A cool, green haven in the middle of Mexico City?

It's hot in Mexico City these days. The high-altitude rays are microwaving the city and its inhabitants. The sun beats down from above. The concrete and tarmac radiate the heat upwards underfoot. Thank goodness for ice-cold Coronas in frosted glasses and the sliver of tangy lime jammed down the bottle neck.

Fortunately too, there is at least one place where I can go to cool down. A place where exhuberant greenery predominates over hot pavements, where you see squirrels and humming birds rather than Tsurus and Nissans, where at certain times of the day, trees outnumber the Mexicans there. This haven is the Bosque de Chapultepec, the immense park in the middle of the city which pumps out oxygen, keeping us alive... and cool.

Chapultepec Park, Mexico City's biggest park

Colourful flowers growing in the shade

A squirrel eating a nut

A fine display of white flowers

A bird drinking

Nothing beats an early-morning cycle ride in the park, preferably at the weekend. Being an outdoor, nature-lover, it renews my connection with Planet Earth on a weekly basis. Luckily, most Mexicans tend towards a lazy start to the day on Saturdays and Sundays and by the time they arrive to enjoy the wood, I'm long gone. Those hours spent in the company of thousands of trees and scores of squirrels and birds, with the sound of the leaves crackling under the bike's wheels and gushing fountains, refresh not only my body but my soul. I can face the heat and noise and traffic another week, knowing I have this haven to escape to.

Cycling in the wood

Flowers everywhere

A squirrel investigating my bicycle

A humming bird hovering by some flowers

An inquisitive squirrel

Hundreds of trees

A thick carpet of leaves

Young shoots

Some ducks enjoying the fountains

A small canal

Bright orange flowers