UMA Arboretum – A beautiful park in the university area 📷 Málaga – Spain

Exploring the city gives me a wonderful opportunity to discover places I didn’t even know existed, to explore them thoroughly, step by step, and uncover different spaces. Each neighbourhood is so different from the next, with its own unique characteristics, that it’s always a surprise to walk through each one.

I make the most of every opportunity to learn a little more, and I’m firmly convinced that walking is the best way to enjoy the experience of seeing new places, taking it one step at a time. And that’s how I found myself in the district known as Teatinos; after a stroll through a park, I looked at the map and saw that not too far away there was a large green space, so I headed there. As you know, my best walking companion is Google Maps.

Shortly after setting off, I came across the tram tracks. The first time I’d seen one was several years ago when, on my way home from work, I spotted it in the distance; I’d never seen one before and I savour every little experience life has to offer.

I carried on walking but couldn’t see that green space; just avenues, very wide streets, the tram tracks and houses, though all very far off. Until, at a junction, I spotted an area with lots of trees. As I was saying, every neighbourhood has its own characteristics, which sometimes depend on the climate and the area. There are neighbourhoods very close to the sea, such as those in the east. But the neighbourhoods in the western part stretch into the hills and mountains, and the atmosphere changes completely.

You can really tell from the vegetation and the style of the parks. It was very hot that day, and the lack of rain over the last six months was particularly noticeable on the grass, in the lower-lying areas, and on the plants closest to the ground; yet the place was still beautiful.

As you can see, the sun was intense, even though it was setting and its rays were glinting off the light-coloured ground. The park is situated between the tram tracks and the avenue known as Boulevard Louis Pasteur, one of the main avenues in the Teatinos district, the university area.

The park is called the UMA Arboretum, as it is located in the area where several of the city’s faculties are based. In fact, there are several of them on both sides of the avenue, and the park seems to be a large boulevard, hence its name.

There are numerous paths criss-crossing the park, some made of small pebbles and others of earth, but covered with a vast number of leaves that have fallen from the many trees within it. I walked along each and every one of them, even returning to the starting point and taking a new path. I wanted to explore the park thoroughly.

Upon reaching the central part of the park, there is a sort of large L-shaped gazebo, with a few benches nearby and surrounded by trees. I reached it via a path that lay completely in the shade beneath the trees and looked like a path where fairies might come out to meet me.

The vegetation is practically the same as that found throughout the city, but I think that, because the climate is drier, I saw many species of cacti and succulents rather than flowering shrubs or ones of different colours.

The sun was sinking lower and lower, and curiously, it never stopped illuminating the central part, as if the park had been designed so that this would be the last area to lose the light.

The vegetation occasionally revealed the tram tracks, and during my walk I saw the tram pass by several times; I managed to capture it on one of those occasions. I think it’s a good place to take a stroll or give your eyes a rest when you’re studying at one of those faculties, or when you have a break.

At one point, the park seems to come to an end, but then, via paths running along the sides, it begins again, with more internal paths; however, the vegetation is now lower and you can see the various buildings on either side, the different faculties, as well as the entrance to the university botanical garden.

It’s nice to see how each faculty has its own space, its own grounds, yet they share this park and the botanical garden. As I walked, the sun was setting, casting shadows across the yellow grass on the ground.

Once the park ends, it’s followed by a large car park, and it’s there that you can see the buildings much more clearly, the spaces between them and the vast university campus. The sun was still illuminating the whole area and it was a pleasure to take it all in: to stop at a particular spot, look around and gaze at those gigantic buildings, not to mention the ones directly in front of me, behind a large roundabout called the ‘Glorieta del Palo’, which features a beautiful sculpture.

I always love discovering new places, and it was a very pleasant walk on a sunny and rather warm afternoon.

Thank you very much for joining me today; I send you my warmest regards. See you soon. Amonet.