Scotland wildlife vacation

Planet

CARBON REDUCTION

To help reduce carbon emissions we include shared pick-ups and drop-offs at Inverness Train Station at the beginning and end of this tour.

Food during the tour will include Vegetarian and Vegan options as standard (dietary requirements are requested from guests prior to our tour commencing so this can be planned and catered for).

ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE

We travel in a small group with a maximum of 12 to minimise any adverse impact on sensitive wildlife, habitats and rural local communities.

We encourage our guests to avoid using single-use plastics, instead bringing their own personal reusable water bottles for the tour.

Aigas Field Centre, our base for the week, reduces their environmental impact by sourcing water directly from their own loch on site, and using a biomass boiler, fuelled with the wood sourced from the estate itself, to generate heating for the guest cabins.

Our ‘no paper’ policy means that all our tour information is sent to guests digitally.

This tour directly supports the Scottish charity Trees for Life, by planting at least one native tree in their woodland for every guest and leader who joins our tour.

During the tour itself we also support the charities Saving Wildcats, Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust and The Mammal Society. Aside from financial contribution generated from this tour, this is also in the form of education, informing our guests about the conservation of Wildcats through first-hand experience at Aigas as well as learning about population conservation of marine mammals through observational data collection. Citizen science surveys for cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) will be conducted during both ferry journeys on the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust Whale Track app.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY

We inspire our guests to think local: during the tour we will stay on a beautiful historic family-run estate which prioritises wildlife conservation and provides outdoor education for local children (and visiting schools) through their charity 'Nature Days'. Guests are introduced to this concept and encouraged to support it during their stay.

EMPLOYMENT, INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY

We work with rangers from Aigas itself, who, along with our own expert leader, provides an exceptionally detailed exploration of the area and wildlife found here.

All food is purchased on site or locally for the tour and there are opportunistic visits to local businesses and markets for guests to purchase local crafts and foods. We also encourage guests to try traditional foods where available.

The tour donates to Saving Scotland's Wildcats and the Mammal Society, contributing to their intrinsic value and enabling local people to continue the great conservation work carried out by these organisations.

All our tours are LGTBQ+ friendly.