Cnoc Ard - Colbost

Having been to the Fairy Pools we arrived at our accommodation in Colbost, Skye. This was a lovely, well equipped property, well at least we discovered it was once we were able to get in, as the keybox release key was stuck and required a phone call to the owner to get it sorted.

Anyway, once in all was good.

Cnoc Ard has an envious position on a hillside and has spectacular views down to Dunvegan Bay. The first evening we were here we sat in the big window and to our delight saw a Golden Eagle circling over the hills above Skye Silver. A quick dash for the binoculars confirmed the sighting of this beautiful bird of prey!

We were to see this bird, or one of its brethren, again the next day, when it swooped towards our car on the single track road out of Colbost and at the last minute detoured to sit on an electricity pole beside the road. It was fantastic to see such a large bird up close, in the wild. As a family we have been to various bird sanctuaries, where they often fly large birds to bait, but to see something so big in its natural environment really was one of the highlights of our trip.

The thing we struggled with most on Skye, apart from the state of some of the roads (we had been warned about the pot holes), was the light evenings. The sunset picture above was taken at 10 to 11 in the evening, and there was plenty of light left after that. I guess if you live somewhere like this you get used to the long summer days and short winter ones, but for soft Southerners it was a bit disquieting.

Our base in Colbost (Cnoc Ard) was a great base for exploring the more northern section of the island.