From the celestial moor to the heath heaven

The former peat extraction area Himmelsmoor is located near Quickborn on the A7 motorway.

You can explore the moor on a circular path of just under four kilometers on foot. 

The hiking trails are well developed and information boards tell about the flora, fauna, and history of the area.

We didn't encounter the adders announced on warning signs, but we did see many water birds and large dragonflies.

We continued on the A7 to the Lüneburg Heath, where we made our first stop at Wildpark Nindorf.

In addition to many native animal species, there were also more exotic animals to see, such as the Siberian tiger. The two female tigers roamed their large enclosure along the same paths and had already created beaten paths in the grass.

We took a coffee and ice cream break at the yaks, where there were also two mini specimens. While we sat on the bench in front of the enclosure, the animals hardly moved and preferred to take an extended midday nap.

In the fallow deer enclosure, visitors were warmly greeted, especially when they had animal feed with them or went to the vending machine to buy some.

We were mostly ignored - except for a particularly cheeky female who nibbled on my T-shirt in the absence of suitable food.

Later, a cheeky specimen also tried to steal and eat my FFP2 mask, including the plastic bag, from my pocket.

We sat down on one of the benches in front of the enclosure with the prairie dogs to watch the cute animals.

The designations with which parents introduced their offspring to the animals were also interesting and ranged from "rats" to "meerkats".

We also spent some time in front of the enclosures of other cute animals such as raccoons or the very active otters.

At the enclosure with the snowy owls, we learned that they not only change their plumage during molting, but also that it becomes sparser over the years (as it does with human males). So the male snowy owl, which had already aged, actually looked a bit "plucked".

After a nice day in the wildlife park, we stayed overnight in the parking lot to explore the "Heide Himmel" the next morning.

We arrived so early that we didn't meet any other visitors on our way along the treetop path.

With a slight incline, the path led up to the height of the treetops. Then we continued to climb up to an observation tower from which we could overlook the area.

After this excursion to lofty heights, we made our way to Amelinghausen.