Delta Livin'
So this past weekend was GREAT. Friday I cruised into a travel agency looking for info on Iguazu and I ended up booking a weekend trip to Tigre. Its a town on the delta of the Parana River - a river that starts in Brazil, goes through Uruguay and ends up in Argentina. I called Flurina at work and she jumped on board. We reported to the train station the next morning at 8:15 AM where we met Pablo - a loquatious tour guide who made an hour long train ride seem like 15 minutes. We had croissants and mate on the train, very Argentine. We arrived in Tigre and jumped on board a boat that would take us to wherever we were going (we had no clue). The boat was packed with people and as we made our way up the River Carapachay (kah-ra-paw-chai) they would get dropped off at these little docks, each belonging to a home on the river bank. It was incredible - I had no idea what it would be like. I felt like a big city gal suddenly being shot into a scene from Tom Sawyer. Eventually Flu and I were the last ones on this boat and we started to worry a bit, we were the last two of roughly 100 passengers. Then we hear "Bonanza!!" Well, that was the name of our tour company - turns out it was also the name of the place we were staying at. All the homes are named - I love that. 
Here's a view of the river from roughly where the above signpost is. 
So we get there and we met our hostess, Rosanna DiMecola. She spent all her summers growing up at the house (owned by her family) and 3 years ago she decided to move there from the city and start up this tourism business. Within a few minutes of arriving they set up a little table at the end of the dock and served us coffee, tea and cake. We put our stuff down, and were given galoshes because we were going on a little nature walk. We made our way through quite the variety of terrain - take a look at this picture of me stepping into mud and think about what it really looks like. Maybe 5 mintues after this picture the mud got deeper and I almost lost my galosh (? is there a singular for galoshes?).
This picture turned out great - i like the colors. I named it Gretel Lost even though Flurina is Swiss. Same genetic families, right? 
This isn't really a caterpillar because it never turns into a butterfly. It just makes your hand burn like its on fire if you touch it. Would make an excellent pet.
After this 3 hour trek through all sorts of terrain, we headed back to Bonanza and were served grilled chicken, salad and ice cream for lunch. They set it up on the porch - great spot to check out the river from. 
Went for an after-lunch-row. It looks like its late at night, but it was actually around Sunset. Thats our guide Rosanna behind me.
That night was cool because we had dinner with Rosanna and her dad - empanadas galore and more lovely ice cream. We conked out around 1 am or so and woke up bright and early to a nice breakfast - I was STARVING the whole weekend which is why I keep referencing the food. Loved it. So Sunday's activity was a visit to a local farm. We jumped in a little boat and flew down the river for about 15 minutes (the best part of the trip - it was totally exhiliarting),
made some turns into some random canals, until we finally got to the farm. We saw capibaras (world's largest rodent - grows up to 200 lbs. crazy), snakes, turtles, ducks, goats,
rabbits, sheep, as yet unclassified spiders, hummingbird nestss. Ah yes - and the most incredible, and most numerous - the mighty MOSQUITO. They were a plague the entire weekend, but on this day, I snapped a photo that might make you, kind reader, realize that I am not exaggerating. In this picture you will see 20 mosquitos on this man's back (this guy own the farm). The only thing I am disappointed about in that he had just moved adn a number of mosquitos flew off his back. 
.We headed back around 4:30 - had steak, salad and flan. Got picked up by the water taxi around 6PM. The entire time I was having flashbacks to being a kid in Disneyland and being completely captivated by the first two minutes of Pirates of the Caribbean - that Bayou scene. It made me think of that. Of course the Carapachay River is clean and the houses are taken care of, its very vacation oriented. But still!!!! Oh - and my first reaction was that it would be a perfect getaway for a writer. Tranquil yet wild, beautiful, isolated but friendly. I'd go back in a heartbeat. Oh - and there's a boat that comes by every so often with a fellow selling ice cream. What?!?!? Yes - it does.
Here's a view of the river from roughly where the above signpost is. 
So we get there and we met our hostess, Rosanna DiMecola. She spent all her summers growing up at the house (owned by her family) and 3 years ago she decided to move there from the city and start up this tourism business. Within a few minutes of arriving they set up a little table at the end of the dock and served us coffee, tea and cake. We put our stuff down, and were given galoshes because we were going on a little nature walk. We made our way through quite the variety of terrain - take a look at this picture of me stepping into mud and think about what it really looks like. Maybe 5 mintues after this picture the mud got deeper and I almost lost my galosh (? is there a singular for galoshes?).
This picture turned out great - i like the colors. I named it Gretel Lost even though Flurina is Swiss. Same genetic families, right? 
This isn't really a caterpillar because it never turns into a butterfly. It just makes your hand burn like its on fire if you touch it. Would make an excellent pet.
After this 3 hour trek through all sorts of terrain, we headed back to Bonanza and were served grilled chicken, salad and ice cream for lunch. They set it up on the porch - great spot to check out the river from. 
Went for an after-lunch-row. It looks like its late at night, but it was actually around Sunset. Thats our guide Rosanna behind me.
That night was cool because we had dinner with Rosanna and her dad - empanadas galore and more lovely ice cream. We conked out around 1 am or so and woke up bright and early to a nice breakfast - I was STARVING the whole weekend which is why I keep referencing the food. Loved it. So Sunday's activity was a visit to a local farm. We jumped in a little boat and flew down the river for about 15 minutes (the best part of the trip - it was totally exhiliarting),
made some turns into some random canals, until we finally got to the farm. We saw capibaras (world's largest rodent - grows up to 200 lbs. crazy), snakes, turtles, ducks, goats,
rabbits, sheep, as yet unclassified spiders, hummingbird nestss. Ah yes - and the most incredible, and most numerous - the mighty MOSQUITO. They were a plague the entire weekend, but on this day, I snapped a photo that might make you, kind reader, realize that I am not exaggerating. In this picture you will see 20 mosquitos on this man's back (this guy own the farm). The only thing I am disappointed about in that he had just moved adn a number of mosquitos flew off his back. 
.We headed back around 4:30 - had steak, salad and flan. Got picked up by the water taxi around 6PM. The entire time I was having flashbacks to being a kid in Disneyland and being completely captivated by the first two minutes of Pirates of the Caribbean - that Bayou scene. It made me think of that. Of course the Carapachay River is clean and the houses are taken care of, its very vacation oriented. But still!!!! Oh - and my first reaction was that it would be a perfect getaway for a writer. Tranquil yet wild, beautiful, isolated but friendly. I'd go back in a heartbeat. Oh - and there's a boat that comes by every so often with a fellow selling ice cream. What?!?!? Yes - it does.
3 Comments:
Oh but you see, he IS alive, as long as you have him in here (points to temple) and in here (puts hand over heart).
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um, why is the middle paragraph in blue, while the rest of the 47 other paragraphs in black? This bothers me to the point of convulsion. I am blacklisting the blue ink in that paragraph. blue ink, you have been put on notice.
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