I've felt privileged to be able to volunteer here in Eilean Ban and stay in the home of Gavin Maxwell, writes Lesley Kahney.
His life was a magical story of happiness, adventure, tragedy and loss.
Many have been touched by the magic of Gavin's writing and fascinated by one man's incredible relationship with wild animals.
Working here can't pass without a word about him.
Some people might remember the film version of his book 'Ring of Bright Water'.
If you haven't come across one of Gavin's eleven books, he is definitely worth a read.
Gavin wrote lyrically about his life with his otters at his idyll home 'Camusfearna' in the Western Highlands.
This was a house with no running water, electricity or other home comforts, down on a beach, surrounded by a ring of sparkling sea.
His descriptive writing evokes the beauty of the landscape and the unique relationship between man and otter.
His otters were wild yet domesticated and came and went freely in Gavin's home.
It is likely that it was this trust of people that led to one of his otters, Mijbil, being tragically killed when he wandered too far from his Camusfearna home.
While Gavin did research for his books he had help from people like Jimmy Watts and Terry Nutkins of 'Animal Magic' and 'The Really Wild Show' TV programmes fame.
On a winter's night in 1968 Camusfearna burnt down, killing Edal, one of his later otters. Gavin was lucky to escape with Teko one of his other otters and Andrew his assistant. They moved to Eilean Ban, the White Island (as it translates), off the Isle of Skye which has a Stevenson lighthouse, a bothy, a wildlife hide and two lighthouse keepers' cottages that Gavin had converted into one building and renovated for his home.
This island became Gavin's 'Avalon' after the sadness of loosing Camusfearna, but the happiness was not to last for long.
Gavin died 18 months later from lung cancer in 1969.
Nothing remains now of Camusfearna except for the ring of bright water and an atmosphere of peace and enchantment. Gavin's ashes are buried there, along with his otter Edal.
Both are marked with a large stone that visitors lay shells and pebbles on.
I read Ring of Bright Water for GCSE 'O' Level in 1969 and its magic touched me, as it does many people who read it.
That lasting impression led me, as it has many others, to the Western Highlands and Eilean Ban, and to eventually volunteering here in the visitor centre.
It will be an experience that will stay with me.
