A flashlight is not necessary. According to the guides of Staatsbosbeheer, the forest can also be admired well in the twilight and ultimately darkness. “It’s a completely different experience, almost magical,” says guide Irene Lantman.
Every month there is an evening excursion through the Gieten-Borger forestry. It’s officially called the ‘full moon walk’, but clouds or a late moonrise can throw a spanner in the works. And without the glow of a full moon, it’s a little darker in the forest. The guides assure the participants that you will get used to the darkness during the walk.
Lantman is a volunteer at Staatsbosbeheer and regularly goes out in the evenings with a group of hikers. “It’s a slightly different experience. You have a better chance of seeing deer, for example, but also nocturnal animals such as the tawny owl and the bat.” Where you normally watch a lot, now the emphasis is on listening. For example, guide Jasper van Manen stops at a huge beech tree. It has rained hard after a long dry period, which benefits the trees in the forest. “This is when the beech will drink more than a thousand liters of water in 24 hours,” he says. “If you put your ear against the beech, you can hear the water rushing up.
Through the silence of the evening you can hear the inhabitants of the forest. Sometimes the guide points to a white woman or some other legend; it’s just what comes their way. When it is already completely dark, the group arrives at a fen. Two bats skim by and the frogs make a lot of noise. Even though the bats do not show themselves en masse, according to Van Manen and Lantman it is a special evening. “You can never guarantee what you can see,” says Lantman. “I think it was a very nice windless evening where we heard a lot.”