Blog Ani i Radka
Another week, another walk in a forest. We started from Three Brothers Pass and went down to Ponikwa Waterhole. A short but nice walk that reminded us why Bukowa Forest is also known as Bukowe Hills. Extra attraction: two hares goofing around on our sight.
I guess it’s time for me to come out to the world and to announce we’re expecting baby #2. A baby girl this time. This is why it has been relatively little traffic on my blog lately. I had some problems with the pregnancy and for 6 weeks I had to stay at home and couldn’t do any activity. Well, whoever knows me can imagine what it meant for me. At some point I just couldn’t bear it anymore and when I got better I took the first occasion to associate with the wildlife.
There are a couple of wild forests and lakes around Szczecin – we still have lots to explore. Today we went to a place we both knew – Binowo lake. I have to say, it was the perfect choice. It was secluded (you can’t believe the crowds in parks in Szczecin on that day!) and beautiful. It was the first real spring day and the walk was simply adorable. Wojtek also had lots of fun digging in the earth with sticks and throwing stones in the water. And for me.. I really don’t know if I changed or what but I simply don’t feel well in civilization any more. I promise myself to do such getaway into wildlife excursions every week if the weather and my condition permit. I feel like my cup has filled again.
My desire to be in the bosom of nature didn’t stop with us coming back to Poland. Sure, this has been a hectic time for us with the move and me starting working full-time, but these are the days like this one that keep me going. Our friends Magda and Michał are frequent contestants of orienteering events and I always wanted to join them on a trail. So yet another „to-do” thing to be crossed out 🙂 Theoretically it was only a 10 km route, however you needed to double it to get to the starting point and came back to the car. So all in all we closed this soggy but rain-free day with ~22 km.
The start was at the Lion’s Mouth fire place in Bukowa Forest. I really intend to get to know this forest better. It’s close to us, vast and beautiful. And the names of the places are so funny. I have to say, the organizers did a great job. There was a fire place, maps, 10 orienteering points to be found and lovely prizes for everybody who attended. I was very excited to be taking part in this event.
Group photo credit: Arek Arecki
The route was very pleasant and the points were really easy to find. We struggled only once (which actually cost us the place on the podium but I’ll come to this later). I had so much fun on the trail, it was pure pleasure to me. Have a look at the photos from the contest.
Radek and I finished fourth. The first two places were taken by runners and we lost by seconds with a third couple. Radek was pouting a bit because we decided to run the very last part and I slowed him down with my turtle pace. And I didn’t let him leave me 🙂 Well, you decided what’s better – winning a podium place or being a decent husband 🙂
We will sure be back the next year!
