Entry no. 14: Nature's conquest

There is this special place in my hometown, the Văcăreşti Delta. Here lays a man-made lake, started in the communist era. The plan was to construct reservoirs around Bucharest to protect the city from flooding. In 1988, the modest houses found there were demolished. The construction of the pier surrounding the area started. At first, it was supposed to be filled from the Argeş river, through the Mihăileşti Lake, from 27 kilometers away. Instead, the basin was filled with water once, in 1989, from the neighbouring Dâmboviţa river. That didn’t pan out right. The water infiltrated through the pier and underground, flooding the area. After that, the project was abandoned.

In december 1989, the Revolution started. Eastern Europe countries were under the communist regime. The transition to democracy was peaceful. Except for Romania, the only country that had a revolution and executed its leaders, the Ceauşescu couple. Many romanians lost their lives then. As with many projects started by Ceauşescu, the Văcăreşti lake was abandoned after 1990.

Have you seen movies or videos where nature takes over if humans stopped interfering? That’s what happened with Văcăreşti. In just 23 years, nature reclaimed the area. Underground springs broke to the surface and created little lakes and swamps. That’s how a lush vegetation grew. Different species inhabited the area, some species are rare. You can find fish, birds, reptiles and mammals such as otters, ferrets and foxes. Until now, there were identified 138 species of birds, some of them unique in this part of the country or never seen before in Romania.

The hype about this wetland started in 2012 when a photographer published an article in the National Geographic magazine called “The Delta between the blocks”.
That got the attention of associations and the Romanian Academy. Now, the Văcăreşti National Park, is protected by law.

I didn’t get the chance to visit the park until now. Spring just arrived and I wanted to get to see a sunset there. @photovitamin is a connoisseur of Văcăreşti sunsets. He thought it will be a beautiful one, seeing the nice clouds throughout the day. Going up the slope, we noticed a flying drone and a guy on his dirtbike. Other than that, the place was all only for our eyes to see. It was breathtaking! A marvelous panorama with buildings at the horizon, little swamps sprinkled between the shrubs. We set up our gear and waited for the spectacle to begin.

As the sun set, the sky was transforming, going from blue, to bright yellow. Then all colors came to play, like a painter was testing out his color palette. I was freezing. My hands were numb, but we couldn’t leave now. The show was still on. We ran across the pier to get better shots, disturbed by no one. I took about 200 shots, eager to capture it all. It was tough to pick just one. We returned home filled with beauty, not feeling the cold or the fatigue.

^{All content, text and photos, is my own original work.}