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“I am being eaten alive!” cried Pippin. “Midgewater! There are more midges than water!”
“What do they live on when they can’t get hobbit?” asked Sam, scratching his neck.
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Well, Master Gamgee, they live on me, for one — at least that day we went traipsing ’round Skye on a wet, windless, beautifully gloomy day. Multiple websites warned me of midges, but like many other bad stuff, you don’t really think midges will happen to you until they do. And besides it isn’t really fun going on a tour of Skye dressed like this:
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Not that a swarm of midges covering your face is too fun, either, but…you know…when you think of going to see the Fairy Pools, you don’t really think: Oooh! I’m going to the Fairy Pools! I’m going to wear protective clothing and put a net over my face like a keeper of radioactive bees! (Though if you have thought that, I can tell you you’ve got your priorities straight and that I wish to emulate your sensibility in future. Or at least I will bring bug spray.)
According to Donald Nicolson, our guide, midges tend to congregate near bodies of water and they’re most active when there’s no wind. They don’t bother you when you’re walking but when you stop — to take photos, for instance — they instantly descend upon every exposed part of your body. I thought midges would be like mosquitoes — which we have a lot of in the Philippines, that’s why I thought I could handle midges easily — but they look more like flies and they bite more like fleas. And it wasn’t even the midge bites that bothered me so much; it was that they were all over my face and I nearly inhaled a few of them a couple of times! Inhaling midges = so not fun.
Still, all those midge bites and near inhalations were worth it. I’d gladly play midge meal again if it meant going back to views such as these:
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Mountains in Scotland that are over 3,000 feet are called Munros. There are 282 Munros and some people make it a mission to climb all of them — these people are called Munro baggers (a term that rolls off the tongue so satisfyingly, probably because it reminds me of Bungo Baggins). Anyway, I could be mistaken but I believe that ragged tooth-like structure in the last photo above is the Inaccessible Pinnacle (referred to fondly as the In-Pin or In Pinn) which is notorious among Munro baggers as the only Munro that needs to be ascended by rock climbing.
Sligachan, above, was our first stop (and my first encounter with midges). I’ll post in greater detail about some of the other stops later, but here’s a quick look.
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The Fairy Pools
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The Fairy Glen
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The Quiraing
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Kilt Rock
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Lealt Falls
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And the Old Man of Storr
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Sigh. Scotland. So worth a few midge bites.
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© Small-Town Girls, Midnight Trains. All rights reserved.
You have so captured the beauty of Scotland it’s almost enough to make me want to actually go there 🙂
But perhaps, given the midges I’ll content myself with vicariously travelling with you 🙂
Alison
Oh no! Don’t let the midges keep you away! 🙂 I’m not an expert but I read somewhere that they usually only last until the end of September and then the new generation only pops up when the weather gets warm, so there’s a good relatively midge-free window.
Oh my gosh, so beautiful! Especially the Fairy Pools, wow! But yeah scary and midges ha, labi na I am such a magnet for mosquitoes pa lang daan!
Bitaw dais, apparently naa jud diay mga taw duolonon ug mosquitoes, and I think the same factors that attract mosquitoes are the same things that attract midges. BUT dili man ko duolonon ug mosquitoes and yet gi-duol man ko ug midges so I think di ra kaayo mu-make ug difference hehe! Cover up lang jud and apparently the anti-midge sprays work to an extent…akong kauban sa tour nag-spray, apparently medyo mu-duol gihapon ang midges but they won’t bite you if you apply the spray daw.
I love how green it is over there. I don’t think I’ve ever seen midges.
Are you still going to Japan?
Hi Boots! I’m here now! Got lost 3x in 2 days lol
Oh wow!! Ok can’t wait to read your blog about Tokyo! And yes it’s easy to get lost there lol!