Hyacintenbos Ockenburgh (Den Haag, NETHERLANDS)

In the middle of European summer, houses can get a touch too hot... and the kids will need to be let out from their home confinement! Most people choose to escape to the desert known as a "beach" where you are exposed to the Sun in a featureless sand and salt air environment... afterwards, you feel worse than before!

I prefer the forests and the cover of trees as an escape from the heat. The canopy of the trees gives natural shade, and often the air is also a bit cool and moist which helps you keep your sanity in the heat!

The Hyacintenbos is managed by the Zuid-Hollands Landschap, an organisation that preserves some historical and natural areas in the South Holland province of The Netherlands. The Bos itself is part of a larger preserve of the Landgoed Ockenburgh which includes an historical building which was attached to the poet Jacob Westerbaen around the 17th century. Of course, the Hyacinten section of the park is a forest that has it's ground carpeted in Hyacith flowers!

You can find the website for the association here: https://www.zuidhollandslandschap.nl/landgoed-ockenburgh

There are many walking paths into the park area, and there is an interesting game that you can play. A little Denk and Doe (Think and Do) puzzle chain for kids and parents. You get little riddles that you can think about as you walk around the park... to the next riddle station! Having a restful stroll is the best companion for a bit of thinking!

This was the first puzzle:

Boswachters Maaren en Fred cerzamelen op een dag boomstammen uit het bos. Aan het einde van de dag hebben zij 7 boomstammen verzmeld.

Foresters Maaren and Fred collect tree trunks from the forest one day. At the end of the day they collected 7 tree trunks.

Maarten neemt de helft van de stammen en nog een halve mee naar huis. Fred wil hetzelfde doen. Toch blijft er 1 boomstam achter in het bos.

Maarten takes half of the logs and another half home. Fred wants to do the same. Yet 1 tree trunk remains in the forest.

Hoe kan dit?

How is this possible?

There is a little bit of a walk from the entrance to the Hyacintenbos, and along the way... you get to see the backs of some houses of the people who are lucky enough to have their properties backing up against the Landgoed!

A bridge demarcates the start of the Hyacintenbos from the rest of the Landgoed. I guess the water is required to keep the flowers at bay?

From here, there are photos from our walk in the Hyacintenbos... it was a pleasant place to spend the afternoon, slowly walking around... with the kids running to see new little treasures and curiosities around every corner. Meanwhile, the parents would have the packs that contained all the little snacks and water that would keep the morale high... no alcohol though!