To the Delta and Back

Today we all met at China town again and then headed back to El Tigre.  It's a little bit of a trek to get there, but it's been worth it both times now.  Last time we went to the museum and walked the river banks, but today we actually went on a boat bus out to one of the areas in the center that can only be accessed by boat.

This is one of the houses in the city area by the bank of the El Tigre... but these aren't the types of houses we were bound the experience.

We left on the boat taxi and after about a 30 minute ride we arrived at our destination.  During the trip I learned that they actually have boat school buses that take the children to school, boat grocery stores that travel up and down the river and also they have these buses (like the one we were riding on) that the locals pay a fee monthly to utilize.

Sarmiento's Residence

Our first stop once we arrived was the house of Sarmiento which is encased in this large glass structure.  Approximately 30% of this structure is original.  He was a famous educator and President of Argentina from 1868 until 1874.

Sarmiento's original desk

Next we traveled on canoes up and down the portion of the delta that was right outside the place where we ate our lunch.  To get to the starting point of the canoe adventure we had to cross over several bridges.  I believe it to be true that infrastructure is not a top priority in this part of Argentina (see caption below).

This is me on one of the bridges.  I am alone on this bridge for two reasons 1) I was posing for the picture and 2) only one person was allowed on this bridge (like many) because with too much weight it would probably collapse.

Side-note:  One of the girls stepped a little off of the trail and fell completely into a mud hole filled with water.  She was okay, but needed a change of clothes and time to recover from the embarrassment.

The place above is where we had lunch.  The food was absolutely delicious.  It was a quaint little place and the woman who cooks there is apparently known for her ability to add her own twist to some of Argentina's favorite dishes.  I'm guessing you won't see this on Diners, Drive-In's and Dives...

Locro

The above dish is called Locro and is one of the traditional Argentine dishes.  It was absolutely delicious!  It is generally made with the left over parts of cows and pigs that are butchered for other fine cuts, but in this case I don't think it included anything too odd.  

After lunch we made our way around the neighborhoods in the Delta.  One of our guides actually has a home in the area and showed us where he lives.

This house was constructed by him in about 5 months.  It is made from bricks of mud and blades of grass hand-compacted together.  He used the bottles to create his own version of stained glass.  On the property he dug a hole which pumps water into a tank inside of his house and purifies it for use.

He has several animals on the property including this adorable 5 day old kid.  

All in all it was a pretty interesting day.  It was fun to see people enjoying such a primitive way of life.  They canoe to their friends houses and are relatively self sufficient.  It was a great change of pace from the day-to-day in Buenos Aires because it is such a large city with so many people.

Until next time,

Tim