We went by train and feet, so we where a bit concerned about finding drinking water nearby the campsite, to fill our 5-liter water-bag. When our host learned about this he not only solved the problem by providing us with big canisters fresh water, enough for our whole stay, but he even brought us with our luggage to the meadow! He already had sent us a beautifully made pdf guide with important addresses in the village and nice places to go to. His hospitable friendliness gave our stay a great start, of course! The walking-distance from the train station would have been about 40 minutes. We probably would otherwise have found water at a gas station, which is about 20 minutes walking from the camping site. This gas station has a WC and a small shop with drinks, sweets and sandwiches.
The meadow itself is a fenced part of a much bigger meadow, surrounded by beautiful edges of flowering shrubs and Hawthorns. From our tent we didn't see any houses and the only car we saw one day belonged to a farmer, repairing the fence, very far away. In the early morning we could hear some noise from a distant small factory, but only lasting an hour or so. Perhaps they needed the rest of the day to fill bags and prepare shipments. So every day we could enjoy the beautiful view of the undulating hills of the White Carpathians almost undisturbed by any human influences (there where also no other travelers on the campsite). In the scrubs we found nice, safe, private places to dig a small hole with our garden trowel for the call of nature (and close it again).
The bird population was extremely rich. From our tent we could hear and see Mistle thrush (often foraging at the campsite), Song thrush, Blackbird, Blackcap, a very virtuoso Common whitethroat, Cuckoo, Skylarks close by, Common buzzard, Marsh harrier, Yellowhammer, Corn bunting, lots of Golden oriole, Linnet, Goldfinch, Barn swallow, House martin, House sparrow, Starling, Red-backed shrike (often almost ón our tent), Great spotted woodpecker, Green woodpecker, Common quail and Wryneck.
In the nearby river Velička we had onforgettable observations of a female Goosander with 4 chickens (often climbing on her back). Perhaps because we kept very quiet, apart from making soft soothing Goosander-like sounds, she did pass us by on 2 meters distance. Thereafter 2 other Goosander mothers appeared and there was a difficult to interpret situation, where at some point 14 chicks were swimming together, a Blue heron came threateningly closer, suddenly a Buzzard came by, but flew off without chicken, while Kingfishers and Grey and White wagtails flew back and forth. It was almost unbelievable. This all happened at the part of the Velička east of the busstop Velká nad Veličkou, Žilkův mlýn.
Perhaps you are thinking by now that we are "birders". But in fact we came to the White Carpathians to look for plants at the famous species-rich meadows, such as Zahrady pod Hájem, which was at walking distance. In that respect too our trip has been a great success, and this campsite has been a perfect starting point. We certainly hope it will be possible to come back one day! Of course there were insects too, and not only butterflies, so don't forget a tick remover or tweezers, just to be sure.