That’s how it struck us when my family visited Natur-Natur recently, and it’s how it must have struck Bart Smulders eight years ago. Smulders was then running an events organisation business, explains his wife, Evi De Pré, when they moved to Korbeek-Dijle, which sits in the Dijle valley near Leuven. The landscape convinced him there was gold in them there rolling hills, and Natur- Natur was born.
“We get all sorts here, all year round,” says De Pré. “Business groups, schools and also individuals, alone or in groups.” Natur-Natur offers a variety of outdoor activities, grouped into four categories which sound like Ikea versions of the four elements: Akva, Tero, Fajro and Airo.
The most straightforward activity in the water group is a trip by canoe or kayak from Korbeek to Heverlee. Unlike popular recreational rivers, like the Lesse in Wallonia, the Dijle is slow moving and the level doesn’t, in normal circumstances, vary so very wildly. Heverlee is where most of the water trips end, about 90 minutes down river. That’s long enough for most people, but if you are a diehard, you can also go on into the heart of Leuven, just as the Vikings tried to do in 891, only to be repelled by Arnulf of Carinthia.
Just like the Vikings, you’ll have to make your own way back on foot from Heverlee (leaving your kayak behind for a later pick-up). For the Leuven run, though, a guide comes along to provide some instruction. Along with a ride back to Korbeek, there’s a glass of jenever thrown in, which is something the Vikings might have benefited from.
You can also ride a raft trip to Heverlee, which takes about two hours, but you’ll have to make it yourself. All materials are provided, as well as expert guidance. We took a bunch of 11-year-olds to celebrate my son’s birthday, and they managed to make two perfectly seaworthy vessels.
Natur-Natur offers mountain bike rental, with or without guides. Bikes can be delivered to you wherever you are, and you can combine bike rental with another group activity, like wine tasting or a photo rally.
If you should happen to see groups of people rushing frantically about in a state of high anxiety while consulting a Blackberry, they’re probably not KBC bond traders. More likely they’re playing Citygame: teams of six to 10 people each have a PDA and receive clues in the form of text, images and sounds, which take them through the centre of Leuven, while trying to unmask the “smuggler” in their midst.
Citygame is the old sport of orienteering for people who have forgotten what maps are for. You can also take part in an orienteering walk in the Dijle Valley, again following a set of clues, but this time in a more oldfashioned way, with pen and paper. There’s also a photo orienteering exercise with digital camera provided. The photos are proof that you reached all of the checkpoints; at the end of the day, you get to take away a photo album.
The element of fire is represented by outdoor cooking on the grill or BBQ, under the supervision of a professional chef. Airo, meanwhile, is a hoogteparcours where you walk along cables strung among the treetops. This reporter succumbed to an attack of vertigo just looking up at it and had to be revived on the terrace with some Beero – something else for which Brabant is justly famous.
Whatever the activity, you’re advised to wear comfortable clothing and solid shoes, bring reserve clothes and a towel (this turned out to be no idle precaution for the rafters), plus sun cream and rainwear, because this is, after all, Flanders.
Natur-Natur also organises more sedate workshops under the name of Crea: jewellery, watercolours, faceand body-painting, weaving and other similar New Age pursuits.
Flanders Today is a 
7°C / 18°C
