After six weeks of living in Istanbul, the reality of its sprawl and 17 million people, started to feel ever so slightly claustrophobic. The autumn rain didn’t help and the children were arguing. When the sun came out briefly, I decided to put the children and the dog, into the car and drive out to the Belgrad Forest. Friends had said that it was only 15 minutes away, so I took them at their word and set the Yandex. The Yandex took us somewhere near the Black Sea and down a dirt track, which definitely was not the Belgrad Forest, or any forest. The Map app on my iPhone got us there eventually and I realised that it would have been better to put “Belgrad Ormani” rather than “Forest” into the phone from the outset. As it turns out that my Turkish friends were right and Belgrad Forest is really close to the city, give or take a few dodgy GPS co-ordinates.
We did a walking trail through the woods, which was clearly marked with red flags. We still managed to get lost, but luckily the dog was better at following the trail than we were, and she led us back to the car. We were lucky to have a clever dog with us, especially as it was getting dark and we didn’t have water, snacks or warm coats. I was worried about getting back to the car on time. My nervousness is probably just a combined hang-over from living in the UK, where there are strict park closing times and growing up in Africa, where things gobble you up if you wander around at dusk. As we drove out of the park in the almost dark, we felt foreign and silly for thinking about closing times at all, because we saw families hiking and eating early suppers (or maybe very late lunches) near the kiosks in the vast picnic area.
I had not read up on the Belgrade Forest but I have now. It turns out there are a few wolves, wild boar and deer, but they are seldom seen. The forest is 5300 hectares of oak, beech and chestnut trees. There are reservoirs and ancient aqueducts too. After the conquest of Belgrade in 1521, deported Serbs were settled in the forest by the Sultan to guard and maintain the infrastructure which stored water for the city.
There is something for everyone: walking, running, biking, playgrounds and picnic spots (where you can hire a bbq for a small fee, if you don’t have your own.) There is an admission fee of 10TL and the forest is easily reached by car. Not quite so easy by taxi or public transport.
I fled to the park without a map, but I would recommend trying to find out more about the park’s layout before you go (especially as maps are probably more reliable than even the cleverest of dogs).
You will want to return to the forest again and again. It swallows up naughty children (like all properly qualified forests should) and sends them home all magically well behaved with flushed cheeks. It also provides a happy escape from the madness of living with winter rain and metro queues.