back home

After a wonderful holiday in the Netherlands we are back home in the bush.
At arrival in the reserve we were welcomed by an elephant and back home we immediately noticed how quiet it was. After the noise in the busy Netherlands especially Corné enjoyed this very much.
Although I'm also happy to be back home I miss having my family around and I realize I really enjoyed being able to go for a walk.  Just walking to the store for a little shopping was really nice. Here everything is too far away and you can't go for a relaxed stroll because of the animals. The upside is that we have much more peace and quiet, space and freedom and that you can see an elephant appearing in your backyard.

The first few days we had time to unpack and relax a little before our first guests arrived. Now we are used to the bush rhythm again and the kids have started school again. We enjoy the lovely winter weather and all flowers that were just starting to come out when we left are now in full bloom.
We already saw impala's, duiker, water buck and giraffes from our lodge and kudu's on our way to school. Our guests saw 4 of the big 5 on their game drive and the day after they saw wild dogs on their bush walk.
Plenty of things to enjoy!

Regards from the bush,
Miriam

Nature in the Netherlands

Normally I write about the African bush but since we are in holiday in the Netherlands at the moment I thought it would be a good idea to write about nature here. It can't be compared to Africa but if you pay attention there are plenty of things to see. The first week of our stay we had a birds nest with small birds in the hedge of my parents garden. Since it is summer here everyting is so green and there are many flowers. The other day we had a little stroll in the early evening and saw a rabbit in one of the parks.
The kids enjoy walking in the forest, something we can't do at home because of the animals.
All in all there is plenty of nature in the Netherlands if you look for it.