Rocked back and forth by gentle winds – and the occasional stronger gust – there was little else to do in this 10-seater plane than peer down at Scotland beneath me, Highlands, lochs and coast drifting by.
Like an unfinished painting, the scenery is patchy and blurred in spots, but the hint of detail pulls you in: the white of a lighthouse, the depth of a gorge, contrast of ruined buildings being swamped by nature. The sun flickered off the sea, as though the waves were wrapped in cellophane, and there was no hint of restlessness in the water. The scale of the region is humbling, especially from that vantage point.
My mind, preoccupied with a thought: “Is there anything they can’t Uber?”
I was soaring over the western border of Scotland for a first taste of the new experience being offered by the ubiquitous US tech firm. For three days later this month, Uber Seaplane will take to the skies from a jetty on the bank of Loch Lomond, following a route that almost mirrors the majestic West Highland Way – and incredibly, it’s free.
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Pilot John DiMarco – who previously flew seaplanes around the Maldives archipelago – brought the aircraft to life once our seatbelts were fastened. Every seat is a window seat on the Cessna 208 Caravan; you’re low enough to almost feel the splash of loch water during take-off, smoother than one might expect – a gasp of stillness when you’re finally in flight. A short climb and the horizon filled with scarped hillsides, covered with greens and browns. The crisscross of roads and scattering of houses peeled away.
With each tilt of the wings, Scotland’s raw beauty was on show. Clouds clung to the peak of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles, as we stream past. The route takes in miles of the Glencoe Valley and the Trossachs, where from up high, oak, pine, and birch trees soften otherwise craggy terrain. You’ll spot the sweep of the Glenfinnan Viaduct, recognisable from scenes in the Harry Potter film series when the Hogwarts Express steams across.
And what’s that in my ear as we gazed down? The velvety brogue of Alan Cummings, Scottish actor and host of The Traitors US, who provides an audio guide for the tour. In his…
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