Wild Wisdom Ways
Course

Course overview

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This course will teach you how to hone your senses, develop your mutisensory skills, and deepen your ability to walk in the world with the understanding that 'all is one'. Enhancing your sense of wholeness will be achieved by working directly with the powerful natural and spiritual environment of Ynys Enlli. This is both a chance to reconnect with nature and give you a chance to ‘switch off’. Spend a  week under the stars, surrounded by wildlife, spirituality, history and the elements. This is a unique and very special course and retreat.

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Ynys Enlli - A place of nature

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Ynys Enlli - island of the tides - lies 3km from the very tip of the Llyn Penninsula, North Wales and is surrounded by strong currents which whip around the island's coastline and coves. It is a National Nature Reserve and nationally and internationally important for wildlife. This includes Choughs, Grey Seals, Puffins and a colony of 25,000 Manx shearwaters. There have been 332 species of birds recorded on the island, and it is a key migratory route for birds. It is also home to rare flowering plants, lichens, liverworts and mosses, coastal grassland and heathland, sea-cliff ledges and marine wildlife. ​​

 

The sights, sounds and smells of Enlli’s wildlife are unforgettable. Sit and listen to the seals singing on a calm Summers day, listen to the cacophany of Manx Shearwaters arriving back to land overnight and calling to one another under our dark skies, or lie amongst the bright pink thrift which flowers across the coastal edges of the island.

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Ynys Enlli - A place of spirituality

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Enlli has ancient and strong spiritual roots. St Cadfan founded a Christian community on Ennli 1500 years ago and 20,000 saints are reputed to have been buried in or near the site. In the Middle Ages, two pilgrimages to Bardsey were considered as good as one to Rome. At this time pilgrims in their thousands were finding their way to Bardsey Island, drawn here by stories of the special peace to be found at the edge of the western world – drawn to the place of the setting sun, with only the vast ocean between them and the unknown reaching out to God. The sacred sense and mystery still draws many pilgrims on personal journeys of all kinds of faith to Enlli today, with Enlli beign the final final destination of the "Welsh Camino" - the North Wales Pilgrims Way or Taith Pererin Gogledd Cymru. 

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Ynys Enlli - A Dark Skies Sanctuary

Enlli was the first site in Europe to achieve status as an International Dark Sky Sanctuary, with certification in 2023 by the International Dark Skies Association. International Dark Sky Sanctuaries are typically situated in a very remote location with few nearby threats to the quality of its dark night skies. With its new designation, Enlli meets strict criteria and joins just 16 other sites worldwide. The location of Enlli and its geographical features make it one of the darkest places in the UK – with the mountain on the island serving as an effective barrier, limiting light from the mainland. The closest major light pollution comes from Dublin, which is over 70 miles (113km) across the Irish Sea.

 

Read more about Enlli on the Trust's website here​​​

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Your Accommodation:

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You will be staying in one of the grade II listed houses on the island, rented from the Bardsey Island Trust. The houses are well build but  traditional with basic facilities. All houses are off grid with compost toilets, but they all have a small fridge/freezer, gas cooker and over, solar lamps, and most have wood burning stoves. 

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​​Your Investment: 

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£850 per person.

 

This includes: 7 nights accommodation, boat travel to and from the island, training, a guided tour by the wardens, and one evening meal. 

 

This does not include: ​You will need to bring your own food and sheets to cover the bedding. A plan for communal cooking will be established before the event. Given tides and weather, you will also not know your time of departure on the boat (which leaves near from Porth Meudwy near Aberdaron) until the night before you travel to the island. You will therefore also need to book accommodation in the locality the night before you travel. Public transport is limited in the region, but there will be opportunities for lift sharing. Nearest rail stations are Bangor, Porthmadog and Pwllheli. 

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