On one of the first sunny spring days in the Netherlands, I wanted to get out of the house and go on a little walk. I had just returned from my holidays to Bonaire and Curaçao and I started to miss the sunshine.

I didn’t want to go on a walk by myself on that particular day (normally I don’t mind but I felt like having some company), so I packed my mum, my dog (Shiva) and her wooden cart in my car.

Adventure Time

A walk in the Staelduinse Bos (forest) in Hoek van Holland is not really an adventure in the traditional sense of the word, but for Shiva it was a change of scenery so she couldn’t contain herself; even though walking is difficult for her due to her arthritis she stretched herself to max in order to explore.

The route we walked that day was a mere 3,5 km long. It’s almost nothing in the grand scheme of hiking, but don’t forget that my mum had to push Shiva’s cart up and down the tiny Dutch hills and through forest paths.

Staelduinse Bos Route

There’s a visitor centre at the start of the route, but it’s only open from April to October so it wasn’t very useful back in March.

Our first stop were two viewpoints. One towards a small pond, which according to the description is home to many animals (frogs, dragonflies, etc.) none of which can be seen. At dusk it’s possible to spot bats, but we were there during the day so all this really was to us was a small stretch of water.

The second viewpoint was an old forester’s hut, which provides a lookout over the glass greenhouses of the Westland. Shiva and my mum had to stay downstairs – I don’t think either over them minded as my mum doesn’t like heights and Shiva doesn’t like stairs.

The second stop was a walk through a production forest where inhabitants used to take their wood from back in the days. Nowadays, it just looks like a forest. Spring is a bit of an unlucky time to visit a forest, because some flowers are growing but most trees are bare until later in the season.

The third stop was the edge of the forest where the difference in landscape became apparent. On one side “dense” forests and on the other side flat grasslands.

Walking back into the forest I saw the first signs of life: flowers. A whole bed of white flowers and a tiny bee trying to get lucky with the nectar.

What makes this particular forest a bit of an adventure are the huge bunkers. There are more areas in Hoek van Holland where the Germans built bunkers during the Second World War, but the ones I’ve seen in this forest are bigger than the ones I had seen before. Much bigger in fact.

Nowadays, they are protected because six types bats are sleeping inside them. You can tell by the white poo-poo all over the walls of the bunkers.

Actually, after I had seen the bunkers it was just a matter of finishing the route. There’s not much else to really see in the forest. There’s a pond with the remains of an old manor, but I couldn’t really tell at which pond these remains are.

Apparently, there’s also a very old oak tree in the forest along the route. I don’t know if this is an oak tree, but I made the picture black-and-white so now at least it looks old.

The rest of the walk took us past:
a muddy path where my mum and Shiva had to take an off-road path

a curious duck

and a little handmade hut.

Conclusion

It’s always nice to leave the house and feel like you’re on a mission by following a route. For me it doesn’t have to be faraway. Shiva had also had a fabulous and exciting day and my mum trained her arm muscles a bit from pushing the cart around. It was a win-win day for all.