“This land used to belong to Staatsbosbeheer. My grandfather was a forester here and started this campsite. My father began working here as a young man as an assistant. He immediately fell in love with my mother, the boss's daughter. Later, he continued the business, and now I have taken it over from my father. It's a real family business.”
The campsite used to be called 't Woutershok, now it carries the name Woud. Ricardo: “This name suits us better. Because we are focused on nature. It's in our DNA to work with nature. We are in a beautiful location, in the forest and near the beach and various nature reserves like National Park Dunes of Texel. We don't have bells and whistles, like miniature golf, but what we do, we do well. Everything here breathes nature. That appeals to our guests. Nature doesn't need any fuss.”
The Netherlands in miniature
At eighteen, Ricardo went to study ‘on the other side’: “Only then did I realize how special the nature on Texel actually is, I first had to be away for a while, away from the island. I also have my favorite spots. We are surrounded by nature here. Just over here, you have the peat field. There you have the ‘path to 14’. You first walk through the forest, then through the dunes, and then you arrive at the beach. You actually have all the features you find in the National Park. It’s a bit like the Netherlands in miniature here.”
When Ricardo was little, he loved building huts in the forest. "I went on adventures and always played outside. For me, that was very normal. We didn't know any better. But children from a big city might not even know how to build a hut. I still build huts, but in real life. The forest doesn't belong in a china cabinet. You have to experience and breathe it. But you must treat it with respect."