Pilgrimspath

We quickly left Udenhout behind, and after about 2 miles, we followed the Zeedijk, a dike built to protect the village from flooding from the North Sea. The Zeedijk offers stunning views of the countryside. After walking along Drunen’s outskirts, we reached the Baardwijksche Overlaat, which is a large floodplain that is home to a variety of wildlife. We continued following the channel Hertogenbosch-Drongelen, a canal built in the 19th century to drain the swampy area. After crossing the channel, the scenery transformed from the countryside’s flatness to forests with dunes. We had reached the Drunense Dunes National Park, a series of dunes known as the Brabantse Sahara. After exiting the Drunense Dunes, we hiked an extra loop through Nature Reserve de Brand. In hindsight, not our best decision. It was longer than anticipated, the trail had no markers, it started snowing heavily, and we got lost.