As you might know by now: I love walking around. Usually it’s my preferred way to get around in a city and to just get lost in nature. So when I was able to get to the Vlaamse Ardennen, aka Wandel Walhalla, for the second time. I didn’t think twice to accept the invitation.
Together with Toerisme Oost-Vlaanderen and Land Rover we arranged the trip. Which was amazing!
Friday-night, of we go
On friday me and five other photographers get together in Antwerp at the office of Land Rover to collect the cars. Two Land Rover Discovery’s and two sport editions. After a drive of an hour we arrived at the Refuge Kapelleberg where we stayed for two nights.
Fun idea: with Facebook messenger you can show your live location in a group-chat for up to 60 minutes. Great for driving with groups. Less great to stay below to the speed limit.
Food, beers and cards
That night we got to know each other. We ate in the De Zwarten Engel (the black angel). A restaurant that’s a bit hidden in the trees and fields of the Flemish Ardennes. The food is amazing there.
After eating ourselves full to the brim, we went back to the refuge and drank local beers. Like the Ename or Steenuilke. Drinking and playing Cards Against Humanity, we soon understood each others humour.
Saturday: from adrenaline to zen
After a breakfast we drove of the Ronse. There we started our tour with 4Passion through the fields of the Flemish Ardennes. We each took turns driving the Land Rover Discoverys and photographing them. The clean cars soon turned a couple of shades darker. We also had the luck the night before was a rainy one, so the fields were dirty.
After a lunch in In ‘t Palet (I had the spaghetti) to re-energise, we headed to the EcoSnooze in Brakel. It’s a huge domain where you can find alpaca’s, a mushroom-farm and a lot more nature. We met up with the owners and decided to take the alpaca’s for a walk. You can actually leash those animals.
Making friends in #WandelWalhalla pic.twitter.com/PDsFishSJH
— Fredography ? (@FredPaulussen) 30 september 2017
After the walk we got a toast with the local oyster mushroom speciality.
Sunday: a walk and more off-roading
Another breakfast to kickstart the day before we decided to walk. There are a lot of routes in the Wandel Walhalla. All of them are beautiful. We walked and enjoyed the views up until lunch.
Lunch in a jar. For me it was a first, but I do want more of that! After that we took the cars again and did another tour of driving the cars in the fields and forests. It was good to test the cars on less obvious paths.
Unfortunately that was the end of the weekend. The combination of driving and walking was perfect to relax entirely. Releasing your frustrations with the cars and then becoming zen again with the walks and the alpaca’s. Something I can highly recommend to do.
Pics turned out pretty well, mooi werk man. Ik kijk er naar uit nog eens met jou op trip te gaan!
Zag er erg cool uit, zo’n off road trip in de Vlaamse Ardennen (had er zelfs nooit bij stilgestaan dat dat kon ,-)). Coole foto’s ook.
Ziet er vet uit! Leuk om te onthouden 🙂
Nice one, would be great to discover your country like this! Walking with apalca’s sounds like fun 🙂
Die Land Rovers zijn een ideale meerwaarde voor een mannenweekend of voor mensen die van auto’s houden, denk ik. Alpaca’s, prachtige dieren. Nog nooit mee gaan wandelen, maar dat moet inderdaad een hele ervaring zijn! Dit dan nog eens in een mooie omgeving, dat maakt het weekend compleet! Prachtige foto’s!
Wat een gave trip lijkt me dit om zelf mee te maken. Ben dol op de Belgische Ardennen. (zo noemen wij ze) Ook leuk idee om dit met die land rovers te doen.
Klinkt als een supermooie roadtrip! Heel mooie foto’s!
haha cool!!