Scotland
Mingulay
An evacuated island where seabirds inherit the village and 215-metre cliffs guard the Atlantic edge.
The village was evacuated in 1912 — roofless houses now face the Atlantic in a row of open mouths, and the 215-metre sea cliffs on the western side drop vertically into water teeming with seabirds. Mingulay is what happens when people leave and nature accepts the invitation.
Mingulay lies near the southern tip of the Outer Hebrides, its last residents leaving in 1912 after centuries of deepening isolation — the abandoned village on the eastern shore keeps its stone houses, schoolroom and chapel in various stages of return to the land, evidence of hard choices rather than scenery arranged to look forlorn. The western cliffs rank among the highest sea cliffs in Britain, holding fulmars, razorbills, puffins and guillemots in internationally significant numbers, many now nesting in the village ruins themselves. Access is by small boat from Barra in settled summer weather — no pier, no shelter from swell, landings entirely at the sea's discretion. The island even carries its own tune: the rowing rhythm of the Mingulay Boat Song echoes the crossing.
Solo
Walking the abandoned village alone, seabirds overhead and the Atlantic behind — human absence and natural abundance combined into something profound.
Friends
Chartering a boat from Barra and landing together — the expedition format suits an island that demands commitment just to reach.
- The 1912 evacuation left roofless houses facing the Atlantic in a row of open mouths.
- Western cliffs fall 215 metres sheer into seabird-thick water.
- A small boat from Barra is the sole approach, landing at the swell's discretion.
- Puffins and razorbills now nest in the village their neighbours abandoned.
No food, no shelter, no people — only puffin colonies wheeling above the landing rocks.
Carry all you need across from Barra; the swell alone earns every sandwich.
Cruzinha da Garça
Cape Verde
Twelve kilometres of cliff-carved path end at a fishing hamlet on black sand.
Clearwater River
Canada
A wilderness river of glass-clear water runs the old voyageur road through roadless boreal forest.
Millpu
Peru
A chain of electric-blue pools threading a pale limestone gorge in the high Andes.
Assynt
Scotland
Solitary mountains erupt from a moonscape of lochs and bog like cathedrals without congregations.
Rum
Scotland
A volcanic island where a shuttered Edwardian castle guards its orchestrion and faded excess.
Hoy
Scotland
A 137-metre sandstone stack stands alone in the Atlantic, defying every storm thrown at it.
Kintail
Scotland
Five ridges fall in parallel from cloud into the sea loch like a giant hand opening.