Watt'n'datt

Long Time no see- today I meet Dania, my Southeast Asia acquaintance, again. With rubber boots on our feet, we first have breakfast (once again), exchange news, and lay the foundations for the day. Instead of sunbathing on distant beaches, we are going on a guided mudflat hike at Kampen today. Also nice for a change. Dania is really looking forward to it, after all, she has never done such a tour before and has traveled all the way from Kiel just for this day with us.

We will meet Franzi later in Kampen - she won't join us for breakfast because she still has to evaluate some mental outputs of her students.

Kampen - we have already driven through it several times and have noticed: those who have money come here. But this time we will walk through Kampen to spend some time here before the tour starts and to arrive with clean shoes. After all, we might meet Bohlen, Joop, Schàuble, or Otto Walles here. Nowhere else in Germany is the chance of meeting famous contemporaries greater than in Kampen. Actually, there are only around 500 inhabitants here, but 1,200 second homes and 35,000 guests during the season. The properties around Heidenwinkel and Hobokenweg are locked with Frisian gates, the thatched roofs are low, and the real estate prices are higher than anywhere else in Germany. In 2016, a 120-square-meter house with a sea view was offered here for 21 million euros. Kampen is literally the sunny side of the island. The beach section between the Rotes Kliff and the "Buhne 16", the always popular beach bar in the dunes, is one of the most beautiful on the whole island. The landscapes surrounding Kampen are spectacular. In the southeast, the heath area borders the town, while in the west and north, there are dune sections straight out of a picture book.

But we are here for the mudflats. For this, we have already booked a mudflat hike with Jan Krüger, a passionate mudflat guide. He will lead us through the mudflat region, which has been a national park for 33 years, the largest mudflat area in the world, and a UNESCO World Heritage site for 11 years.

We will learn a lot, for example, that:

• - Mudworms help sick patients in the fight against corona
• - "mies" is a Frisian word for moss. So actually, "Miesmuschel" means moss mussel
• - Slipper snails crawl around until they find a female of their species. They climb onto her shell, fulfill their paternal duties, and grow. Once they are about 15 millimeters in size, they transform their testicles into ovaries within two months and continue to live as females. New males arrive, settle on the previous snails, and over time, a curved tower of up to 15 snails is formed: large females at the bottom, small males at the top.
• - ...

Frozen and glad to be out of the wind, we want to go to Café KUPFERKANNE, but we are clever enough to call ahead. In response to my question of whether a table for 3 will be available in about 45 minutes, the person on the phone says: how should I know?! I don't have a crystal ball here.

A suitable answer would have been: I'm sorry, I can't tell you that because it's very busy right now, we don't accept reservations, and there's a long line outside.

Nevertheless, we decide to visit the place anyway, and we find a long line in front of us. We feel slightly fooled. Couldn't he have said that on the phone?! But it was probably not meant to be, our path leads us to Restaurant 94, a new concept in Kampen, and we are very impressed by the friendliness and the good food! Even though the kitchen is not open yet and we want to choose something from the lunch menu, but nothing appeals to us, they prepare a great pasta dish especially for us (https://94kampen.de/).

Our evening ends with an evening devotion. Something different for a change 🙂. Dania goes home, we end up in Keitum at the mentioned devotion, and we reflect on the days here by the water.

Sylt? Definitely! The landscape and the architecture here have really impressed me! We have also encountered a dozen extremely friendly people. All important components. Only the prices in restaurants can sometimes be considered outrageous. But you know that when you come to Sylt.

I'm happy to have been here.. and I would love to come back.