Staffa

I took a boat trip with others to Staffa this week. Staffa is an island in the Inner Hebrides along the west coast of Scotland. The island is about 6 miles west/northwest of Mull and Iona. This is a regular visit of most of the guests at the Abbey. On Monday the Mac goes and on Wednesday the Abbey goes. It takes a little over an hour to reach the island, and you are given about an hour on the island. This also includes the boat bobbing around off the island to allow for photographs from the sea.
The island’s primary feature is that it is made up of basalt columns, which are five or six, sided. While on the island I had to continually remind myself that these were not manmade. The only other rock formation similar to it is the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland. There are several caves in the face of the rock, carved out by the sea. One is MacKinnon’s cave which is one of the longest sea caves in the world. Another is Boat cave, which apparently brave, very brave, sea captains can take small craft into. The most famous is Fingal’s cave which you can walk into. The National trust for Scotland maintains the island, and has established a walking path, non-skid, on the face of the cliff with a hand rail. It is a short 10 minute walk from the landing to the cave. Mendelssohn is said to have written his Hebridean overture following his visit to the cave.
From the landing if you go to up the steps you will find yourself on top of the island, looking down on the columns. Some look as if they have fallen over and are arranged like piano keys. You can hike along the top of the island for several hundred yards. The terrain is a little up and down, and if it has been raining the rocks can be slippery, but it is worthwhile because from April to July you can see puffins.
Puffins are black and white birds, with brightly colored beaks, usually orange and yellow. They live in the cliffs and feed by diving into the sea, skimming along and gathering fish. They are much smaller than you might imagine, about the size of a cardinal or blue jay. At least on Staffa, they have adapted to the human presence because humans keep the sea gulls away. Sea gulls prey on the puffins, so the humans get quite a puffin show. As we stood on the cliff, they were landing no less than 2 feet away from us, and were unafraid of the numerous camera shutters and flashes.