Having three children is very fulfilling. But, it has to be said, it can also be exhausting. One of the things we had practically forgotten about was going out alone with my partner. This Sunday, however, was different. Our eldest son was already staying at home alone and the girls had been invited to a five-hour birthday party near the city of San Pedro, in the province of Buenos Aires. What better occasion, then, to go for a little walk on our own.
We chose the "Paseo público" of San Pedro. I don't quite know how to translate "paseo público", but it is basically a very large park, which is maintained by the state. We had been there before, but we had never explored it in depth.
The park is about 20 hectares (approximately, I measured it with an online map) and faces a not very wide branch of the Paraná River. The part closest to the street is more landscaped and tidy, and is also the area where the services are located (toilets, food court, skate park, some sports courts, stage for shows, children's playground, etc.). It is also, in my opinion, the least interesting part and where most people are concentrated. There are children playing, families drinking mate on a blanket or having a picnic, in short, the things that are done in parks.
Near the entrance, there are benches and tables for playing table tennis.
Within the park there are roads for cars and footpaths for pedestrians.
As you walk towards the river, the park becomes wilder. There are no longer so many trees planted in a geometric pattern, but plants, many of them native, growing in a more messy and natural way.
In the wilder part, there are fallen trunks or dry trees that were covered by vines.
"Seven of coins" beetles pollinating wild flowers.
Before reaching the river, a large low-lying area stands out, forming a kind of wetland, although it did not have much water (here we are going through one of the biggest droughts in recent history).
The wetland.
An old wharf, probably not passable today.
Once on the riverside, there are fewer people and it is quieter. Most people come here to fish or, like us, to drink some mates in front of the river.
The Paraná River, with its characteristic brown colour.
This branch of the Paraná River is not very wide.
A willow leaning over the waters of the river.
Flowers on the river bank.
The river is an ideal place to reflect and connect deeply with nature. It is one of the few places in this area that remains relatively unchanged, either by urbanisation or by economic activities such as agriculture and livestock farming. On the river, I can imagine what life was like for the original people, travelling in their canoes, fishing from the shore or walking the jungle trails along the riverbank.
It is not a busy part of the river, but catamarans, canoes, boats and cargo ships sometimes pass by.
At the side of the "beach", to call the area that has access to the river, although there is no sand, there is a very narrow path that goes into the little that remains of native vegetation (mixed, of course, with invasive plants). It is only a few metres from "civilisation" and is about 200 or 300 metres long, but there is a great variety of plants, birds and insects, for which it is a real refuge. This was undoubtedly the most interesting part of the trip. There we were able to sit on a fallen log and observe the immensity of the river and nature in peace and quiet.
On the internal trails, nature in all its splendour.
A fallen log on one of the paths.
Mushrooms on a fallen log.
There, this butterfly allowed itself to be photographed up close.
From the trails, it is possible to see the area where two branches of the river meet.
Finally, we tried to get to the "Paseo público 2", a smaller park, which is also on the river bank. We wanted to see a famous mural in that area. To get there you have to walk through several private sports clubs. Halfway there, however, we decided to turn back, because we were running late to pick up the girls for their birthday. We'll save that for another time.
Original in Spanish. Translated with Deepl.
All photos are my own.
I agree with you when you say this. There's this soothing and comfortable feeling around water bodies in general(for those who are not hydrophobic of course).
I like that you put it like this😅 because the insects always flee.
This looks like a really fulfilling walk. Thanks for sharing✨.
#dreemport.
Thanks so much for commenting, @wongi! There were a lot of butterflies! You only had to hold the camera still for a few seconds and a butterfly landed nearby. Cheers!
Amazing.
It's always a pleasure.
Have a wonderful day
This is really a journey to the wild. Everything hear screams nature at its best. It's amazing that you could capture a picture of the butterfly. The river is so brown. Do you think anyone bathes there?🤔
I enjoyed going on this walk of nature through your post. Well-done.🌺🌿
Hi, @jhymi! People don't bathe in this area because the river is very deep and dangerous, but a few kilometres away, in fact, there is a beach (some weekend we'll go there and I'll post something). This river is naturally that brown, it's not very polluted, at least not as much as others, which is saying a lot. Thanks for the comment!
I love the view of this pictures thanks for sharing with us on #dreemport
Thank you very much, @treasuree, I'm glad you liked it!