The Blue Forest

It started mid-April... the blooming season in Hallerbos forest. Situated in both the Flemish and Walloon Brabants, the place transforms into a purple/blue sea every year in spring. A surface of 552 ha gets magically covered in a purple carpet of bluebells for a few weeks on...

"A wonderful spectacle of nature," explains Paula from Spain. "It gives you the impression that you walk in a fairy tale!" It is about 5 km away from Halle train station and you can dedicate less than half a day walking around the whole place. More information on: www.hallerbos.be

The bluebell forest of Hallerbos is getting more and more famous among expats and Belgians themselves, especially since a few websites started advertising it as "one of the most beautiful places in the world". Although the bluebell forest is still a very quiet and not crowded place, a downside of its popularity is a certain disrespect from visitors. People have been seen walking outside the official paths and stepping on flowers to take selfies, as parodied in Flemish tv-show "Fans of Flanders".



Now the flowers are starting to slowly fade, but it is still a beautiful place that is worth visiting, also because it has giant sequoya trees towering it. In any case, you can try again next year!

A big thank you to Paula De la Torre for her photos and feedback!

Last week to visit the Royal Greenhouse!

It only opens every year for three weeks in spring, it's in the Northern part of Brussels (Laeken) and... it's almost over! Nice and cheap activity, but pick the most suitable time for it.

There are four days left (5th, 6th, 7th and 8th May) on which you can visit the Royal Greenhouse of Laeken from 9:30am to 4:00pm. On the last day, it also opens from 8pm to 10pm. It is pretty cheap: only €2.50 per person; it's even free if you're younger than 18.

Situated next to the Royal Castle of Laeken (pronounced "Lah-kun") and some other architectural monuments like the Japanese Tower, this huge heaven on earth is located in Avenue du Parc Royal, 1020 Bruxelles, so it takes around 35-40 min from Central Station with buses and trams (and a bit less from North Station). Follow the signs and find the big fence where the entrance is. You really ought to come by during the week and/or early in the morning, because you may have to queue for a long time at the entrance otherwise.

The place has a collection of plants from different countries under Leopold II (1835-1909) as sorts of keepsakes from our colonial past. The few beautiful greenhouses are surrounded by vast gardens with ponds and some Asian trees. You may just picture yourself as a little prince(ss) playing around in the area and having a daydream and you completely forget that you're in Brussels.

The smell of flowers surrounds you everywhere (if you are allergic, take your medicine!)... You will admire the magnificent structure of the different greenhouses from a different century, as well as the different shapes of the royal plants, which come from the Philippines, India, Australia, and other remote places, and vary from incredibly esthetic to really quirky, animal-like or carnivore. Some are rarity and may not be found anywhere else than there!

Cameras are authorised, so take your best one. But also take your time to enjoy everything with your own eyes! I would say that it is good for any age, so bringing your kids with you is a good idea (but tell them that touching the plants is forbidden!).

In a strange hobbit-like house, you can see former Belgian queen Elizabeth's sculpture workshop. And next to the greenhouse's exit door, you can eat a "couque/koek" (Belgian word for a brioche-like cake) and drink some coffee in an actual greenhouse (without the plants though) with a splendid view on the garden.

If I could point out one negative side of the activity, I'd say that, because the greenhouse is only available for such a short period every year, it becomes full of people. You can't really walk around freely from a greenhouse to another and you have to follow the crowd if you don't want to lose your friends and/or family. Sometimes you have to wait 10 minutes before being able to get into the next greenhouse because some are not that big.

Wildlife in the city

Although quite populated, Belgium is also a natural area with wild animals. Foxes, weasels, rabbits, boars and others can be observed all over the country, especially in the Ardennes, but they can even be found in big cities like Brussels.

A census

In order to know which species going well, which ones need protection and which ones are dangerous or too invasive, a new census is organised by Natagora, Natuurpunt and Bruxelles Environnement. The idea is for locals to indicate when and where they see a wild mammal in Brussels. On their website, participants are invited to add pictures and data of what they observe on an atlas of the city. It is very useful information because the last census was 15 years ago and animal populations keep moving and changing in size.

Fluffy opportunist 

Red foxes can be found in the whole of Belgium, but they have become very common in Brussels, not only in the green areas like the Soigne forest, but also in the city center. It is actually a recent phenomenon because it wasn't the case 30 years ago. Fox families have come from Flemish rural zones and adapted to their new, urban environment. Some people might find them annoying because of their mating calls, which sound like a woman screaming (which is quite scary for such cute animals), usually heard in February, or because they may dig holes (earths) in people's gardens.

Nevertheless, be reassured, Belgian foxes are not dangerous at all. They don't fight with cats or dogs (they do hunt rats and mice though) and they never attack humans, being quite shy animals. More importantly, rabies is totally eradicated among foxes in Belgium, so there shouldn't be any risk. If you see them, be silent if you want to observe these beautiful animals, but never feed them as it could make them become lazy and invasive.

They're coming back!

Another animal was dealt with a lot in press recently, the wolf. After more than a century (when the last specimen was killed in Virton), populations of wolves are coming back to Belgium. It is not yet the case but it will happen, because some have been observed in recent years in the bordering countries (France, the Netherlands and Germany). This video showing was filmed in a Dutch city not far from Belgium:

Running fast, wolves can walk for around 200 km a day so it can't be difficult for them to cross the borders. Normally, they should greatly favour South-Eastern zones of the country, like the High Fens, less populated and covered with forests. Anyway, don't be scared, because wolves are scared of human beings!

The capital of rabbits and parrots

The city of Brussels is also a place for strange groupings of animals. If you take a walk in the city for a while, you will probably come across flocks of rabbits, for example around Brussels No(o)rd station. You might also hear high-pitched noises made by one of the 10 000 (or more) rose-ringed parrots (more specifically "parakeets"), exotic birds from tropical regions of Africa and Asia, who have settled in the capital, giving it a Latin feeling. This species is pretty rare in Walloon cities and I have no idea how they arrived there.

Don't mess up with these...

Wild boars aren't rare in Belgium although more discrete and for some people they are scary and/or annoying. These nervous swines are known for destroying people's garden and being a little agressive. I have personally never seen any in the wild, but two hikers got the fright of their life in a Belgian village and their video got viral:

Note that the ponies are not really chasing the wild boar out to save the hikers, but rather running around it as a game, probably...