We went with John, and for part of the trip his fellow guide Derek, for ten days on a custom tour in in May – June 2022.
I can say that the experience that Scotland’s Wild provided was first rate. I had never travelled this way before, and had some trepidation as to whether I would like the “tour thing”, envisioning being herded on and off of a bus; but what I experienced here was marvellous.
A few high points:
• John is very knowledgeable, knowing a wealth of out-of-the-way sites that he took us to. I especially appreciated going to the Neolithic locations; it’s interesting to think that Picts and Vikings walked over these structures, saying to themselves: “Wow! This looks old!”
I will add that where he may not know as much about a particular location, he works hard to research it to be ready…. a good example was the work he did in finding out about the neighborhood that my Grandfather lived in in Dundee before his family and him emigrated.
• John is also very accommodating. Our group was large and mixed, being composed of two family groups (from two traditionally warring clans at that!); he happily worked to find locations of interest and family significance to both, as well as many others that we had no idea even existed. Shoot, he was even willing to take us into enemy territory, seeing locations in (gasp!) northern England!
We were also a group of disparate interests, ages and ability levels, and he worked very hard to accommodate this. His accommodation of my elderly mother was especially marvellous to see; he, and Derek, very much went out of their way to make sure she was well taken care of.
• Finally, I would say that the physical arrangements were great. The places we stayed in were eclectic and definitely had character; but there were a number that were especially marvellous – a castle, a couple of amazing B&Bs, an old and classy railway hotel just to name a few. Considering that we had instructed him to keep accommodations modest, what he was able to provide within these parameters was fantastic.
• Oh, and finally-finally … only John in our group was able to lift the Manhood Stone …. I think that that speaks for itself.
Overall I would highly recommend Scotland’s Wild.
