This year Visit Brabant organized the BrabantNacht for the first time. A night in which doors open in no fewer than 8 places in Brabant that are normally closed after sunset. I was invited to experience BrabantNacht in the Biesbosch and without a doubt I accepted this invitation. I had never been to the Biesbosch before and it seemed so nice to get acquainted in this way for the first time. What exactly did this acquaintance look like? You read that now.
Tents and a covered wagon
After making a wrong turn a few times, I arrive at nature campsite de Witboom. As soon as my friend and I walk into the terrain, we are warmly welcomed by the organization. The bloggers’ tents are all set up in a beautiful spot on the water and I immediately look forward to waking up with this view. After a short inspection, only one tent appears to be free and after dropping our stuff, we get into a covered wagon with the other bloggers. On to the BrabantNacht!
Griend Workers Dinner at Sunset
The ride with the covered wagon takes us to the Biesbosch Museum Island in fifteen minutes. This great piece of architecture immediately impresses: what a special building! The Museum Island won no fewer than 3 prizes during the Architizer Awards in 2016 and I completely understand why. If you love beautiful architecture, you really shouldn’t miss Museum Island.
Sailing on the whisper boat
Dinner takes a little longer than expected, which shortens our visit to the museum itself. We go through it in a nutshell, with the promise that we can come back on our own tomorrow. We get on the whisper boat, a small boat where we can take a seat on the roof. Unfortunately the sun has already set and it turns out to be very dark in the Biesbosch. We use our phone to still see something of our surroundings and I especially notice how wonderfully quiet it is. No city noises, no talking people (ahead, except for the noisy reporter from Omroep Brabant), only the rustling of the wind and some ducks croaking. Delicious!
On the way we are dropped off by the captain on a small island. It feels like a drop for a moment: ‘There are several paths, but if you keep the water in sight, you walk well.’ With these words we set off on a nighttime expedition. Up to 2 times we almost get on the barge with strangers, but in the end we find our way back without too much trouble.
Back to the campsite
After this beautiful boat trip we return to the campsite on foot. Here too there is really no hand in front of our eyes and we are glad that the forester gave us all a flashlight. The walk takes about an hour and when we arrive at the campsite, we immediately dive into our tent. That was a special evening!
Breakfast and a morning in the Biesbosch
In the morning we can sit down between 9 and 10 for a delicious breakfast on Museum Island. Even now the quality of the food is top notch and I enjoy a well-filled, farmer’s sandwich with smoked salmon, a fresh croissant and a delicious fruit salad. BrabantNacht has ended and we are free to go where we want. We decide to do another tour of the museum. Here we learn about the origin of the Biesbosch, the hard life of the pilot whale workers and about cages that were used to catch ducks. Later, when we were taking a walk through the Biesbosch itself, we came across these duck decoys by accident. Nice, because in this way the stories from the museum really come to life! We wander around through the intensely green nature and we also see a former pilot whale hut. It’s like a cabin from a fairytale! After this walk it is unfortunately time to go home. We have had a wonderful weekend and will definitely come back to the Biesbosch!
There is a good chance that a second edition of BrabantNacht will take place next year. I recommend everyone to participate in this as it was really a special experience!
