Beware of the horror

The weather in Scotland is mostly meager, yet people spend most of their time outdoors. They are out there, because the most beautiful sight Scotland has to offer is its wonderful landscape. You can see the beauty from the car of the window but you can only really enjoy Scottish landscape when you are in the middle of it.

Said and done

We left the car and started walking. The beautiful Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye were our destination. They are located at the foot of the Black Cuillins, a rocky mountain range that is called Black Cuillins because of their rock composition. Opposite are the Red Cuillins. In between, Glen Sligachan stretches. There are the waterfalls, cascades and pools. The clear water comes from the river Brittle.

Place of residence of the fairies

According to a Scottish legend, there are fairies living in the area around the Fairy Pools. When you look around you notice the place has something magical because of the beautiful landscape.

I can imagine very well that fairies choose this place as their home. We decided on a round trip. Starting at the parking lot, we followed the many people who wanted to have a look at the Fairy Pools. Sturdy footwear is recommended during the hike, it goes over the rocks and the area is sometimes swampy. In fact, the Fairy Pools look like the many pictures you can find on the internet.

The water is clear and shimmers in shades of green and blue. Courageous tourists jump into the icy waters. The farther we followed the chain of pools and waterfalls the fewer people were traveling.

Can you get lost if you can see the target?

We were able to do that. We had directions from the internet, but after a short while we did not find the waymarkers and just followed our intuition. We were framed by the barren mountains and stood on meadows overgrown with flowers and cotton grass. It was fantastic, alone in the middle of a pile of Scottish nature.

We lost the way of our circular walk but turning around was not an option, not at least. Instead, we followed small trails and once crossed the valley. After about two hours the nightmare of every experienced hiker started.

Unaware, we followed our path, enjoying the beautiful nature and pure air of Scotland. Gradually, we noticed a change. We felt glances that were constantly following us. The floor was littered with strange black balls that gave way softly under our hiking boots. The persecuted feeling grew stronger and stronger until suddenly and very quietly the horror emerged behind a large stone.

It turned exactly on our path. We were paralyzed and feverishly thinking about what to do now, how to escape the horror intact. Turning back? Two hours to get back to our destination, or to face the horror of death and only one hour way which lay before us.

We chose option two and with a sprawling bow we circumvented the personified horror in the form of a sheep. The animal watched us, but still chewed on his blade of grass in all peace of mind. I would say we are the biggest buggers there. After coping with this living obstacle, we were able to enjoy nature again and returned safely but exhausted.

On Isle of Skye there are a lot of sheep and they walk freely across the whole island, plucking at the flowers from time to time in front gardens, which does not make them particularly popular in this case. It can happen that they make themselves comfortable on the street or seek refuge in a bus stop. If you're traveling by car, watch out for the sheep, even if they scare you sometimes.