Scotland #4: Dolphines and farewell
My final days in the Highlands are dedicated to nature.
My time in Scotland is drawing to a close, so I’m visiting the sights that are a “must” for me. Loch Ness, of course—and the dolphins at Chanonry Point.
At first glance, I wouldn’t think of Scotland and dolphins together, but I’d be way off the mark: Chanonry Point, about a half-hour drive north of Inverness, is considered the best place in the entire United Kingdom to watch dolphins. Of course, tour companies offer boat trips for this purpose, but since I don’t want to disturb the animals, I prefer to watch them from the shore. The chances of seeing them are good. However, it’s important to know the best time to go. My host is kind enough to tell me.
Dolphin activity here depends on the tides. About an hour after low tide, the incoming tide begins, and the dolphins start hunting salmon near the shore. That’s when your chances of spotting them are highest. Between the towns of Fortrose and Rosemarkie, the Black Isle peninsula forms a narrow strip of land that extends far into the Moray Firth, narrowing the passage to the North Sea. Bad luck for the salmon that have to swim through there. Good luck for the dolphins that feed on the fish, because the narrowing of the channel makes their hunt much easier.
I set out in the early evening. It’s been raining heavily for several days, and a strong wind is blowing. When I arrive at the gravel and rock beach behind the lighthouse—considered the best vantage point—I’m freezing in my denim jacket. Other dolphin watchers next to me are wearing down jackets. I feel my fingers going numb as I pull out my smartphone to be ready for the big moment. It actually comes sooner than I expected. I see one, two, three arched backs with fins emerge from the water, which shimmers almost black in the twilight. Then, to the delight of all of us on the beach, the first one leaps out of the water with that classic dolphin jump. “Ah” and “Wow,” I hear some bystanders exclaim; otherwise, only the wind whistles in my ears.
All the dolphins here are bottlenose dolphins—just like “Flipper” from the cult TV series of the same name from the 1960s. Of course, none of the bottlenose dolphins at Chanonry Point can perform Flipper’s signature tail-walking trick. In the TV series, this acrobatic feat was supposedly performed by a male named Clown, while in the rest of the scenes, two females, Kathy and Susie, played “Flipper.”
By now, I’m shivering all over in the cold wind and am having trouble holding my smartphone steady enough to take a decent video. After not seeing a single dolphin for several minutes, I decide to call it a day. Still buzzing from the experience, I head back as night falls.
And then, on my last day, Loch Ness...
It was still raining this morning, but around noon the sun is shining. I pack the two doggies, Dotty and Tiggy, and a few bottles of water into the back of the car—and off we go. On Google Maps, it looked like the road west of Loch Ness ran right along the lake. It does, but it turns out to be a very busy road, and unfortunately I can barely see the lake because the shore is overgrown with trees and bushes, and it seems only hotels and residents have access to the water. For everyone else, there are a few overlooks, though many of them are jammed with parked cars, so I pull over wherever I see a free spot. The sun bathes the legendary lake—which I’ve always imagined shrouded in fog—in a warm blue glow. Not a trace of Nessie, the supposed long-necked monster. She’s probably taking a nap at the bottom of the lake and won’t surface until we tourists have left.
Without stopping again, I drive to the southern end of the lake—to Fort Augustus. The Caledonian Canal flows through this idyllic little town, connecting the east and west coasts of Scotland—and thus the North Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. And here in Fort Augustus, the canal meets Loch Ness. While many canals require artificial reservoirs, this canal, stretching 97 kilometers in total, uses the natural lakes it flows through—including Loch Ness—as reservoirs. The difference in elevation between the lake and the canal is compensated for by locks. In Fort Augustus, the locks follow one another so closely that they literally form a “lock staircase.” It operates on the principle of a chamber lock, which gradually raises or lowers the ships between the levels of Loch Ness and the canal. The spectacle attracts crowds of onlookers every day. The dogs and I have arrived just in time: it’s set to begin in a quarter of an hour.
Then the moment finally arrives. Enough water has flowed into the first chamber for the next lock to open. The six wooden lock gates at Fort Augustus are still operated by hand today, and the boats are also pulled from one lock chamber to the next using ropes. A young woman at the helm of a yacht explains that it will take at least 40 minutes for them to pass through the five lock chambers. On the mast of another boat, I see a German flag fluttering, and at the stern, the name of the city of “Kiel.”
My goal for the day is to drive around Loch Ness, so I’m now steering the car across a small bridge over the canal to the east side of the lake. A good choice: the road has little traffic, and the scenery is breathtaking with hills and meadows. Along the way, we visit the Falls of Foyers. Here, the River Foyers plunges 144 feet over a tree-lined cliff in two stages before flowing into Loch Ness a few miles further on. My two short-legged companions master the steep, stair-filled descent to the base of the waterfall and the climb back up with flying colors. After that, there’s just under an hour left to drive back “home”, during which Dotty and Tiggy are remarkably quiet in the car.
The next morning, I’ll say “goodbye” to my two companions.
First, let’s get comfortable in the living room once more.
I wonder if the two doggies are hiding under the blanket because they don’t want to see me leave? But they’re probably just tired—and they’ve earned it—after our day trip. It was fun spending time with you two!
This text was first published on my German website and translated by me.