If yesterday was all about Buenos Aires, today was about getting out of the city and having a completely different experience. And after returning to the ship from today’s excursion, I’d have to say, mission accomplished.
After an early breakfast we piled into a tour bus and headed north to the city of Tigre, named after the jaguars that used to roam the area. Tigre has a population of 25,000, and lies along an enormous river delta approximately eighteen miles from the northern terminus of Buenos Aires. The delta lies at the confluence of more rivers and creeks than I can count, and it’s home to many Argentinians who rely on the waterways the way most of us rely on the streets of our towns and cities.
Leaving our bus behind in Tigre, we boarded a tour boat that wound its way through those rivers and creeks, and we saw first hand how reliant the locals are on water transportation. Speaking of water, while it’s the dominant feature of life on the delta, none of it is potable. Drinking water is transported up and down the waterways by commercial vessels, with large jugs of the type you’d see at the office water cooler dropped off owners’ docks. While we didn’t actually see any deliveries being made, we saw empty jugs on many docks, so I assume the same boats that make the deliveries pick up the empties.
There are also numerous water taxis moving up and down the creeks and rivers, and more than once we saw people on docks extending their arms to flag down a taxi the same way you would on a busy urban street. However, the importance of water transportation was really driven home to me when an ambulance went flying past us with its lights flashing.
The water is also used heavily for various forms of recreation. We saw kayaks and, surprising to me considering the choppiness of the water, sculling pairs with coxswains sitting in the back. We passed a couple concrete ramps with the names of boating clubs on them, reinforcing the popularity of recreational rowing and kayaking.
The waterways were very busy, and there were many smaller private boats of all types competing for space with commercial vessels, taxis, and a lot of tour boats like ours. There were two other cruise ships in port today, and I know the Tigre boat tours are popular with cruise passengers. However, Tigre is an easy drive from Buenos Aires, and I’m sure the tour boat operators also do well with city dwellers, especially on weekends (today is Saturday).
Undoubtedly we only saw a fraction of the navigable rivers and creeks of the Tigre delta, but it really is unique and interesting, and I would recommend the tour to anyone who’s looking for a different experience after they’ve seen the city.
After returning to Tigre we climbed back into our bus for the return to Buenos Aires, but rather than the major highway we took on the way out we went back by smaller roads so we could make a stop in San Isidro to see the town’s impressive cathedral. San Isidro is a wealthy suburb of Buenos Aires, with a population of 45,000, and the cathedral is certainly in keeping with the city’s upscale status. It was definitely worth the visit.
We got back to the ship a little before 2:00, and made straight for the buffet to grab a late lunch. We were given alfajores (chocolate covered cookies filled with caramel) and small cups of coffee on the tour boat, but by the time we reached the ship we were more than ready to eat.
As I write this we’re looking forward to an evening cultural show with Argentinian singing, dancing, percussion, music and bolos as we sail away from Buenos Aires and head south toward our next stop in Puerto Madryn. After that it’s on to the Falklands and Antarctica. What an incredible trip, and it’s just getting started.
Map of the Tigre river delta. Can you believe all the rivers and streams?
On the way our guide was pointing out where we were going on this map of Argentina. What I found most interesting about the map, and you’ll have to zoom in to see it, is that the Falklands, which Argentina tried and failed to take from Great Britain in 1982, are colored light blue and considered part of Argentina’s southernmost province.Argentines still refer to the islands as Las Malvinas.
My cycling friends will like this. On the way we passed a huge outdoor cycling center, including a velodrome. Hundreds of cyclists were out enjoying the facility on a Saturday morning.
The beautiful wooden boats in the front are water taxis. They run up and down the waterways constantly.
A typical taxi. Passengers put their big stuff up on the roof. If you zoom in you can see a bicycle on the roof of this one.
People waiting for a water taxi.
Lots of recreation too. We saw several pairs out sculling. A couple, like this one, had coxswains.
A boating club ramp. This one was big on kayaking.
We saw several wrecks like this one along the side of the various waterways we traveled.
In contrast,this elegant former private home is now a casino.
Although we didn’t see any actual transactions taking place, this is clearly a traveling grocery store, with the primary commodity being drinking water. There is no potable water in the Tigre River delta, so it all has to be brought in like this.
Driving home the point of how reliant residents are on water transportation, this ambulance roared by us with lights flashing.
As we were returning to Tigre we passed one of the largest amusement parks in South America. A tour boat is in the foreground. There were a lot of tour boats operating on this summer Saturday.
I mentioned that we were served alfajores on the tour boat. There are different varieties, and they’re very popular in this part of South America.
The cathedral in San Isidro.
Michele admiring the spire.
And, the obligatory shot of me in front of the cathedral.
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