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I have been looking forward to a photo tour organized by Canon Romania. They are not as involved in the community as their competitor, Nikon. So for me it’s the one big thing they are missing. Sorry Nikon fans, but my heart beats Canon. It’s a matter of preference. So when the opportunity came to discover Bucharest and Vacaresti Delta I marked it on my calendar.

In terms of organizing a photo tour, there are a lot of improvements that Canon Romania can make. But that experience also comes with organizing more events. So take note on that and get more involved! On the plus side, they did answer pretty quickly to all the feed-back posted on the Facebook event page. Hopefully the next event will be much better.

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Capturing the sunset from Vacaresti Natural Park

Vacaresti Delta history

Before posting the photos that resulted from this quick tour at sunset, let me give you a little background information on the location. Like a lot of places in Bucharest, it has an interesting story.

Vacaresti Park had a completely different destination before the Revolution, back in ’89 when the communist party was overthrown. It was supposed to be part of this huge project to protect Bucharest from flooding. But, like all the gigantic communist projects, it went down the drain with the change in regime. Fortunately, nature took over what was a man made structure and regained its territory. The end result: a 190 ha of delta in between the apartment blocks was born.

Graffiti from the ‘jungle’: The #UrbanPigHunt creator, Aeul, marked the territory
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Asmita Gardens apartment complex has its own Delta

The land has a good supply of water from underground streams. So over 20 years of neglect resulted in a growth of wilderness, of flora and fauna at the edge of the Romanian capital city. Today there are over 95 animal species that live in a sustainable ecosystem: aigrettes, cormorants, coots, swans, snakes, rabbits, foxes and even otters.

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Dragon season is open
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Dracarys
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Beautiful purple color

The Vacaresti Delta also got a feature in National Geographic back in 2012, and was visited by HRH Prince Charles at the beginning of this year. Starting 11th of May 2016, the area was declared a natural park and became the first protected area in Bucharest.

Even if I didn’t get the chance to go to the observatory in the nearby Asmita Gardens, the ground photos and the beautiful sunset made up for that.

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Shadows in the sunset
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Golden hour from Vacaresti Delta
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Red moon rising
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Urban view: Mihai Bravu bridge over Dambovita river

Enjoyed it? Pin it! 🙂

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Jaunting Tips

  • Check the sunset time and get there with a good amount of time to reach the other side of the park.
  • Don’t forget to bring mosquito protection spray. I did, so dinner was basically on me.
  • You should get a tele lens for optimal photo shooting.
  • You can check the observatory in Asmita Gardens. The access is free, but you need schedule your visit at office [at] salvatidelta.ro.
  • For more information about Vacaresti Delta, check out their website parcnaturalvacaresti.ro