From its lush water garden and adjacent world-class restaurant, to the many centers of play sprouting spontaneous bouts of fun, Bicentenario Park is a fantastic and massive space that is an absolute gem within the city of Santiago. After an utterly delicious meal, I was able to explore this space with great delight and a spring in my step, first starting with the water garden. The vegetation drew me to what I would find to be the most beautiful part of the park, complete with flora and fauna both familiar and novel to me. Being a child of a “birding” family, and having a general affinity for wildlife, it was joy to see a sundry of new types of birds utilizing the space together. I would spend a good amount of time here taking pictures of the jumbo koi fish and every feathered friend I could spot on the water. Safe to say, I was updated by my family to which species I had seen after relaying the images back to Cleveland. The water garden felt both planned yet in a way to create moments of spontaneity, those like the areas where you can feed swans or flamingos, or anyone looking for a bite really. These types of moments would fill my time spent in the rest of the park, one occupied by beauty, calmness, and spontaneous fun for people of Santiago and for anyone who has the pleasure to visit as well.
Residents of the park, the black-necked swan, commonly referred to by their scientific names: “honkers”. Complete with jumbo koi
Flora, fauna, and Radic’s Mestizo: a recipe for a perfect day in the park (if you can afford it)