We spent the morning cruising Kyle Rhea and the Sound of Sleat as we made our way towards the island of Mull. Despite ominous dark clouds, the weather held out and it was warm enough to sit out on deck.

It was Sunday, and at 12:20 there was a Sunday worship service held in the library, officiated by the captain. Then at 12:30 it was time for another excellent lunch. There was a Sunday roast option, which was delicious.

In the afternoon we anchored off of the town on Tobermory. You could either take a tender to explore the town, or board a boat to Lunga Island to see puffins. As much as I would have loved to see the town, the opportunity to get up close and personal with puffins is one I just couldn’t miss.

The tour boat from Staffa Tours came by our ship, and we piled in, excited about our pending puffin trip. It took us about an hour and a half to get to Lunga, but the tour guide kept us entertained with information about the bird life of the passing islands.

When we arrived at Lunga they had an ingenious way of getting us ashore. There was a pontoon tied up to a buoy, and they untied it and attached it to our boat. They then went close to the shore, and manipulated the pontoon so one end was still attached to the boat, and the other was on the shore. Voila! An easy way to walk ashore from the tour boat. No need for a wet beach landing.

The puffins live on plateaus on the island, and these are accessed by a fairly steep muddy path, and the ascent involves clambering over large boulders. This seemed like a recipe for disaster, and I could quite see me slipping and plummeting to the rocks below. However, I was extremely careful, and made it to the plateau without incident. I was feeling quite proud of myself achieving this at my age, but then I watched my fellow passengers clambering up the hillside with great ease and grace. Many of them were well into their 80s, and far more accomplished at boulder climbing than I have ever been. Oh well, I do hope that I can still clamber up hillsides when I am in my 80s.

I was very focused on not losing my footing as I neared the top, but suddenly I looked up, and there was a puffin staring down at me! No more watching where my feet were going, I was much more interested in puffin watching.

David , our guide, had told us that the puffins like people. That is because when we are milling around them and oohing and aahing about how ridiculously cute they are, eagles and seagulls, and other egg eaters stay away. They do not care to be around us. Thus when we are there the puffins know that  their eggs are safe from predators. I am more than happy to help out!

We were able to spend an hour getting to know the puffins. You have to stay away from the cliff edge, so as not to potentially crush an egg, but quite honestly staying away from cliff edges makes a lot of sense even when they aren’t puffin eggs involved.

I sat on the ground at a safe distance from the edge, and the puffins wondered over to where I was and had a good time checking me out. I was very flattered. I later learned that it had nothing to do with my animal magnetism, it’s just that they like orange, and I had my orange  rain jacket on.

All too soon, we had to wend our way down the slippery slope to the pontoon in order to get back on the tour boat.

Reluctantly I bade my puffin friends a fond farewell. It had been a truly magical experience. They are every bit as cute as I had imagined. I can’t wait to tell my little grandson who is a big fan of the TV show “Puffin Rock” all about my wonderful time with the puffins.

Back on the ship everyone was excited about the great day they had enjoyed. I think that Richard, our captain, was relieved that we hadn’t had to miss Lunga because of the weather.

It was time to get changed for dinner and go to the lounge for a predinner glass (or 2) of champagne and canapes. As usual Captain Richard joined us to let us know about our plans for the next day.

Weather permitting his goal was to spend the morning cruising the west coast of Mull on our way toward the Small Isles, and then to have a beach landing at Kilmory Bay on the Isle of Rum. We will walk on the beach and go looking for red deer.

It’s our last full day on board, and sounds like a perfect way to spend it.