excursion to beijershamn & sandbergen

The Beijershamn nature reserve is one of Öland's best places for bird watching, and around 250 different species have been seen here. Butterflies also thrive here when it's warmer, and up to 650 different butterfly species have been seen here. Evelyn spotted some long-billed friends on the boards that she said she was going to look for. She also planned to look for unicorns, she declared. Unfortunately, we didn't see any great horned owls or unicorns, but we did see some other birds.

We saw Canada geese flying over us in a beautiful V-formation before we continued towards Sandbergen. Sandbergen is a stone's throw from Beijershamn, and we sat down by a fallen tree trunk in the forest where the pines grow so large and stately that we usually call it the hall of pillars. We were hungry for a snack and brought hot onion soup in a thermos and flatbread for the children. (No idea even trying to sell onion soup to the little food critics.)

Where the pines stop growing, the sandy slopes take over, and the nature is spectacular and dramatic at the same time.

You can see why it's called Sandbergen!
The jetties out into the water are picked up at this time of year, but the steps down to the pebble beach are still standing. The ice looked like frozen waves frozen in time, and we walked along the beach to see if we could find any beautiful shells or stones to look at.

Onion soup for a snack, by all means, but in the end we were so hungry for lunch that we actually had to head home. On the way back we stopped at Arontorps Body Cookies and bought us some kroppkakas in their new drive in. Just say how many kroppkakar you want, they pack it up, you pay, and then it's done. Much faster than at the hamburger chains. And more fun and delicious with Öland's kroppkakar too!

You can find more tips from Helena Elm here!