The Spanish, it turns out, were not particularly adept at naming geographical features. We set out this morning on the Rio de la Plata, which contains no silver, to explore the Tigre Delta, which contains no tigers. (They’d been misinformed about the river and mistook jaguars for tigers.)
Here’s the background: A few days ago, Shari and I decided to spend our gaucho-and-beef-free day out in nature. At Sol’s recommendation – once again spot-on – I booked a boat trip offered by Signature Tours. (I’d found the same trip on Viator for 30 percent more.)
Our very good guide, Natalia, picked up eight of us at our hotel at 9:15 this morning, collected five more people at other hotels, and brought us to the Sturla terminal in Puerto Madero. We boarded a spacious and comfortable catamaran, which set sail a bit after 10.
For the first 45 minutes, we chugged up the Rio de la Plata past the northern part of Buenos Aires. This part of the cruise offered nice views of the skyline, but the highlight for me was watching planes approach Aeroparque, the main airport for domestic flights.
After clearing the city, we cruised along various rivers in the Tigre Delta, a place of lush foliage, graceful reeds, and weekend homes for well-off Porteños.
Standing on the deck, breeze blowing through what remains of my hair, sun glinting on the water, swaying with the rhythm of the boat (slow dance, not tango), I felt gloriously at peace.
We reached the city of Tigre just after mid-day. It’s a tidy, prosperous-looking place known for the Puerto de Frutos (in keeping with the theme for the day, neither a port nor a place to buy fruit), a championship rowing team, and an elegant art museum that used to be a casino.
The tour option we chose included lunch at Vivanco, a lovely restaurant where I savored some cheese and onion enchiladas. After lunch we visited the Puerto de Frutas, which nowadays consists of craft and souvenir shops, the ubiquitous Havanna chocolate shop/café, and an ice cream store (Volta). If you go, I can vouch for Volta’s dulce de leche granizado: dulce de leche ice cream with bits of dark chocolate, which nicely balance the sweetness of the ice cream.
The scenic part of the tour behind us, we boarded a tour van at 2:15 to return to the city, and walked into our hotel at 3. If you find yourself with extra time in Buenos Aires and want a break from the city, this is a wonderful alternative and a good value: $105 per person for a five-and-a-half-hour, professionally guided tour, including two delightful hours on the river a very good lunch.
Adios for now – tomorrow we leave Buenos Aires for Iguazu Falls, the portion of the trip I’ve been anticipating most.
PuffinlessTravel 