It is a hot sunny Sunday as I leave Málaga’s city center. To escape the accumulated heat in the Centro Histórico, I long to be in nature. Fortunately, a green escape awaits only a bus ride away. In the north of Málaga lies the Historical Botanical Garden (Jardín Botánico-Histórico La Concepción).
The journey to the garden
My trip begins in Málaga’s city center. From there, I take the bus to Ciudad Jardín. After almost 45 minutes, I get off at the last bus station, where I find myself in a quiet and empty neighborhood. As the garden is pretty secluded from the city, it takes me about an additional 15-minute walk to reach my destination. I walk among a bridge that leads over a highway and on narrow paths beside lonely streets. Eventually, I finally make it to Málaga’s green treasure.
However, as I arrive at the garden’s gates around 4:30 pm, a 30-meter-long queue of waiting people is preventing me from getting in. In fact, entrance to the garden on Sunday afternoons is free. Therefore, you have to expect a large crowd of visitors arriving at this time. Nevertheless, the queue goes by really fast, and you will enter paradise in an instant.
Orientation in the maze of the garden
To keep orientated during my hike through the Historical Botanical Garden is quite the challenge. You will find a map at the entrance to figure out your way around. But in order to explore, you sometimes need to get lost. Therefore, I just wander around without keeping an eye on the directional signs that appear at intersections here and then.
Without a clue on where to go, I find myself on a track overlooking Málaga and the sea. I stop at an ancient-looking pavilion, observe turtles and frogs in artificial ponds, and marvel at the diversity of tropical plants that I never expected to find in the south of Spain.
After wandering through a small bamboo forest, I stand in front of the patio of my dreams. Iron chairs are placed around a small round table under a roof made of branches and vines. Next to it lies a small pond; at the head of it is a colorful mosaic. I take the stairs behind the patio to continue my exploration, and immediately, I stand inside a rund-down green house, which appears to have been reclaimed by nature itself. However, the view behind the small green house is even more mesmerizing. A quiet stream flows between trees as tall as buildings that keep the clearing in front of me hidden from the sky. I walk across the stone bridges leading over the stream, and I am almost certain to be in a real rainforest.
There is always more to explore
This day, I am not able to see every corner of the beautiful garden. I miss out on a field of flowers, hidden viewpoints, fountains, and the garden’s famous estate. But with so much more to explore, I am excited to come back.
