
The beautiful port of Mallaig – seamen feed the local seals.
I enjoyed several days in Mallaig, a sea port town in the northwest of Scotland. From there you can find ferries to various islands on which you can stay or just go for the day. After going to Isle of Skye, I decided to visit one of the smaller islands – Isle of Rum. I mean, great name, right??!! I also chose it because the ferries do not depart for each island every day of the week, and Rum seemed to be one of the easier islands to get to. My plans changed when I met Marie and Stephen in my B&B. They had been to Eigg Island and raved about it. They had even seen a herd of cows in the water! So I decided to go there instead of Rum. The problem was, I couldn’t get a ferry out of Mallaig, but instead had to go with a smaller boat out of Arisaig. I did some brief research because I did want to be sure to see some cows (yup, research by cow) and discovered that another island, close to Eigg, seemed more intimate and had more cows – the Isle of Muck. My B&B owner Tommy told me it was deserted and there was not much to see. I thought “A New York gal on a deserted island? Sign me up!”

A bird on the Isle of Muck
Tommy drove me to the Arisaig ferry, and I boarded my small boat – 84 people allowed on it. All was well and fine, except that I didn’t count on such a choppy ride…..for two hours. If you recall, I did overcome my fear of the rocking boat, but I hadn’t counted on getting queasy because of the long duration of the rockiness.

The welcome committee
I was delighted to find out the captain had seasick medicine. I hadn’t even thought of a way to get over the seasickness apart from being on land, but another passenger was ill and had found out the captain carried something with him and luckily, I was privy to his conversation. The medicine worked perfectly and 30 minutes later I found myself on the deserted Isle of Muck. The welcoming committee was two cows by the side of the road, followed by an entire herd who wondered what I was doing on their road, and then some bulls just chilling.

One of the resident bulls on the beach!
I kept walking and the green of the fields and the blue of the sea made me feel I had found paradise. I walked on and found a bull on the beach. (Much better than a bull in A China shop.) I saw a bird I’ve never seen and in the distance a conference of cows convening on a cliff. (Apparently descendants of Highland cattle mixed with some French cattle.)

The amazing contrast of land and sea on the Isle of Muck
I realized if I hadn’t dared to confront my seasickness, if I hadn’t traded ease for something unknown and not guaranteed, I would have missed out on an amazing experience – the echo of my own adventure.
Maybe one day you’ll visit Rum and Eigg together and make a Flip of the trip.
Yes I intend to!
You have had such a great experience. But, tell me one thing, does the pill for seasickness actually work? I mean I have tried a couple of them in the past, and none of that was really effective.
Yes! Whatever that captain gave me brought be from the brink of vomiting to feeling fine within about 20 minutes!