We'd heard good things about the Safari park in the Netherlands, Beekse Bergen, 90 minutes South, and decided to book a trip when Pete's parents were here. I was hoping to avoid the New Year's Eve firework ruckus, thinking that around the animal park it must be quiet (wrong). We had four fun days and nights, taking full advantage of all of the activities on offer. There was a lot of swimming in the 2 indoor pools, ice skating, and craft time.
First up, lunch before check-in and a walk through part of the Safari Park.
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| Two baby elephants were born this fall. They kept them indoors and no photos were allowed, but we were able to see one during the light parade our last night. |
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| There were cool parkour courses throughout the park |
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| They had a winter village set up with free roasting marshmallows. |
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| We stayed in a Safari Lodge overlooking the "Savannah"- next-door to the camel, emu, and long horned cattle house. |
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| Good morning friends! |
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| We walked to the lion feeding. The park has 4 prides of lions! |
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| There was an ice skating rink in front of the main activity center. That was a highlight each day and the kid's skating skills really improved! |
Unfortunately, Opa had come down with a cold so the rest of us went on a driving Safari through the park. So many animals to see!
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| The camel licking the car was a highlight! |
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| "Snowball" fight at the kid's club. |
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| Maeve got a Polaroid camera for Christmas and was excited to create a photo journal of the animals she saw. Unfortunately, unless you are very close to your subjects, the photos are rather blurry. That, and we didn't bring any replacement film so it was a bit of a bust. |
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| Zebras, Giraffes, and a rhino (shown here) were also in the enclosure of our Savannah. I loved when the rhino would saunter over |
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| So majestic! |
We went on a long walk through the Safari Park on New Year's Eve day. There was another winter village within the park for food and drinks.
While everyone had some downtime at the lodge, Pete and I drove to the nearby La Trappe one of the famous Trappist brewery. We were so excited to see that they were selling oliebollen, made with their beer. We snagged a bag of these New Year's goodies for the group. I was hoping we'd get to tour the abbey, but the only open part was the tasting room. Still, a very festive atmosphere as large groups were gathered for the holiday.
We picked the kids up and drove to the activity center down the road along the resort lake. Here, there was another swimming pool, which we had almost completely to ourselves from 5-6pm on NYE. A lot of fun going down the water slide over and over again with the kids. The kids club at the lake resort was having NYE festivites for the kids. First, they decorated their own champagne flutes. Then, after dinner, there was a disco dance party and lighting of sparklers outside.
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| Oma and Opa met us for dinner. There were at least 6 restaurants at the resort and we made it to 4 of them. |
Back home, the kids were still in a party mood and we let them stay up until midnight. There were some strange programs on Dutch TV leading up to the countdown! The light show in Amsterdam was broadcast though, which was fun to see. There weren't fireworks within the park, but we could still see and hear them all around. It was a clear night so they were enjoyable to watch for a while.
On New Year's Day, the kids reluctantly agreed to go on a nature walk with the kids club rangers. It was really informative and fun! They demonstrated how the lionesses will track a running object and Jude tried to get them to "chase" him (separated by a fence and canal).
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| Final ice skating. Oma got on the ice and Maeve went around without the seal! |
Afternoon swimming and then dinner at the main resort, followed by the safari light show, which was new this year. Very impressive! We got to see the baby elephant as well and roast more marshmallows.
On our way home, we stopped to see the Textile Museum in Tilburg, which had these incredible automated weaving machines. There was also an interactive exhibit for the kids. My weaver grandma would have loved to see this place!
