Oddly natural. An apparent, but considerably impressive oddity for sure. A totally unexpected place when walking or driving down the road on the other side of the dam surrounding it. A 190 hectare (make it 190 average size football stadiums put together) land of lush vegetation that alternates with tall grassy fields dotted with colourful flowers. A place where both land and water host a great variety of wetland wildlife. A serene, equally quiet city-wise and naturally noisy wildlife-like, world where, once one goes down the relatively steep concrete embankment, everything changes and turns roughly natural, without fences or explanation boards, without staff catering to wildlife kept behind bars. For the Văcărești is a sample of nature claiming back its territory and eventually managing to do so to an outstanding extent in a mere 25 year time frame. All this in the middle of a concrete block, urban agglomeration, surrounded from all sides by living districts of Bucharest, which made it Europe’s first nature park within a city. But let us see how it all came into being.

History. The area South-East of Bucharest used to be made by swamps, lakes and the lush vegetation that came with them: bushes, reed and the typical marsh vegetation stretched forever around the meandering Dâmbovița. People called it the Valea Plângerii (En. the Mourning Valley) and until the turn of the 20th century it doubled as the city's wasteland, with the extensive marshes slowly disintegrated the waste dumped there. The area used to be inhabited by some of the poorest people in the city that lived in adobe hovels and went through the day rummaging through the waste dumped there for anything useful to eat or make use of. 1965 saw works started meant to turn the Northern section of the Mourning Valley into a park: the Tineretului, but the South-Eastern section remained marshy, with the 18th century Văcărești Monastery overlooking it from its location on a hill to the South. President Nicolae Ceaușescu had the extensive monastery together with the hill it once stood on completely razed in stages until 1987, while about at the same time a huge reservoir was meant to be set on the place of the Văcărești swamps, with a more or less square concrete dam being built to hold the water in. This was part of a plan meant to safeguard Bucharest against the once frequent floods created by the initially meandering River Dâmbovița lined with its many lakes and swamps. The typical Ceaușescu utopia of feeding the reservoir with water pumped in from the river was very expensive and it was then replaced by another, equally as bright a solution, of feeding it with water naturally flowing in from Mihăilești Reservoir 27 km. away.

December 1989 brought Ceaușescu's regime to an end and works were halted both on the reservoir and on the Mihăilești - Văcărești feeding canal with only 14 km. completed. Due to the extortionate costs of the required works and its overall uselessness, the project was called off and the meant-to-be lake was forgotten for a couple of decades. As the vast bottom was not set in concrete and it was far from flat, vegetation quickly set in and water accumulated on the once marshy land creating lakes and swamps. Thickets, relatively vast reed stretches and even small forests appeared, with the wildlife rapidly growing. At the same time, the city homeless found shelter in shacks set especially in the Western part of abandoned reservoir.

Around 2010, public awareness started to develop regarding the Văcărești vegetation, but it was not until a 2012 National Geographic article entitled 'the Delta Behind the Blocks' that interest consistently grew; following the popular article, national and local media crews went up and down the Văcărești concrete dam and came back out with articles that further spread the word. An NGO was founded, among the others, by National Geographic's Cristian Lascu and Helmut Ignat, as well as by locally popular Kogayon's Dan Bărbulescu; its purpose was to turn the Văcărești into a protected Nature Park. Public figures like Climber Alexandru Găvan, Journalist Liviu Mihaiu and international organizations like WWF supported the project. While government support was also expressed several times, decision was slow to come, especially given the massive real estate interest in this vast area within the city. Finally, May 2016 saw the government pass a law establishing the Văcărești Nature Park.

Wildlife. The reservoir dam holds in this rich vegetation-filled bowl with apparently no connection with the outside world, especially as it is surrounded by busy avenues and streets on all sides. Lakes and pools are overgrown with the Eurasian water-milfoil, respectively covered by a blanket of common and star duckweed, as well as spotless water-meal on which birds feed. The picturesque is boosted by the many flowers bursting out of the water, such as the lindernie, the water-plantain, with the flatland relict bogbean standing out. On moist soil or in shallow waters, the water-pepper and the pale persicaria share ground with stretches of club rush, flowering, respectively soft rush and cattail, be it the narrow leaf or broad leaf kind. Gypsywort is met a bit farther ‚inland’, while dog rose bushes dot the drier areas and are at their best in mid May, when they blossom. Willows and poplars complete the image and provide some welcome shade, especially if you visit the Văcărești in summer.

