VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – When walking around Stanley Park, watch out for the bird poop—there’s a lot and they’re massive.
Well, not massive – massive, but quite bigger than your regular bird poop.
You get the point.
Stanley Park is one of the biggest public parks in the world at 405 hectares. It’s one of the go-to places when visiting Vancouver—and rightfully so.
It’s beautiful.
The park is heavily forested and home to many wildlife creatures. If you walk carefully through the forest trails, you’ll surely spot a few squirrels scampered up the nearest tree (or stuffing their faces with a nut or two).
There’s a seawall where people can cycle, jog, or skate by. There are families out with their dogs, who totally enjoy a trip to the park.
There are several clearings and meadows where children and families can play. Up in the clearing with lush grass you’ll find a flock of Canada geese hanging around in the grass. They’re hard to miss —they’re practically all over the park. They have taken a liking to the park and have made it their nesting ground—and pooping ground too.
The lagoon has become home to many ducks and other birds. When my boyfriend Rob (Hi, Bb!) and I walked by the lake, there was a Great Blue Heron hanging out close to shore. He was looking over the lagoon—probably looking for something to eat (or just really appreciating the beauty around him, because, seriously, the lagoon was the bomb).
Just a few steps away from the Great Blue Heron, a huge flock of ducks and Canada Geese settled by the shore. They were fun to take in— they were noisy and poopy. They didn’t seem to bat an eye when we passed through the gaggle of geese—the ducks didn’t mind either.
Cyclists zoomed past the lake on designated bike lanes and trailer hikers walked past us.
The sun was slowly setting as we looked over the lagoon, casting a lazy orange light over the noisy ducks and geese.
The park is a beautiful landmark found in the middle of a bustling metro. Standing by the lagoon, it’s sometimes difficult to picture that just a couple of blocks away are restaurants and office buildings. With its dense forest and forest trails, wildlife, lakes, beach, meadows, and breathtaking flora and fauna, Stanley Park becomes home to anyone seeking a break from the bustle of the city life.
One of the best parts of the park and all its guests (by guests I mean us—humans), you find little sightings of garbage. There is errant plastic bottle of sachet of shampoo or used plastic bag carelessly strewn along the walking trails for Canada Geese to choke on. People are mindful enough to carry their garbage to the next available trash can.
Back home, in the Philippines, we got our own little pocket parks too—maybe, we can achieve our green spaces better by throwing our garbage where it’s supposed to go.
Our parks are not hundreds of hectares big. They’re small—let’s put more effort in keeping our parks green.