Page 212 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL FALL 2021 DISCOVERING SANTA FE

f you're going to get sick, be and solar. (In fact, in 2020 it was hon-
sure it's on a Wednesday,” ored with the prestigious United King-
my Isle of Eigg tour guide/ dom Gold Ashden Award for energy
“I driver pointed out. “That's efficiency.)
the day the doctor arrives by ferry from And it has more sheep than people!
Skye.” As well as roaming cows known to block
Brian Greene was filling in for Charlie the narrow roads, testing drivers' pa-
Galli, this tiny Scot- tience.
tish island's usual taxi Backing up a
driver (and only bit, some of you
source of public may recall seeing
transportation), who this remote area
was stuck on the profiled in No-
mainland for a week, vember 2017 on
patiently awaiting “60 Minutes.”
space for his van on It's “some re-
the ferry to return ally obscure
home. place that you've
So Brian, who has never heard of
lived on this 3 x 6 mile Inner Hebrides and are not likely to visit,” commented
island since 1979, had volunteered his correspondent Steve Kroft in his intro.
car to drive my husband Carl and me on “I want to go there!” I exclaimed to
the single-track road around this gor- Carl after we watched the episode of
geous green area, affectionately the island's charming, resilient--yet
dubbed the “People's Republic of Eigg” quirky--residents.
by its 109 population!
And I had no idea that just two years
Following an unhappy laird—“estate later, in November 2019, we would be
owner”--leadership history (long story), here as curious, traipsing tourists.
since 1997 the island has been owned
For about two hours.
by the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust, a
Until Covid hit, some 11,000 visitors
community ownership that raised $2.5
million from 10,000 individual contribu- would come here each year via ferry—
mostly as day-trippers, as we were,
tions and one extremely generous
since accommodations are few.
anonymous donor. As Britain's most
eco-friendly island, it boasts the world's Tourists hike the white, sandy beaches;
enjoy bird-watching, lobster fishing,
first fully renewable powered electric
daytime boat cruises, kayaking,
grid, generating its own electricity from
a combination of wind, hydroelectric, stargazing—just relaxing.

212 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE FALL 2021