Taking your time and walking around, you may encounter a few small mammals such as common vole, the pygmy shrew, as well as, with patience and luck, a weasel, otter or fox; there also live a few bat communities around. In or in the immediate vicinity of the lakes around you can spot the northern crested newt or common newt, the colourful fire-bellied toad, the marsh frog, the pond turtle, the green lizard and the sand lizard or common lizard. Also concerning reptiles, there are some grass snakes around, but do not worry, as this is a non-venomous species. What brings a good share of life and buzz on the whole area is the bird crowd. Both migrant and resident bird communities are very interesting to watch, with wild ducks among the most frequently met.

Logistics. Down to setting up your visit, note the fact that, as of 2016, there are no established visiting trails and no proper facilities to speak of. With lakes more prevalent in the Eastern part of the reserve, there is an axis of trails (a NE-SW one crossing with a NW-SE one about in the middle of the Văcărești), as well as two more established trails plying the N and S dams. Countless other pathways circle the lakes or go to the lake verge, but their course may change according to the water level. Some are used by the relatively many fishermen, so that they sometimes come to an unexpected end in a thicket or stretch of reed. Especially when going through tall grass, watch your footing, as there sometimes are ditches or muddy areas out of the blue. As there are often nettles on the way and the ground is uneven, marshy in places, it is recommendable to avoid sandals and any fancy shoes, rather using sport shoes or light boots.

Access-wise, with the whole of the Văcărești surrounded by the relatively tall concrete dam meant to keep a lake inside and until facilities are built (or a hole is dug out), there is no really friendly access point. Well, except for a remote car ramp in the very Southern tip, on the corner of Săvinești and Stolnici streets, with access via the Șoseaua Olteniței (2 tramway stops SE of the Piața Sudului subway stop), but getting in that way is neither straight-forward, nor pleasant, as you need go through a wasteland first and the lakes are farther in if coming from the South.

From my experience, the most convenient access point in terms of public transport is from Mihai Bravu subway stop: take the Southern exit, then walk on towards the big blue flyover, go under it and take a left after crossing the river, towards the Asmita Gardens cluster. Go around the block cluster and look for the La Doi Pași supermarket on the ground floor of the light blue theme building (the second one coming from the river side). Cross the street and find a trail going up the dam right there. Once on top, you will have to carefully descend on the inside (there is a 1 meter 20 cm. step) and you can then go down the relatively steep embankment to a rather well trodden trail on the bottom. Follow that trail until you reach the lake area, from where footpaths start splitting to the right, allowing access to the more interesting lake shore.

On the other hand, the easiest access down into the bowl without going all the way on the Southern side, is to head to the NE tip, to the Șoseaua Vitan-Bârzești – Splaiul Unirii crossing or, if you find it easier, simply to the Rin Grand Hotel. Either way, walk straight up the dam (there are trails heading up in both cases) and, once on it, look for the dock-like platform inwards about half the way between the crossing and the Rin Grand. Once on top of it, you will see that on both of its sides you can easily descend onto the embankment and then proceed to walk down to the bottom. This is an equally quick way to the lakes, but there is no subway transport going there.

Orientation-wise, you can use as reference the big, square Rin Grand Hotel located exactly East of the reserve (pictured above), respectively the cluster of tall Asmita Gardens apartment buildings located in the North-Western tip of the reserve (pictured here to the left). If you feel more confident this way, you can print out a map and take it along. Here is one where I marked the two access points mentioned above.

Note that a short visit can easily turn long once inside, as the most interesting fact about the Văcărești is the diversity there. Pathways in lush areas are rarely straight and quite often come with obstacles (usually water) to be avoided by going around. A morning visit will have the air fresher and will have most of the place to yourself plus a dozen or so of fishermen, while the sunlight might be warmer in the afternoon, especially for the photography enthusiast. Bring your own water and food, as there are no shops or vendors inside. There are no toilets inside either. This is as free and wild a place as they go. Consider you have paid your dues for the visit by taking out some rubbish you find on the way. Respect wildlife and do not build bonfires, do not leave waste, do not produce noise and do not disturb the wildlife when inside. Enjoy your time!

The park does not have a website as of May 2016, but there is one maintained by the NGO constantly campaigning for its founding, the Asociația Parcul Natural Văcărești.

Click here for an album of pictures shot in the park; I have arranged them in the sequence of a walk starting at the Rin Grand dock and ending by the Asmita Gardens.