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Scotland: Boat trip to Mull, Staffa and Iona

A couple of weeks in advance, I'd booked a sailing with Staffa Tours, on their Early Bird excursion. I got up bright and early for the ferry from Oban to Craignure on the Isle of Mull. TripAdvisor:
"Took a trip on a CalMac ferry over to Craignure on the east coast of the Isle of Mull (appx. 50 minutes). Nice trip on a solid, if unspectacular ship. Staff were polite and friendly. The grub in the cafe is also solid and unspectacular. Great views from the observation deck, especially of the sunrise as we headed out of Oban."

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I have video:


Over on Mull, I got on a bus to the west end of Mull, called Fionnphort. As for Mull itself, I will simply paste this excerpt from my review about Staffa:
"You should be aware that different parts of the trip seem to be organized by different companies, something I wasn't aware of when booking. There was no commentary from the bus driver on the 75-80 minutes tour across Mull, although a ton of deer, highland cattle, some spectacular scenery and I'm sure quite a lot of cultural history flew by. Not one peep from the driver."

Some Shaggy Coos along the way.
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I believe this was a hawk of some kind.
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At Fionnphort, we were loaded into a small boat and taken out to Staffa. Before landing, we were given a short talk on the geology and history of the island. It is part of the same volcanic eruptions that created Giant's Causeway over in Northern Ireland, and the scenery here is a condensed version of that place, though not nearly as much visited by tourists.
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Video with some sound of what we were told.


It looks like a giant went crazy with lego.
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Just ga-ga.
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Video of the area just beyond the landing site, on the opposite side of the way to Fingal's Cave.


There was a tiny island right next to Staffa, with a narrow channel between them. Here, the basalt blocks seemed to lie diagonally.
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Sometimes, the water made a noise and rushed down the narrow channel faster and with more force than normal. I got video.


More video.


For parts of the way to Fingal's Cave, you had to hold on to a railing.
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Said Fingal's Cave. It has inspired composers and poets and painters throughout the ages.
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Here be dragons.
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Video from Fingal's Cave.


Naturally, I was skeptical of Staffa.
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