Highland Safaris

We did something a little different this weekend, we went on a Safari. 

Yes that's right, a Safari. 

In Scotland.

Needless to say it wasn't the giraffe and elephant kind of Safari but more like a tour of the highlands with a kilted tour guide and the possibility to see some deer, mountain hares, golden eagles and other Scottish animals.  

Shaun bought me a voucher for a Mountain Safari for my Christmas from Highland Safaris in Aberfeldy, Perthshire and this was really the first opportunity we've had to use it!

We picked an absolutely beautiful day for it, but panic soon set in as we thought we weren't going to make it on time despite leaving early enough.  We were caught in set after set of roadworks and then the sat nav decided to take us the wrong way! We ended up driving down some questionable roads tracks, and eventually had to phone the centre to tell them we were lost! The girl on the other end of the phone was fantastic though, she seemed to know exactly where we were and thankfully we were only ten minutes away!

When we got there we were assigned our guide who was called Jim.  Jim was fantastic, he was very knowledgeable about the area, the wildlife and he knew loads about Scottish history as well.  We were expecting just to be taken up in an ordinary landrover but Jim led us over to a massive 12 seater truck called a Pinzgauer, which was an old Austrian military vehicle that they had converted. It was very cool! We were provided with a small pair of binoculars each which I thought was a really nice touch and there were folders and books in the truck on Scottish Wildlife.

The entrance to the centre

We set off into the mountains up to a private estate at roughly 3000 feet. We stopped to get out and have a look around as Jim told us facts about the area and then we headed a bit further and stopped at a loch with a little boat house. Again we got out to marvel at the views and Jim explained about the loch, the boathouse and the heather on the hills. 

Jim was more than happy to take our picture!

The boathouse on the loch

Jim telling us all about heather

We then headed up to a wee bothy (a small cabin that hikers and climbers use as shelter in the bad weather) where Jim set up a telescope so we could see all the stags on the tops of the hills. Unfortunately they were so far away that we couldn't even see them with our binoculars but we could see them through the telescope.  We all went into the bothy and sat round a big table where Jim gave us cups of tea and coffee and some shortbread.  

Shaun having a wee seat :)

The bothy

All set up for teas, coffees and most importantly, shortbread!

The other end of the bothy

Complimentary shortie from a local company. The K and S stand for Keith and Sheila!

Afterwards we set off back down the mountain but stopped at a viewpoint where we got the most amazing view over rural Perthshire.  Jim then gave us all a dram of whisky (which was enjoyed by some more than others!) and then we headed back down to the centre. 

The whole experience lasted around 2 and a half hours and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was disappointing that we didn't get to see a lot of animals but we knew it would be a hit or a miss and we would still recommend it, especially if you're not from Scotland because the scenery was just magical!

Highland Safaris offer more than just the Mountain Safari, they do Safari Treks, off-road 4x4 driving experiences, Forest Safaris, Mountain Bike Safaris, Loch Tay Safaris, Walking Safaris and they have a Red Deer Centre and cafe too. If this sounds like somewhere you'd like to visit you can find their website here.

A Stag-nificent statue (see what I did there?)

I was looking forward to taking a lot of pictures of animals on the safari but ironically my favourite photo was of a bee back at the centre! 😂

Bzzzzzt!

Where's the strangest place you've ever been on safari? Comment below!