Even though I've been living in Buenos Aires for two years now, I still hadn't visited one its most important National Parks and largest urban reserve in Latin America: the Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve, the escape from the hustle and bustle of this big city that I was really needing; so one day when summer was getting started last year I decided to make a visit to stroll and relax a bit.
This reserve is located in Puerto Madero, which I previously mentioned is my favorite Buenos Aires district, it is a 865-acre (3.50 km2) tract of low land on the Río de la Plata riverbank located on the east side of this district*, right on the Costanera Sur, an old waterfront promenade. It has two entrances, the north access and the south access, I took the picture above near the south access.
Part of the promenade near the south access
Nowadays, because of the quarantine the reserve has very tight visiting hours on especific days, so when I went on time for the afternoon opening hour I found a very large line of people already waiting for it, it was so long and the time so short that I was sure I wasn't going to have enough time to wander inside leisurely that day, it was sunday and I should have guessed many people would go there that day, so I changed my plans and decided to visit it again during the week, which I successfully acomplished.
On the way to the river...
The Ecological Reserve has many trails that are perfect for activities such as birdwatching, hiking, strolling and cycling. As I entered through the south access it turned out that this entrance was only for cyclists and joggers/runners, so I had to jog till the officer in the entrance lost me in sight 😂 fortunately it wasn't too much, as soon as I got away enough from the entrance I started to just walk and enjoy nature.
Trying to get a nice view of Puerto Madero buildings through the branches and failing on it lol
The fact that you can see the big and typical buildings of Puerto Madero from there is something I think makes the visit even more enjoyable, there's some kind of unexplainable aesthetic pleasure in watching these building behind all of this nature and perhaps just so away.
While I was getting lost on my photos many joggers and bikers passed next to me, many people come visit the reserve not only to escape the city but also to excercise, especially the people that live in the near neighbourhoods of Puerto Madero district, something I could notice during my visit.
Then, in the middle of all that greeness I found something that had me captivated for a while...
a Jacarandá! 🌸
The beautiful jacaranda tree is a main spring-summer espectacle in Buenos Aires, this is one of the most common trees in the city, and was designated as distinctive tree by the Legislature in 2015*. This sub-tropical tree native to south-central South America has been widely planted elsewhere because of its attractive and long-lasting violet-colored flowers, it can be found in many places all around the world*.
In Buenos Aires it can be seen in many streets, squares and avenues, and became part of the Argentina pop culture references. You know summer is coming up when Buenos Aires turns violet!
The reserve has many trails ideal for hiking, 10 kms of trail, which some of them lead to the river, in an area with viewpoints and seats where many people used to hold picnics, very next to the water.
As it was very lonely (and I think this was because people weren't allowed to enter that area) there was a very nostalgic atmosphere in the whole place, and with the sound of the wind it was very relaxing. Even though I wished I had come before the quarantine started I was still happy with such peaceful quietness and solitude.
Going back...
At this point, this trail turns back to the city. There are several trails in the reserve but due to the quarantine there are only two available now, the north access trail (for walkers) and the south access trail (for cylists and runners/joggers). Even though I wanted to keep on walking along the riverbank, the access to it was blocked, so I had to keep on the new stablished trail and it turns back from here.
While going through this part of the trail, which if I'm not mistaken it's in the middle, you can have a very nice view of Puerto Madero buildings and even some of the buildings near the government's Casa Rosada, the executive mansion and office of the President of Argentina (pic 1/2 above).
In this part of the trail there were several seats under the trees, I was kind of exhausted at this point so I just took a seat and contemplated the cute flowers all spread over the grass.
Then I got to the final part of the trail where I was finally heading to the same entrance I used for getting in, the south access.
I was on the other side and was finally able to get some pictures from there, something I was wishing for a long time.
I found several viewpoints in here too, and these views of the pastures were really nice.
Then I got to the south access and got out, not only exhausted of so much walking but also happy with my wandering, fully recharged and ready to deal with the city again :)
If you ever come to Buenos Aires this is a place you should def consider visiting, this is an area with so much biodiversity and big importance becaue of its ecological, historical (it has environmental characteristics similar to the time of the first European conquistadors in the region), educational, and tourism value.*
Thank you very much for passing by and reading till here! :) Please feel free to tell me what you think of these shots!
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