On a sunny day in the beginning of October 2022, while I was living on Lolland, I set out on a little local adventure, to the forest of Bøtøskoven on Falster, Lolland’s neighbouring island. The forest takes up a big portion of Falster’s southeast coast and offers beautiful forest trails, beach views and wild horses that were unleashed in the forest in 2017.
I decided to begin my hike in the nearby village of Gedesby as I wanted to see its old smock mill, built in 1911. To my great surprise, the old mill is home to a large flea market where I spent a good hour. I love local flea markets, especially ones I just randomly stumble upon!
Gedesby is a small village, full of narrow streets lined with idyllic half-timbered houses. I stopped for a lunch break at a small pond in the middle of the village, next to its 14th-century church. As I sat there, enjoying the peace and quiet, the sun burst through the clouds which soon gave way to a clear blue sky.
I continued my walk through the village and soon came to a quaint summer house area, before entering the forest. The colours of autumn were on full display, although the unusually high temperature made it feel more like the middle of summer. There weren’t many people out and about; I only met a few on my hike, and enjoyed having the forest mostly to myself.
I wandered along gravel roads through the autumnal forest. Deer passed by and squirrels ran up trees beside me, but I still hadn’t caught a glimpse of the wild horses. At one point, I stumbled upon a narrow wooden trail leading through a dense part of the forest, and decided to follow it. That turned out to be a great decision, as waiting on the other side of it were a herd of wild horses! Gently gobbling up the grass, not even looking up as I trudged on between them. Only one horse paid attention to me, gave me a quick sniff and went off again to eat more grass.
Rewilding projects are not always successful, and there have been reports of the horses in Bøtøskoven not thriving. But it seemed to me that they were healthy and enjoying their free life in the forest. It was wonderful to see them roam freely.
Further into the forest, I found a bench by a little lake and sat down for my second lunch that day, enjoying the warm sun. Then it was time for a little stroll along the beautiful white sand beach that hugs the forest.
With sunset approaching, I started making my way back to the main road to catch a bus home. I chose a random trail out of the forest, and met the herd of wild horses again, this time in a completely different location. It’s definitely not a given that you’ll meet them as they go wherever they please, but it you walk for long enough in Bøtøskoven, I doubt you’ll miss them.
In the soft light of golden hour, I made it out of the forest and followed country roads and trails along canals back to the main road. Flocks of birds put on a beautiful show above me. A dark rain cloud in the distance only made the scene more dramatic, as did the sudden realization that I was heading to the wrong road and was suddenly very very late for the bus.
So I ran the last few kilometres and made it with a few minutes to spare. It was pitch black by the time the bus arrived and drove me back to civilization after a beautiful day in Falster’s countryside.
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