Travel tips for the American going back to "The Homeland"

[vmac3205]

All good info for our trip this August. No mention of midges while camping though.

[SoulFyre777]

No mention of midges while camping though.

Isn't THAT the truth?! I came back from Scotland looking like I had the worst case of chicken pox ever seen! haha

Me to my wife right about dusk: "Honey, what's that black cloud over there moving towards us?"

Then: "Oh look! They're just gnats... "

I felt a bit Custer-like about 10 seconds later.... haha

[Lachlan09]

Isn't THAT the truth?! I came back from Scotland looking like I had the worst case of chicken pox ever seen! haha

Me to my wife right about dusk: "Honey, what's that black cloud over there moving towards us?"

Then: "Oh look! They're just gnats... "

I felt a bit Custer-like about 10 seconds later.... haha

The legendary midges reminds me of hot summer of 1971, when my big brother, his mate and I all piled into my brother’s almond-green Mini Traveller - reg BVD 744C (a woodless Mini-estate) and toured our way up to Skye (long before the Skye bridge). Camping at Elgol, we woke one beautiful morn to find a Harley and on the ground, a filled sleeping-bag with no head. It was all coated in midges !!! Eventually, the butterfly emerged from the cocoon – an American traveler, biking wherever his wheels took him. The midges rose and swirled around. He was a good guy, pretty laid-back and hippy-like. He told us he was touring around as opportunity took him as long as it wasn’t the USA. He told us he was avoiding the draft. Whether that was true I really don’t know, but he looked cool, not out of place in “Easy Rider” !

The previous year, my big brother, 3 of his mates and I had hiked through Skye and it started off at Broadford. My introduction to Sgianach midges ! They were so bad that we had to wear our army-green towels wrapped round our faces arab-shemagh style, just our eyes showing. We were frying sausages and the midges kept dive-bombing the frying-pan, so much so that you’d think the sausages were covered in poppy-seeds ! We ate them anyway ! Our tents were near the road leading to the YMCA. As we were frying, a group of YMCA’ers were walking briskly (scout-style) toward the YMCA, all heartily singing “Hava Negeila”. For tongue-in-cheek devilment, still wearing our shemaghs, we stood and started to chant “El Fahta ! El Fahta ! El Fahta !”. That caused a few heads to turn and stopped the singing ! Wuah Hah Hah !!

BTW – anyone come across clegs ? Now that is pain in a brown, fly-sized package ! They are relentless and almost psychopathic !! With their lifeless brown eyes, they even follow you into the sea to bite you painfully and suck your blood !! I hate them ! Argyll’s full of them !

[creagdhubh]

Been going home to Scotland almost every summer, some falls, some winters, and some springs, since I was a wee boy. I love the midges of Badenoch!!! LOL! Great video mate.

[SoulFyre777]

The legendary midges reminds me of hot summer of 1971, when my big brother, his mate and I all piled into my brother’s almond-green Mini Traveller - reg BVD 744C (a woodless Mini-estate) and toured our way up to Skye (long before the Skye bridge). Camping at Elgol, we woke one beautiful morn to find a Harley and on the ground, a filled sleeping-bag with no head. It was all coated in midges !!! Eventually, the butterfly emerged from the cocoon – an American traveler, biking wherever his wheels took him. The midges rose and swirled around. He was a good guy, pretty laid-back and hippy-like. He told us he was touring around as opportunity took him as long as it wasn’t the USA. He told us he was avoiding the draft. Whether that was true I really don’t know, but he looked cool, not out of place in “Easy Rider” !

The previous year, my big brother, 3 of his mates and I had hiked through Skye and it started off at Broadford. My introduction to Sgianach midges ! They were so bad that we had to wear our army-green towels wrapped round our faces arab-shemagh style, just our eyes showing. We were frying sausages and the midges kept dive-bombing the frying-pan, so much so that you’d think the sausages were covered in poppy-seeds ! We ate them anyway ! Our tents were near the road leading to the YMCA. As we were frying, a group of YMCA’ers were walking briskly (scout-style) toward the YMCA, all heartily singing “Hava Negeila”. For tongue-in-cheek devilment, still wearing our shemaghs, we stood and started to chant “El Fahta ! El Fahta ! El Fahta !”. That caused a few heads to turn and stopped the singing ! Wuah Hah Hah !!

BTW – anyone come across clegs ? Now that is pain in a brown, fly-sized package ! They are relentless and almost psychopathic !! With their lifeless brown eyes, they even follow you into the sea to bite you painfully and suck your blood !! I hate them ! Argyll’s full of them !

Great stories! As far as clegs go, to be honest, I'm just an ignorant Yank... Quite possible with the bevy of bites I had on my arms and legs upon my return. In Fort William, I was doing some sunset photography right on the edge of the loch of an old, rundown pier and was just about devoured completely by the midges. Hard lesson learned but some fantastic shots!

[Lachlan09]

The infamous cleg or clegg – it’s apparently a type of horsefly ! Horrible critters ! I guess they were a little short of 1 inch long and were a grayish-brown colour with similar large eyes. They made a low whirring sound which sounded positively evil and no matter how much you shooed them, they wouldn’t give up or scoot off and come back later. They would dodge your best shot and relentlessly move in again for the blood-sucking bite every time !!

I only ever came across them in the Highlands, particularly the West Coast.

[OC Richard]

Here's a skit about Scots ex-pats who've lived in Canada for many years returning to their homeland...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q7t9AUuVSg