My friend and I don't see each other very often, so when I knew I'd be at the coast (relatively much closer than usual) we agreed months ago to meet up on Friday when she's off work.
She hadn't been to the Zwin in ages, even though being a local and given the fact there should be no parking issues etc and it would be a family friendly activity, we had agreed to meet up there. I woke up to a text message in the morning questioning if we really wanted to visit the nature reserve "in this rain". Ugh? The weather prediction had changed again, and the nightly rain that should have been gone by now was pouring down outside. Bleh...But then again, what to do if it rains, ...beach etc is not an option either. (and no I don't do shopping, neither does she or the rest of my family).
So we stuck to the plan and were the first car pulling up the parking lot just before opening times. We were optimistic that the rain would pass and profited from the inside exhibition first to wait out the worst of it.
With the promise that in about 10-15 minutes the rain would clear up (each time we checked), we ventured out and started walking. There's plenty of observitory huts to hide inside anyway and slowly but steadily the rain faded away indeed. And we had the big advantage that the park was very, very quiet. Much more than last time in winter!
Just like
our previous visit in Febr 2023, the huts had volunteer guides that were there to give us explanations on the birds we could spot etc. Near a pond we spend a lot of time with a specialist on water live who showed us with microscope the incredible but miniscule water life in the pond such as numerous insects, larvae but also a baby salamander. Really incredible, I would not have guessed so many miniscule species were moving around in the water.
But the Zwin is mainly about the big plane that gets (partially) flooded by the sea twice a day and forms a unique piece of nature. After a nice lunch in the canteen, we ventured out for a short walk in the field, braving the very sticky mud that I remembered from last time. Mud took over the ribs in my sandals right away which made my walk very slippery but we managed. The children by the end just turned it into a bare foot walk, which was probably the best idea.
The Zwinneblomme or Lamsoor or Sea lavendar was in flower
After washing up our shoes and feet, we took home the mud stains on our pants and the memories of a nice little trip together.
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