Today we go on a tour of the river delta. We meet the tour at the Alvear Palace Hotel just up the street. This hotel is one of the fancy US$400 a day places, with bellhops, polished brass, and a sumptuous included breakfast in an opulent dining room. We hesitated to sit down in the lobby to wait.
On our way over to the Alvear Palace we passed a crew filming a movie on the street.
The tour bussed us out to Tigre, a resort town about 40 km up-river from Buenos Aires, but still in the State of Buenos Aires. The residents of the city are referred to as porteños, while the denizens of the State outside the city are called Bonaerenses. As a train passed us going the other direction it was remarkable that people were sitting in the doors with their feet hanging out of the train.
The name of the area, Tigre, derives from the time when this was the edge of the tropical rainforests, and jaguars roamed the terrain. The jungle was cut down by the Spanish settlers for farm and grazing land, but many wild cats remained even into the 20th century. Because of the confusion of names, the area was called Tigre, and the name became attached to the city and the river.
In the 20th century, porteños began to buy homes in the area and built country clubs and sporting clubs to retreat here for vacations. One of the country´s presidents, Sarmiento, liked the area very much and built a home on one of the islands in the delta.
We had been picked up so late that we missed our boat in Tigre and had to wait for the next boat. The lancha (boat) left the pier in Puerto Sarmiento and started down to Tigre River, and then we entered the Rio Lujon. Rio Lujon is the border between “continental” Argentina and the delta islands. We passed the mouth of the Carabachai River, which in the Guaraní indigenous language means “tranquil or peaceful Indian.” All of the area is the delta of the Paraná river.
The delta islands, as they are developed for homes, have retaining walls built of wood or concrete; these are called estacada. While the land and the homes are relatively inexpensive the maintenance and the retaining walls cost a great deal. A typical home has a terrain of perhaps 15 meters by 20 meters and would cost perhaps $70,000 (that's pesos). To maintain the home, you must build the retaining wall at about $1,000 per meter. In addition, the humidity requires that the house must be painted annually and repaired frequently.
While they have electricity on most of the little islands, everything must be brought in by lancha. There is a lancha de supermercado (grocery boat), and a LP gas boat, for example. The river water, while brown from sediment, is not polluted and is used for showers and washing things after filtration. Drinking water is brought in on the grocery boat.
Most islands have a low, bog area in the center. Homes can be built only around the perimeter of the islands. The sediment that flows down-river is caught by the reeds and other growths in the river slowly forming more small islands and land area in the delta.
We left the Rio Lujon and entered the Rio Sarmiento, a major shipping route through the delta area. The river eventually connected back to the Lujon, and then we re-entered the Tigre. The guide pointed out the difference in color between the brown sediments in the Lujon and the greenish tint of the Tigre, stating that the Tigre is the only polluted river in the delta. At about that time Marcos came out of the rest room and said that it's no wonder that the river is polluted – that he had added to the pollution himself – as the drains from the toilets in the rest rooms on the boat empty directly into the river.
In the small town square, on the road back, and in Bs As, it's as if the country has color-coordinated its flowers. The jacaranda trees – large and small – have beautiful blue flowers, some of which remain even this late in the year. (The accompanying picture was taken from a moving bus; apologies for the blur.) The hortensias (hydrangias) have blue, purple, and violet flowers; the jacintos (hyacinths) are all blue; the morning glories finish out the blue bouquet.
Tonight we meet Marcos to go to a Tango show and dinner at the Cafe Tortoni. On our way to the Tortoni, we witnessed one of the frequent demonstrations in the street on Avenida de Mayo.
We sat near the front near the stage and ate a small meal during the show. The show began with a wonderful ensemble of bandoneon, violin, piano, and bass playing typical tango music. The show had some drama illustrating the origins of tango in the seedy areas of the city. A very talented singer presented several apparently well-known selections. All was interspersed with flashy tango routines. We all agreed that there could have been more dancing, but we were not disappointed.
Marcos was affected quite emotionally by the show, as his late father was a huge fan of Carlos Gardel, the famous tango great.We ended the day with ice cream. The sign in front of the heladeria (ice cream parlor) said “2 for 1 Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays,” so I asked for the special. “Only before 8:00 PM said the server. You have to wonder if my gringo accent had something to do with the limitation.
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