P2P Day 5: In Search of the Loch Ness Monster (and Other Things in Scotland)

Ohmigod! Is that her? Is that Nessie?

Today was the day they went looking for Nessie.
This is not a hard thing for a Santa Cruz girl to do.

We are always hippie and dippie and we trust in lots of things like the Universe, legalizing pot and respecting all sorts of lifestyles. Why looking for the Loch Ness Monster is just another day in paradise.

The kids stayed at the Youth Hostel in Inverness for another night and so I went on Google maps to get the lay of the land.

Lock Ness is just a jaunt down the road a bit and as I zoomed out, I noticed a rather interesting thing - clearly something most Californians would notice, or geologists - Loch Ness is sitting on a fault line (the red dot is the loch).

Sure looks like the San Andreas fault to me!

In fact, it sits on the Great Glen Fault, which is a strike-slip fault dividing the north and south of Scotland. Loch Ness is also near the Cairngorms National Park which is where you'll find Balmoral Castle (the place Queen Victoria described as her "dear paradise in the Highlands"). But the kids won't get to see that. They will be heading the other direction tomorrow - south to Glasgow on their way to Ireland.

The day included some other great things as well! I can't wait to hear stories about Scottish farming, sheepdogs, sheep shearing and the Highland Games!

They are still cut off from the Internet - I can't imagine the pain they must be in, poor sweeties.

From the People to People Itinerary

This morning we go hunting for Nessie! The worldwide fame of Loch Ness owes more to the legend of its famous occupant, the Loch Ness Monster - or 'Nessie' - than the breathtaking location of the loch itself. You will learn about the research undertaken in the past by explorers seeking the monster.

Spend the afternoon with a visit a traditional Scottish farm and learn about the training for sheepdogs as you observe them performing under full control of their handler in the beautiful surroundings of the Scottish highlands. 

As part of the sheepdog demonstrations, you will also get to see first-hand sheep shearing (watch because you can't understand a word he says), try bottle-feeding orphan lambs and watch the collie dog pups herd ducks (watch) instead of sheep as part of their training.

Take part in Highland Games with a Highland Chieftain and a prize for the winning team! You'll also be visiting a working farm, a traditional sweet shop and encountering life in a 1700s Highland township at the Highland Folk Museum (and look at these images, I couldn't decide on just one!)

Loch Ness