A Photographic and Cultural Adventure to the Shetland and Orkney

May 23-June 5 , 2010

This exciting trip features 6 nights on Orkney at the fabulous Woodwick House during the spring music festival, and 5 nights on Shetland in the far north. Scheduled near the summer solstice, participants will experience the amazingly long summer twilight of Northern Scotland.

New Locations for 2010!

For several years, my host and guide in Scotland, Sam Gardener and I have been talking about adding the Shetland Islands to the Itinerary of our Scotland trip. I'm pleased to announce that my 2010 Scotland Photo Tour includes these magical islands as well as Orkney.

Upon arrival in Edinburgh, we'll get a short connecting flight to Kirkwall, the Capital of Orkney. We’ll have the better part of 6 days and nights to explore, and photograph the islands while we stay at the wonderful Woodwick House. We will have the opportunity to hear some live music, as we will be on Orkney during the annual Magnus festival.

We will have five full days to immerse ourselves into the history and beauty of Orkney. It is said that the difference between Orkney and Shetland is that Shetlanders are fishermen with farms, while Orcadians are farmers with boats. The flat and undulating islands with rich soil make the grass lush green and nurture summer crops of grain. The seventy islands contain the densest concentration of archaeological sites in Britain, testifying to their long history of settlement. It is also abundant in diverse bird life.

Kirkwall is a charming town with flag-stoned streets and a small, busy harbor; it is mainland Orkney’s administrative center. St. Magnus Cathedral is an 860-year-old architectural masterpiece made of yellow and red stone. Opposite the cathedral is the ruin of Earl’s Palace, a once splendid example of Renaissance architecture.

Orkney also has an important recent history with the almost enclosed waters

of Scapa Flow, which played an important part in both world wars. To the south of Kirkwall, the road runs over the Churchill Barriers, great causeways built by Italian prisoners of war to protect the British fleet stationed in the bay. They also built the Italian chapel which is close by.

Most of our time will be spent on Orkney Mainland, exploring its many megalithic sites, rolling landscapes, and jutted coastline. We will visit a number of these sites including: the Skara Brae stone village; the fascinating tomb at Maes Howe - older than the Pyramids with Viking graffiti you will not find in Egypt; the Broch of Gurness; the standing stones of Stenness; the stone village of Barnhouse; and, of course, the Ring of Brodgar, an impressive stone circle (36 standing stones) on the shore of Loch Stenness.

After enjoying our last day on Orkney, we will depart on an overnight ferry (included) to the port town of Lerwick, Shetland’s capital. We will be arriving on the ferry from Orkney early morning at Lerwick, Shetland’s capital, where the harbors seem to always be busy with both commercial shipping and pleasure boats. It is a pretty and friendly little town centrally situated on Mainland, giving easy access to just about anywhere on Shetland. We will photograph here, both in the daytime and in the late evening. The old streets and sea front, as well as Clickimin Broch give a variety of opportunities.

The Shetland Islands is a group of over a hundred cliff-edged islands forming the most northerly domain of Scotland. Shetlanders are a friendly people with a distinctive dialect derived from their long connection with Norway. Nowhere in Shetland is further than 3 miles from the sea; hence, fishing and salmon farming play an important role in the economy. Fine beaches and pretty inlets provide the visitor with lengths of striking coastline. Jarlshof Prehistoric and Norse Settlement, in the extreme south, is an archaeological site spanning 3,000 years from Neolithic to Viking times. Lerwick, Shetland’s chief town, is attractive, with flag-stoned wynds (narrow lanes), grey stone buildings and old ‘lodberries’ (houses with a private pier). We are sure to visit the Clickimin Broch (prehistoric fort), and possibly the ornate Mousa Broch on Mousa Island.

Shetland is a wonderfully attractive group of islands lying one hundred miles north of mainland Scotland. At 60° north, it is at a similar latitude to Anchorage; however, being warmed by the Gulf Stream, Shetland has a relatively mild climate, and in summer it boasts of more sunshine than anywhere else in the British Isles! It is less than one hundred miles from top to bottom, but has about a thousand miles of coastline; there are numerous beautiful deserted sandy beaches, contrasting with some of the most majestic and dramatic sea cliffs in Great Britain. In the south there are fertile farmlands, and as you travel north, these are gradually replaced by a wilder and rockier landscape.

The North Sea oil boom in the 1980’s, and the growth of modern salmon farming have helped make Shetland a surprisingly rich land with an impressive infrastructure of roads, ferries, and other facilities. There are relatively few visitors, but those that do come are rewarded in many ways!

There are many and varied photographic possibilities, consisting of the land, the coast, the sea, the archaeology, small towns, wildlife, and especially the birds, which will provide extraordinary opportunities. The air is clear and unpolluted; at the end of May we will have daylight until midnight, and the weather, although it can change quickly, will be at its best.

Shetland’s first settlers were as long ago as 5000 BC. There is good evidence from almost every age since then, and we will be able to visit and photograph many sites.

As an example at the most southerly tip of Shetland is Sumburgh. Here there are two of the best archaeological sites of the Isles, Jarlshof, and Old Scatness Broch. Both were occupied for many thousands of years, and lay preserved under sand dunes until rediscovered and excavated.

A little north of Sumburgh, one of the possible highlights of the tour will be an evening boat trip to Mousa, a small island off the east coast of Mainland, where we will visit Mousa Broch to listen and watch storm petrels, thousands of tiny little night flying birds nesting and brooding between the stones. Mousa Broch is itself one of the best preserved brochs known.

We will have many opportunities to see and photograph puffins and other birds. There are over a million breeding sea birds on Shetland, thanks to the warmed and thus enriched Atlantic and North Sea waters. Two of the best sites are at the north and south extremities of Shetland. At Sumburgh Head we will see puffins while walking the cliffs around the lighthouse. On Hermaness RSPB reserve on the island of Unst, we will see puffins and gannets in vast numbers from the top of the dramatic cliffs, and be able to look toward Muckle Flugga, Britain’s northernmost point of land.

On the morning of June 5th, we depart on an early morning flight to Edinburgh, in order to make connecting flights home in the late afternoon from EDI.

Cost

Land cost: $3645, based upon minimum of 5 paying passengers, maximum of 12, in shared accommodations. Single supplement, $595. All breakfasts, and dinners at Woodwick House are included.

Land Cost Note: International and Scotland internal airfare not included in land cost. Edinburgh-Orkney, Shetland-Edinburgh airfare will be booked by Strabo Tours to assure all passengers are on the same flight. It will be charged to participant credit card, at time of issuance. We encourage participants to sign up early to take advantage of lower fares. Estimates range from $225 to $500. You may wish to extend your stay in Edinburgh pre-post tour in order to recover from jet lag, assure timing for internal flights, and to enjoy the sites. Please contact Straboo Tours for recommendations. Lance Keimig and Strabo Tours are not responsible for missed connections.

For more information or to register, please call Jacque at Strabo Tours:
(607) 756-8676
Photos ©2009, Sam Gardener and Lance Keimig