We made our way to la fluvial, Rosario’s port building, or River Station which was built in 1957 to open up the port and river to the local populace. The main hall had some really cool murals decorating the walls, all painted by a local artist called Raul Dominguez. He resided on one of the many islands nestled between Rosario, in the state of Santa Fe, and Victoria, in Entre Rios. These hundreds of islands make up the 60km wide alto delta, or high delta, that make up this part of the Rio Parana. The state of Entre Rios actually translates to ‘between rivers’, and it is this land that locals have named ‘Mesopotamia’ after the area in Iraq between the River Euphrates and the River Tigris; that contains most of the life in Argentina before the dry emptiness of the arid Chaco. The Parana river itself is named from the Tupi language, meaning ‘as big as the sea’.
Sebastian was punctual, and we met a German family and some Latin Americans who were also waiting for the tour. We all boarded, and the Spanish speaking contingent were OK with the tour being in English so we cast off, with Francesca and I sitting in the pilot’s seat, and Sebastian steering whilst standing.
Our introduction to the tour was a close encounter with a medium sized cargo ship. We were told that ships often use the deep river to transport oil, meat, and the staple of the economy, soya (used in Argentina and abroad for animal feed). The river is constantly being eroded by these passing ships and gets deeper and wider every year. This erosion is also not helped by the agriculture and cattle grazing in the North (as far as Brazil). This causes heavy erosion which has got so bad since the Europeans arrived, that the water in places such as Iguazu Falls now run a deep reddish-brown color. It is documented that the water was totally clear when the first European, Cabeza de Vaca, first laid eyes on it in 1541.
We streamed towards the boat, getting very close, and rode the wake a little. Our guide, Sebastian, pointed out some of the islands surrounding Rosario, and we set off to enter the back rivers of the delta.
There are pockets of communities here and there in the high delta. Houses built on stilts to protect against the rising waters are home to fishermen and families. The waters rise here when the numerous dams upriver (like the one Francesca and I visited: Itapui Dam) are open after heavy rainfalls. The communities are pretty solitary out here, even though they are less than 2-3km from Rosario itself. That day we passed the local police station (where the police are no doubt on a 24hour siesta), we saw the visiting doctor (he visits once every weekday for the morning in his speedboat) and even a local school (where the school kids were being useful and painting the place). The school was built by the government for the local people, and children attend from entry level until high school.
Cattle, sheep and other domestic animals are all present on these islands. The cattle are bought to these lands as they are rich in vegetation for grazing. The cattle get fat, quick, and then are put on boats, direct in the river, and taken to the slaughter houses, also on the river.
After we rounded a few bends in the river, we saw some swampy lagoons. These habitats were home to a different set of animals. Local birdlife was particularly well represented, with birds Francesca and I both recognized from our time in the Pantanal and the Amazon. Hawks, herons, snowy egrets, kingfishers, southern lapwings and the annoying water chickens that look so stupid and let off a silly noise when you startle them and they fly off from the lily pads they love so much. We even spotted a cormorant!
Sebastian assured us that there were also caiman and anaconda lurking in the lagoons. The snakes and caiman are a pretty rare sight though in the delta, and they often hang out in the water where boats do not enter – where the mangrove-like trees, bushes and plants are. We were also shown a spectacular fly-by provided by the biggest blue-green kingfisher I have ever seen! Cool!
We saw some of the crazy parrot nests we saw in Uruguay here – all crammed onto one branch, with several mating pairs of parrots all chirping away happily together. And the clay nest of the Red Ovenbird bird, which always has its opening pointing North to avoid breezes (one way of finding direction without a compass).
After roving around the different water ways, we pulled the boat over at our guide’s place on one of the islands for lunch. Lunch was delicious with plenty of cold cuts, including some great salami and cheese. We also had some excellent red Malbec wine which disappeared pretty quickly! During lunch we saw some red-crested cardinals, and Sebastian told us how he and his co-owner brothers cleared the land and how it was being ruined by the local pigs that kept getting through the barbed wire fence. His brother would shoot the pigs when this happened – instant barbeque!
After lunch we headed further into the delta. From this point on it was pretty wild and empty out here – and there was still another 60-odd kilometers to go to Victoria! We saw some turtles sunning themselves on branches, and looked for iguanas, but I guess they had not come out of their hibernating comas yet. It was a blast seeing the wild rivers and natural landscapes again, and I was reminded of the Amazon, and how much we enjoyed our time in the jungle.
We left the delta to the North of Rosario, and headed to the newly built bridge that connects the ‘mainland’ with the first island. There are now many bridges which hop-scotch across all 60km of islands from Rosario to Victoria. The first bridge was built ten years ago (on my birthday in 2003) which initially locals environmentalists and fishermen complained about. They said it would interfere with the breeding habits of the fish, but this has transpired to be incorrect. The bridge is now useful for many people and their livelihoods, and we went and got an up close and personal look at it. Sebastian told us that the local government offered the owner of the nearby land some money to build the bridge there, but he refused. This meant that the bridge had to be built in a section of river that was twice as deep – with twice as much material. Francesca and I thought the owner was stupid, especially as the erosion was wearing his land away!
We also saw some damage to one of the huge supports. A ship had broken down (or the captain was drunk) and had slammed into it a few years back. Now the bridge has protective blocks embedded in front of it so no other ship damages it in the future.
Just past the bridge was a docking point in the middle of the river for cargo ships to stop and refuel. We approached the ship, and the Singaporean workers came to see what we were doing! We got so close that we were under the ship, right next to the rudder, and Francesca even touched it! We eventually left our precarious position and saw the bring bringing fuel approaching.
A last jaunt down the ‘coast’ of Rosario exposed us to the Northern beach of Florida. A little dirty beach I’m glad we did not have it on our itinerary, but there seemed to be plenty of locals enjoying the afternoon sunshine. Most of the ‘coastline’ between Rosario and Florida beach was privately owned by various boating, yachting and fishing clubs. The contemporary art museum building was here though, brightly colored against the blue sky background. Every two years there is a competition for artists to submit to. The prize is your design for the outside of the art building being implemented! Cool! I would definitely enter that if I lived in Rosario (maybe I will anyway)…
Below the building were some fishermen. Sebastian told us about the plans that were afoot to introduce fish farming to these areas. This would not only save time for the fishermen, but also save the river fish too, such as the carp, dorado and catfish. The tunnels you can see in the picture are just water outlets from the water purifying sewage system. There are stories about the Jewish and Italian/American mob moving Eastern European women and children through here though. Nowadays, according to our guide, the mob does not really operate in Argentina, as they were all killed by police when they killed the son of a senator.
Zooming down the coast, our three hour tour was at an end as we saw the familiar sight of the National Flag Monument, la fluvial. This was a really cool tour and was one of my favorite things we have done in Argentina. Highly rated and well recommended.
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