The Island of Borkum is located on the "Wadden Sea" which as wikipedia has informed me is an intertidal zone in the south eastern part of the north sea. There are extensive mud flats between the island and the mainland (watt) and Wattwandern (Mud hiking) is a popular recreational activity.
We singed up with a tour to take in some of the nature and see what the mud had to offer. It was not the most beautiful day, but not pouring rain either. It was cool and windy, so we were dressed for the possibility of rain, but in shorts as well to enjoy walking on the sea bed.
The area we did the hike on is underwater at high tide, so you have to schedule the excursion for the appropriate time of day. There is also some quite dangerous zones of quicksand and sudden drop offs, to it is best to have an experienced guide lead you.
Here is the start of the walk. It is pretty clear where the mud flat begins...
Here are some photos of Claudia and the kids at the start of the tour. We are not cold or wet yet, so there are plenty of smiles.
We would walk along the flat and every few minutes the guide would give us some facts and show us some feature. Usually we were all gathered in a circle around the object of discussion. Here we had just been told all about mussels, which we gathered up, had a look at and then replaced on the mud to watch quickly burrow back into the sand. It was pretty interesting how quickly they dug their way in. I never thought of shellfish as being quick before.
A little farther along, we saw this fellow. Liam thought he was a pretty neat little friend. Not cuddly enough to want to bring him home with us though. Mr Pinchy.
It was a fun experience and I would recommend it to anyone finding themselves up on the coast. Bring a rain/windproof jacket though, definitely an essential piece of kit. Here is a last pick of the mudwalkers just before returning to the warm dry comfort of our apartment for lunch.
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