Parque da Aclimação

This guide to Parque da Aclimação in São Paulo follows Carlos Botelho, a physician who returned from Paris in 1880 determined to build a garden that tested whether foreign species could thrive in Brazil. It traces how he bought this land in 1892 and built a quarantine barn for cattle shipped from Holland, an experiment nobody was sure would work. You'll hear about the dairy bar, the zoo, and the research center that grew up around the herd. Listen for the open lawns that once bordered pens of imported livestock.