Como Anda Allie: Tigre

On Saturday I went to Tigre with some friends. Tigre, located about 45 minutes outside of BA (reachable easily by train) is a town in the river delta region. I tried to label a map off Google, but it become hopelessly blurry on the blog- oh well, I guess it’s time to pull out the Nat Geo Atlas, Dad!

The waters of Tigre are the color of a latte because sediment is carried all the way from the nutrient-rich jungle down here to the Delta. At first it seems weird but the waters are perfectly safe to swim in and even drink (if boiled...but I did NOT try that).

My friend from home, Jackie, who is also here studying abroad heard overheard a girl in her study abroad program talking about this guy who took her out on his boat in Tigre for a small sum, so we called Sergio (see above, man in microscopic bathing suit) up, met him at a Micky D's, and went on an adventure in his boat! This was totally the best way to do Tigre- he was so knowledgeable not only in navigating the territory, but also in the areas history and botany. On top of that, he was a total character, which made the ride a ton of fun.

We went about 2 hours through smaller rivers to meet the Pirana (see map), a really wide river that feeds into the Rio del Plata. The trip there was beautiful and also interesting. Sometimes we would see massive ghostly barges crashed up on an island. Apparently it’s more economical to get a new barge than to fix up the old one, so people just crash them and leave them to rot. Don’t worry, we definitely did not swim in the rivers that had there- I can only imagine what is leaking from them

Little houses dotted the sides of the rivers, summer spots for Porteños (people from the city of BA). However, some people live there year-round and for that there is a little culture on the river. Just like a city street, Kioskos (quickiemarts), little restaurants, and schools line the banks and have little docks for the boaters. A Bus-Boat takes people to work or school, and a floating supermarket delivers people’s food. The sad part about the island culture is that some islands are markedly poorer than others. Cute little well-kempt cottages face decrepit houses where dirty children stare at you wide-eyed as you zoom by in the boat.

When we finally arrived at the Paraná, a HUGE expanse, we went waterskiing! I was hopelessly terrible and didn’t get up, but my friend Savannah was a rockstar! We also swam around a bit in a shallower area. The bottom of the water was clay (some parts felt packed and others like pudding- Kakie would have treaded water the whole time!) and Sergio told us “People in Canada pay millions of pesos for this mud to take mudbaths!” as he slathered it over himself! Perhaps he was lying, but we smeared it on our arms and I swear my skin feels smoother today! I don’t glow in the dark or anything…yet.

^can you see me in the glasses? The fat guy on right was Sergio's friend, aka the "Translator", who really spoke just a little English and was not necessary because we speak Spanish! It's really really frustrating when people automatically assume that we can't speak just because we don't look Argentine!

Sergio, all in all, was awesome. He even took us to a little club for lunch and a beer. The club was set up exclusively for those who work in education in the BA Province (he is apparently a teacher when he’s not navigating the waters). It had lots of green space, a pool, tennis and fútbol, a restaurant…what a perk for teachers!

After that, we were so exhausted and returned home where I promptly hibernated for 13 hours until hunger woke

me up in the morning (I slept through dinner!)

I cannot describe to you how nice it was to get out of the city for a day. The busses, the dirt, the fact that I nearly get run over by everything with wheels (taxis, motos, bikes, even a skateboarder)…everything was grating, and a day at Tigre really rejuvenated me.