The isle of Mousa is a small, uninhabited bit of land off the east coast of Shetland’s South Mainland. Most famous for its beautifully preserved broch (stone tower), a cruise to Scotland’s Mousa Island also offers its travelers the chance to view a myriad of seabirds and marine mammals.
The Shetlands boast about 120 brochs, which were built in the Iron Age (600 BC to 500 AD), during a period of increasing unrest. Brochs are round stone towers that were used to provide short-term defense against invaders—or neighbors holding grudges. After 100 AD, these structures were probably used less for defense and more as status symbols. Over the years, many brochs were dismantled so that their stones could be used for other buildings. Due to its remote location, the Mousa Broch remained safe from such dismantling, making it the best-preserved example of its kind.
Mousa Broch stands almost 44 feet high, and is built with local quarried stone formed into two concentric stone walls. During your trip, take the spiral staircase built between the walls. It allows visitors to reach the top of the broch and walk around the top of the tower. Hundreds of storm petrels make their homes within the broch’s walls in the summer months, and after spending the days feeding out at sea, they return to their nests under the cover of darkness. Midnight excursions to watch and hear the storm petrels is a thrilling experience for anyone on a Scotland cruise to the Shetland Islands.
Other seabirds that breed on Mousa include fulmars, black guillemots, red-throated divers, great skuas, Arctic skuas, and Arctic terns. Beware of Arctic terns—they fiercely guard their territory, often dive-bombing those who disturb their nesting sites. The sea mammals that swim around the isle are less threatening to those enjoying travel in the region; harbor porpoises are common in the Mousa Sound, and are especially exciting to see in the summer when the young are born. Common seals also give birth in the summer, and those wanting to see seal pups should walk around to Mousa’s East and West Pools. Since both common seals and grey seals have become accustomed to visitors, it is possible to have a great view of these animals, and they should not be missed.
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
4 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
5 days ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
1 week ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.