Page 131 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SUMMER 2024 LIMA

I’LL TAKE THE HIGH ROAD f all the experiences I had

anticipated in Scotland,
An Off-Roading Adventure in the Scottish Highlands bumping and (gear) grinding
my way up an unpaved
O mountain road with a kilt-
wearing comedian riding shotgun had hon‐
estly never crossed my mind. It’s like an
episode of Carpool Karaoke, only with less
singing, more squealing, and three ashen-
faced New Yorkers in the back.
This riotous undertaking was a last-
minute addition to a four-day, coast-to-
coast program created for my companions
and I by Luxury Scotland Tours. Ruaridh
Norton and Struan Baird, who co-founded
the company in 2019, pride themselves on
swiftly and efficiently composing five-star
bespoke itineraries, sometimes in as little
as 24 hours. So, when Storm Babet blew in
on the eve of our arrival, bringing Biblical
bluster and rain, their quick-thinking team
ditched our boat tour of Loch Lomond—
now whipped into white caps by the wind---
and substituted a two-hour drive with 4x4
Adventures Scotland through the wild, un‐
dulating woodlands of a 45,000-acre es‐
tate overlooking Loch Lomond and Loch
Long.
I was fine with the change, imagining
we would be chauffeured by an affable
bloke with a burred brogue periodically
shouting, “Look! Haggis on the hoof!” I had
at least half that equation right, as our 4x4
guide, Stuart Bradley, proves to be a gre‐
garious, wise-cracking bear of a man, with
a beard as bushy as the sporran on his kilt.
“The kilt is not terribly practical for
jumping in and out of a Land Rover,”
Bradley admits, “so it’s more for your ben‐
efit than mine.”

Stuart Bradley leads off-roading driving sessions with 4x4 Adventures Scotland.

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