The Swamp Song

The Esteros del Ibera are the second largest wetlands in the world, with hundreds of unique animals that can't be found anywhere else and make up a protected national park in Northern Argentina. This unique experience can only be accessed from the small town of Colonia Carlos Pellegrini. Accessing Carlos Pellegrini is not always straight forward, but as it sits about midway between Puerta Iguazu and Buenos Aires we (well I) thought it would be the perfect stop off.

As with many things Carlos Pellegrini was as much about the journey as the destination. We left Puerta Iguazu just before midnight on a hot stuffy Friday evening, allowing us a delicious bbq and perhaps 9 hours more than we needed in this little town. Our, not very comfortable overnight bus arrived into Posadas bus station around 5am, giving us an hour to change buses. There was some kind of mix up with our second bus so it was full to the raftas with people arguing about seats and space. Having realised that no one appeared to be making a claim for my seat I pulled a sleeping bag over my head and went to sleep. When I awoke everyone had got off the bus, and we continued to travel through miles and miles of countryside, for a what seemed like days.

Eight hours later we arrived successfully (and late) into Pasao de los Libres, or rather the rather deserted bus station outside the town, where we could get beer and a sandwiches whilst we waited for our next connection. Our next bus took only an hour and a half to get us to the town of Mercedes for 4pm, where I discovered that buses to Carlos Pellegrini leave once a day at 3pm. Excellent so only a 23 hour wait.

We checked into a hostel in Mercedes, which was part of a helpful organisation (it seemed to be one very lovely woman) which books accomodation and trips in Carlos Pellegrini. She helpfully told us that the bus doesn't always run on Sundays, they sort of decide whether to bother or not, on a week by week basis.

Come Sunday morning, having found a nice Belgian couple who were also crazy enough to want to travel on a Sunday, the bus company decided to lay on the bus. At which point the heavens opened and it rained all morning flooding the hostal courtyard.

With reservation we boarded the afternoon bus, I say bus, and by that I mean one of those 1950s school buses that probably shouldn't be allowed on the road. Just the kind of bus you need when your travelling up a dirt track that doesn't cope well with rain. I think you can guess what happened next -yes it started to rain again.

There was only the four of us on the bus, along with a driver, his assistant and another driver who drove a 4x4 behind the bus to tow the bus out every time it got stuck. I thought the assitant was just there to top up the mate, but I was wrong. When the tow wire broke for the third time (so there was no wire left), he got some wire cutters out of the back and climbed through a muddy ditch to cut down a wire fence.

The two hour bus journey took nearly six hours and we arrived in to Carlos Pellegrini having missed our boat tour. Luckily the man who drove the 4x4 was also involved in the tours (this is a town of 400 people!), and he said the rain would all be gone in the morning so we could do the boat trip then. The boat man would be with us at 7am.

All four of us were staying in a little deserted cottage right on the lake. With the rain having cleared the setting couldn't have been more beautiful and we sat drinking Argentinian red wine and looking at the lake.

Sadly the next morning, I was awoken by thunder and the thought that the thin windows were coming in from the amount of rain lashing against them. There was no one to be seen, and we had no phone reception as we waited for hours. Luke, cheery as ever pointed out it was like the start of a horror film, stuck in a forgotten shack in a storm, with no form of communication and faltering electricity.

After several hours of no contact with anyone we set out on a an adventure in the rain to try and find help and some sort of supplies. The whole town was flooded which meant we had to wade through mud, and water, in our vain attempts to find a shop, the man with the boat, and some kind of reassurances that the 1950s bus would be able to get out again before Christmas.

I was impressed by how relaxed and together the other couple remained during this time taking it all in there stride. My husband by contrast was in a rage, had broken his glasses and was no longer speaking to me (whose idea was this?).

We did in fact find a crazy shop, an office and the man with the boat.

In the afternoon, we were shocked to watch as the clouds cleared, and the sun came out. The man with the boat arrived, drained the boat of water using our bin, and finally took us on a trip on the magnificent lakes.

So was it worth it? It seems mad to say, but yes it was. The scenery was truly unique and beautiful, and the wildlife was amazing. There are nearly 350 species of bird that live in and around the floating islands, many of which are endangered elsewhere in the world. As we crossed the lake we saw a selection of those birds, from hawks to vultures to little cardinals. In amongst the reeds and the mud we also saw the worlds largest rodents, the capybaras that look like little guinea pigs. And most excitingly sunbathing in the muddy, pirahna invested swamps were the Argentine alligators. Leaving the boat to trek through the flooded marshes we spotted swamp deers down by the water and howler monkeys hanging in the trees above us.

We finished our day horse ridding Argentina style (that's one handed) around the lovely town and countryside of Carlos Pelligrini with a local gaucho. He was keen to hear all about London and Wales, and about our crazy tradition of eating giant chickens for Christmas instead of beef...

And, speaking of beef, our next stop was Buenos Aires, home of the best steak in the world. See you there...

Lots of love,

Louise and Luke

(Posted by Louise)