More boat trips, and an encounter with a beaver enclosure

OOPs thought id published this one – turns out I hadn’t so here it is better late than never…Day 2 in the Netherlands dawned bright and far too early for my liking. Today I was heading to another part of the Biesbosch in Dordrecht this time not as far to travel oh goody…my poor feet were killing me from yesterdays shenanigans. Picked up by Marianne De Braven who works for STEP at the hotel we travelled up to the start of the National Park. I have to admit it is beautiful up there, Marianne explained that part of the land has recently been reclaimed from its former life as a rubbish dump and they are waiting for the land to settle and in about 3-5 years the land will be added to the National Park and used for further recreation. Our first stop was at the Stayokay hotel, and a visit to the Eco Lodge a one-off innovative idea of sustainable tourist accommodation on the water. Comprised of a wooden 2 sided structure with glass. It looks like a sleeps up to 3 with a shower and hotplate – its a fantastic idea for ecological sustainable tourism if you like the idea of sleeping in a glass enclosed structure that people can see into whilst they are having their breakfasts!! I was hoping to get a closer look at it but the structure had moved away from the edge too far to jump down on the plank…I would definitely have ended the day in the water…little did I know that what where I was heading anyway.

Our next stop was coffee and the wonderful views from the man made lake that sits in the middle of the National Park . In summer it must be a haven for sun seekers and water lovers surrounded by National Park. After coffee we headed around the lake and towards the Observatory on the same site armed with a fully working 1928 Zeiss telescope along with the telescope there are interactive games and experiments to entertain kids and adults alike. If you have ever wondered how heavy Saturn is trust me its heavy as I found out when I picked it up and nearly dropped it on my foot. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to gaze at the stars through the telescope but ill do that on my next trip. Leaving the observatory we headed back toward the main office and center of the Biesbosch water based activities. I had been promised a Whisper boat trip around this part of the Biesbosch with a tour of the Beaver enclosure afterwards.

The whisper boat is an engineering miracle, the top frame of the boat can be lowered when sailing under some of the low bridges on the Biesbosch. (the pic of the boat isn’t mine it was taken by one of my fellow writers Karel vander Ploeg when he visited earlier in February)With its 16 feet of solar panels on top of the cabin it is truly ecologically friendly and supports the ethos of the Biesbosch and its vision to return to environmental sustainability. There are also 2 smaller whisper boats that take tourists round with canoes and smaller electric boats to visit some of the outlying islands.

After an hour on the Biesbosch with a tour guide who conducted the trip in Dutch (me nodding along with the commentary as if I understood every word..which I didnt) and a party of very excitable children on their spring holiday it was time to have a spot of lunch and meet up with Marianne and Simon who would be taking me for the afternoon to the Beaver enclosure and also onto one of the little islands dotted around the Biesbosch. My brother in law Pete would have been proud of me hopping onto the little boat used to take us to the little island, I look cool and nonchalant as if I did this every day..when in fact my knees where knocking and I was terrified of falling in…(punting in Cambridge has a lot to answer for so thanks Pete and Hazel for preparing me slightly).

I discovered many of the little inlets and islands dotted around the Biesbosch had been places of safety during WW2 for many seeking sanctuary from the German occupation and also for smuggling activities. For decades before the area had been abandoned by local inhabitants. Their way of life had slowly been eroded away and so over time most had moved away to the cities around the area. With its inhospitable and overgrown landscape many sought out the area to hide and survive somehow. At the end of the war some stayed and started working the land again, animals slowly returned and its now a haven for many endangered species of birds. Roe deer, rabbits and other small animals have returned and its now home to 27 nests of beavers who have returned to the area in the last 25 years. 20 varieties of willow flourish along with many other rare plants and species of birds. At the time of my visit buds were starting to appear on the willow and other plants but it was still a beautiful landscape.

I was looking forwards to the Beaver enclosure and dressed in some very fetching borrowed green wellies (I never thought id have to wear wellies again…if my mum could have seen me she’d have killed herself laughing) followed Simon over to the enclosure. It houses 4 beavers as more than that could not be sustained in the enclosure. Fascinating is not the word….the teeth these animals have are incredible..stripping bark bare and smooth to the touch, these little animals can drag almost 3 times their body weight around. The enclosure is quite large I wanted to take pictures but was worried about falling over and too busy listening to Simon talk about the animals and their habits. It appeared the furry creatures had taken a liking to a couple outside the enclosure and had tried to dig out under the fencing at one time. The conservators had lowered the fencing even further into the ground and I think the enclosure beavers had given up eventually or are lulling the locals into a false sense of security and are still trying but furtively!!!

It was starting to get late and as we headed back Simon suddenly announced a detour around the edge of the enclosure to show me the lodge that had been built for the beavers but they didn’t like it so they had moved to another part of the enclosure and built their own larger lodge. Traces of where the beavers had dragged wood and twigs around the enclosure were everywhere, slippery patches of mud sliding into the water trenches all over the enclosure. Up to that point I had managed to gracefully!!! jump over or step round the canals, this one was rather larger than the others so with instructions from Simon to take a flying leap…those of you who know me know i’m not built to be graceful or attempt any type of flying leap and as luck would have it as I took off my left foot slid on a particularly slippery patch of mud and instead of making it across the canal in one piece my right foot missed the opposite bank by about 1 inch and down into the freezing Biesbosch water my right leg plunged over the top of my welly. I wasn’t the only one tho Simon did the same as he was trying to help me pull my leg out of the mud he slipped and ended up with both feet in the water. I didn’t know whether to laugh of cry so biting my lip did what any stiff up lip Brit would do..soldiered on squelching!!!!!! Thankfully it was near the edge of the enclosure and the entrance so squished across the road and into the main building. Getting the wellies off proved to be a challenge…imagine riding boots and the challenge they prove to getting off. I am only thankful there were no pictures taken off this I would never had lived down the embarrassment. After a bit of a sit down with coffee and Simon changing clothes – poor man and a chat to Marianne about my articles and the nature of the Biesbosch it was time to return to the hotel as I walked into reception the girl on the desk looked me up and down and said “Good day by the looks of things??”