Pearl of Tavria - Askania-Nova
Pearl of Tavria "Askania-Nova"
The month of May is on the calendar. Somehow immediately, after the cool weather in early May, the weather warmed up sharply, and it even became a bit hot for the end of May. In parks and gardens, everything blooms and smells sweet. And there is a great desire to join this flowering.
We live in the Tavrian region, next to us, 70 km away is the pearl of our region: the Askania-Nova Biosphere Reserve. For junior high school students, parents organized a bus trip on an excursion to the reserve on Saturday, May 21. Our eldest granddaughter began to gather for this excursion with great enthusiasm.
We have also been to Askania-Nova before, but that was so long ago! And suddenly it was so tempting to go again and look at the reserve, what it has become today, in our difficult financial times. And so we decided to go with our car after the bus with the whole friendly family: my son-in-law was driving, and my husband and I, and my daughter and youngest granddaughter were passengers. We got there at about half past nine in the morning. There were already quite a few buses and cars in the parking lot.
For those who know little about Askania-Nova, a little explanation. The reserve consists of 4 parts: a zoo, a botanical park, a reserved steppe and Chapelsky under. So the most affordable excursions are held in the zoo and in the botanical park. And to the reserved steppe, and to Chapelsky under only by prior request in small groups, accompanied by rangers.
Entrance tickets to the zoo for adults cost 20 UAH, for children over 5 years old 10 UAH. Another 2 UAH. you have to pay for the camera. Parking a car costs 4 UAH.
Entrance to the botanical park is free if you go on your own without a guide. If you order an excursion, then tickets are at the same price as the zoo.
We buy tickets to the zoo, and then we go to the botanical park on our own after the zoo.
The zoo here is specific, represented mainly by birds and mammals. We were very pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness and well-groomedness of the entire territory: both the zoo and the botanical park. And important peacocks walked along the paths of the zoo right between the tourists, not paying attention to us at all.
On the territory of the zoo there is a very beautiful park with artificial rivers and ponds. Geese, ducks and swans swim in the ponds. This year, about 900 swans wintered in Askanian reservoirs, they did not want to fly to Turkey for the winter. Of course, they have created all the conditions for a comfortable wintering.
The entire excursion route is marked with signs, so it was easy to follow it. All the paths were very clean, we did not notice any cigarette butts or pieces of paper anywhere. Yes, and not surprisingly, garbage bins were placed everywhere, which were regularly cleaned. Special benches stood in the most beautiful places for tourists to relax. The tour starts from the bird pens. Further along the way, we passed a sculptural group of six Scythian and Polovtsian "women". These sculptures of the 11th-12th centuries have been preserved on the territory of the reserve in the amount of 17 individuals. Then we went to a very beautiful pond with an artificial island and fed swans and fish there. Further our way lay to artiodactyl animals. The domesticated llama took treats right from the hands, and two donkeys themselves begged for treats from tourists. Everyone ate the biscuits with great pleasure.
After them came pens with ostriches, antelopes, buffaloes, horses, camels and goats. All animals are housed in spacious pens, well-fed and well-groomed. The whole journey took about 2 hours, with stops for photos. We then joined the groups, then again departed from them for independent examinations.
At the exit from the zoo there is a souvenir market, how could it be without it!
Peacock feathers are the most popular here: the largest feather costs 5 UAH, the smallest one costs 3 UAH. I buy myself a large pen, and a small one for my granddaughter. Books about the reserve were also on sale: a beautiful illustrated edition for 120 UAH, and a small guide for 25 UAH.
We leave the market and immediately go to the botanical park. Again it was a pleasure to observe the cleanliness and well-groomedness of the park. Clean and smooth paths, again everywhere there are benches for rest and rubbish bins. We make a big circle around the park, but the park is large - about 200 hectares, so we understand that we will not be able to pass it in one day. Our youngest granddaughter was starting to get tired. Therefore, we turn to the center and go out to the central reservoir of the park, near which the grotto is located. But we do not go into the grotto, there is a sign on it that the grotto is in disrepair. We only take pictures outside.
Everything is in bloom in the park: pink chestnut, lilac, hawthorn, elderberry, lilies of the valley, periwinkle, celandine and much more. . . Centenary oaks were surrounded by special attention, it was clear that every tree was cared for here.
At the exit from the park, near the parking lot, there are special tables and benches arranged for tourists to relax and have a picnic. There are also free toilets. Here we are, after a long walk, we were also pretty hungry, and decided to have a small picnic for ourselves at one of these tables. Food and drinks were brought from home, but it was possible to buy there. After a rest and a picnic, the youngest granddaughter did not want to leave home, and asked to see the animals in the zoo again. We had to promise that we would come here again. Well, the eldest granddaughter spent the whole day with her class. She did not join us, and went there and back by bus with her friends.
When leaving the parking lot for home, we noticed that the number of vehicles had increased many times over, only there were about fifty large buses. And the numbers on them were from different regions. This suggests that many excursion groups come to the reserve. This is only pleasing, it seems that excursion tourism in our native places has begun to develop in our country.
And from this trip we received a huge charge of positive energy from communicating with beautiful nature. See you soon, "Askania-Nova"!
