For an hour after we leave the path we claw our way along the vertiginous
mountainside. As we pause to scan the valley for signs of our prey, I cling
to a clump of coarse grass as I attempt to control my panting and steady the
scope. The head stalker, Niall Rowantree, who has been bounding ahead of me
with the sure-footedness of an alpine goat, is breathing easily.
We creep onwards. I have detected no sign of the herd of red deer we had
spotted earlier, but Rowantree seems to know where he is going. We scramble
over rocks and then he turns and places a finger to his lips. He beckons me forward:
"Straight ahead, 25 yards." My heart is galloping as I peek over a boulder.
There, staring straight at me, rigidly alert and sniffing the air, is a
magnificent stag. I hardly dare breathe. I feel like an animal.
Earlier in the day, with a sniper's rifle, I managed to put two out of four
shots into a four-inch circle in the middle of a target at 100 metres. I was
told that after a day's practice I would be ready to attempt a kill. At this
distance, I feel sure even I couldn't miss. "He knows there's something
here, but can't see us yet," Rowantree hisses.
The rifle remains in its case. Shooting was never my intention. I couldn't
kill such a wonderful creature, although I appreciate the need to cull deer.
But as the stag turns and trots off, I appreciate the truth of Rowantree's
comment that in these days of high-performance rifles, "the approach is
where the sport is."
Stalking is something I had always wanted to try, and doing exactly what you
want, where you want, is the whole point of Scotland's most exclusive
tourism packages. I was part of a small group sampling the sort of luxurious
weekend laid on for American tycoons, Russian billionaires and the new breed
of Asian high-rollers.
Husband and wife David and Holly Tobin have launched Dream Escapes, a bespoke
travel agent for those who have the money to buy experiences not available
to the rest of us. Take our accommodation. We were billeted at Corrour
Lodge, a modern castle on the shores of Loch Ossian on the 50,000-acre
Corrour estate, owned by an heir to the Rausing TetraPak billions. The
estate is in one of the most remote areas of Scotland and home to what
connoisseurs believe is some of the finest stalking in the world.
The lodge lurks some 12 miles down a private road. You are paying for, among
other things, seclusion. Designed by Moshe Safdie, as a castle it doesn't
completely work. The decision to ship in, presumably at vast expense,
granite from Portugal, rather than using the local stuff, seems perverse. It
has a breeze-blocky feel and the giant conical windows are a little jarring.
But there is much to delight inside: a glass-walled library, an eclectic
collection of modern art with centuries-old tapestries and the
9,000-year-old antlers of an Irish elk.
There are wonderful nooks to explore. An ingenious bunk room, with ladders and
rigging, can accommodate 15 kids. And the views over the loch from the
bedrooms are world-class. You don¹t have to walk far from the castle for it
to be dwarfed by its landscape.
We spent a fascinating couple of hours with an entertaining falconer who
introduced us to a glorious golden eagle and several birds, all tethered
because "if they were loose there would be one big eagle". We took a boat
out on a distant loch for a picnic, drank rare whiskies with a leading
whisky writer and flew by helicopter to Skye for lunch at the Three
Chimneys, the world-famous restaurant in a restored crofter's cottage. A
happy reunion for me because I spent three nights of my honeymoon stuffing
my face there.
The flight through the Cuillins, flying very close to the ground along the
rugged contours, buzzing to the top of the peaks and then dropping down the
other side, was the thrilling highlight of the trip.
After our weekend, David Tobin was hosting a 60th birthday party for a Russian
billionaire who was staying at another castle. Every detail had been seen
to, from a massive firework display to specially commissioned oil paintings
of the views from the windows.
Although smaller lodges on the Corrour estate are available to anyone, the
family only recently decided to rent out the castle. It costs upwards of
£25,000 for the week, including food and drink; even then, visitors are
vetted to ensure they meet the owners' approval. To take a group of six on
our weekend would set you back £33,500. If that sounds rather modest, Dream
Escape can get you into Mount Stuart, on the Isle of Bute. That will also
cost you £25,000. A day.
As I left Corrour, Rowantree suggested that I "come back and kill something".
I think I'll stick with the memories. Until I secure a fossil-fuel monopoly
in a former Soviet republic I'll have to.
Need to know
Dream Escape offers an all-inclusive Corrour Experience from £6,500 per
person, based on six people for four days and three nights, including sports
car transfers (www.rioprestige.com),
meals, house wines, falconry display (www.westhighlandhawking.com),
helicopter transfers to the Three Chimneys (www.threechimneys.co.uk),
lunch and Talisker tour, sniper training, pony trekking, fishing, boat
trips, cooking demo at Abstract
(www.abstractrestaurant.com)
and gala dinner with rare whisky tasting and eight-course tasting menu. For
more information, go to www.dreamescape.co.uk.
