! The field rangers who led our varied experiences are young, enthusiastic and very knowledgeable about the nature, geology and history of the region. They took great care of us on the hikes including helping me down some rather step rock steps on one hike. They also served us tea, coffee, or hot chocolate out of the back of their vehicles for our picnic lunch stops and at tea time if we were not getting back in time for tea at Aigas. The scenery is amazingly varied, rugged and beautiful. Other folks who stayed for a more nature centered week also were enthusiastic about their experiences and the wide variety of bird and plant species seen. Social times were fun too as the Americans in the Road Scholar group met and talked with the local UKers visiting for the wildlife experiences. This was such a great way to experience the Highlands and its amazing environment.
Great wee course
read moreread less

Kevin McLevy

×

Kevin McLevy

Great wee course
I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the Wildlife programme we'd booked on - the weather didn't look good and much of the wildlife we wanted to see was known to be elusive at the best of times. But thanks to the expertise, diligence and sheer overwhelming enthusiasm of the rangers - and I'd pick out Imogen and George as the ones who found us otters, sea eagles, golden eagles and a merlin - we saw everything we hoped for and more. The trips out to the west coast, Easter Ross, the Black Isle and up a number of the straths all bought new sightings but also new insights as the wildlife and flora were pointed out and explained. We rode next to leaping dolphins and diving sdeabirds in the Cromarty Firth. And there was no pretending to know things they didn't - if they didn't know they looked it up and told us later. From the hides at Aigas we saw pine marten, badger and beavers, as well as woodpeckers, owls, voles and many other species. But Aigas isn't just about the wildlife - it's about the hospitality in the comfortable lodges and then the house, with its stunning dining room and food that matches the surroundings. We didn't have a disappointing meal, Lucy provided great buffet lunches and superb dinners, from which I'd pick out the home-made soups as just outstanding, especially the spinach and lemon. To add to it all we have a great introductory talk by John Lister-Kaye, studded with jewels of poetry and prose to explain his love of nature and why he started Aigas. Even better was the finale on Friday night, when he read to the groups from his own and others' writings on the natural world - a great speaker and reader who imbues each word with meaning and feeling. If there is a criticism it is that there is a lot to do and perhaps too little time to explore the grounds at Aigas - but everything we did was worth doing. If you like your hide visits to be quiet and studious, as do I, perhaps you might want to check to see that you are there when there isn't a large American group around. They were lovely people but apt to talk constantly in the hides.. But this did not detract seriously from a fantastic week, though.
read moreread less

Keith S

×

Keith S

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the Wildlife programme we'd booked on - the weather didn't look good and much of the wildlife we wanted to see was known to be elusive at the best of times. But thanks to the expertise, diligence and sheer overwhelming enthusiasm of the rangers - and I'd pick out Imogen and George as the ones who found us otters, sea eagles, golden eagles and a merlin - we saw everything we hoped for and more. The trips out to the west coast, Easter Ross, the Black Isle and up a number of the straths all bought new sightings but also new insights as the wildlife and flora were pointed out and explained. We rode next to leaping dolphins and diving sdeabirds in the Cromarty Firth. And there was no pretending to know things they didn't - if they didn't know they looked it up and told us later. From the hides at Aigas we saw pine marten, badger and beavers, as well as woodpeckers, owls, voles and many other species. But Aigas isn't just about the wildlife - it's about the hospitality in the comfortable lodges and then the house, with its stunning dining room and food that matches the surroundings. We didn't have a disappointing meal, Lucy provided great buffet lunches and superb dinners, from which I'd pick out the home-made soups as just outstanding, especially the spinach and lemon. To add to it all we have a great introductory talk by John Lister-Kaye, studded with jewels of poetry and prose to explain his love of nature and why he started Aigas. Even better was the finale on Friday night, when he read to the groups from his own and others' writings on the natural world - a great speaker and reader who imbues each word with meaning and feeling. If there is a criticism it is that there is a lot to do and perhaps too little time to explore the grounds at Aigas - but everything we did was worth doing. If you like your hide visits to be quiet and studious, as do I, perhaps you might want to check to see that you are there when there isn't a large American group around. They were lovely people but apt to talk constantly in the hides.. But this did not detract seriously from a fantastic week, though.