Tigre - A Lesson in Delta Living

While we've been living down in BsAs, we've ventured out twice to the land where Jaguars were hunted years ago.  A beautiful, delta town appropriately named Tigre.  We have yet to see a Jaguar, and I am not even sure they still live in the area, but the town of Tigre provides a peaceful refuge from the hustle and bustle of downtown city life in BsAs.  It's only a 45 minute train ride away, for which tickets only cost about $0.30 per person per trip.  Seriously.  All four of us went there and back for less than a couple bucks!  Read more about the town in this Wikipedia article.  It has become one of our favorite field trips, for sure.

Since it is a delta town, many people live on the river.  That means they don't drive cars to work, but rather take boats!  There are river taxis going all day long, and we even spotted a traveling fruit stand.  I suppose they come by the docks of each house at relatively the same time and day, offering fresh foods.  It made me think of when we were in the Bahamas and had locals come up to the boat on a dinghy offering fresh lobster.  Guess that's life on the water!

The kids love watching the boats go by and waving at the passengers. So, it was quite exciting when we finished lunch and were able to find a small tour company that offered 1 and 2 hour cruises.  On this particular Tigre trip, we were lucky enough to be joined by another expat family, whose kids have become favorite playmates of Elizabeth and Michael.  While we waited for the tour boat to return for our trip, they had fun playing "I Spy" in the gunk that the tides had washed in.  Since it is so close to the ocean, this area is hugely affected by tides and current, bringing in a lot of natural and man-made refuse.  Elizabeth actually spotted a baby doll's foot sticking out of the water, along with other random objects.  Not quite the jaguars we were hunting for originally, but it was entertaining nonetheless.  During their game of "I Spy", we watched as a paddle boat with a scoop on the front picked up the refuse that had gathered in a trash trap made of buoys.  It was yet another interesting glimpse of delta life.

DeltaWaste Management Service

Look Mom, there's a foot in the water!  What??!

Behind the boat dock, we were also entertained by a huge roller coaster that is part of the biggest amusement park in South America.  Yep, right there in little 'ole Tigre.  The kids have made us promise that we'll go back when their Daredevil Nana comes to visit.  Who needs a boat tour, when we can sit on the dock, hunt for trash and watch people scream while plummeting through a spiral spin??  But, we had already paid for the tour (not quite as cheap as the train ride, unfortunately) so we got in the boat and set off.

Parque de la Costa

There was no tour guide talking into a crackling microphone, repeating his schpeel in multiple languages, so that allowed for a very peaceful trip through some of the delta.  Along the way we saw Domingo Faustino Sarmiento's summer home preserved inside a glass casing.  Sarmiento's name can be seen even more often than Eva Peron's in Buenos Aires.  He was the seventh president of Argentina who was a forward thinker and political activist.  During his term, he furthered the educational system to allow women and children the right to be educated, developed and modernized the postal system, the train systems, and democracy for Latin America.  

Also along the ride, we saw houses that ranged from tiny one-roomed homes to amazing, ornate two-story homes.  The architecture of the homes varied, some even appeared to be of German design.

But no matter the size or origin of the house, each house had a name.  On the dock of the property, one could read a handmade sign with the name that was given to that house by its owner.  Most were  names like "Sweet Flowers" or "House of Beauty", but the most interesting that I saw was this one...

Roughly translated, "He has no name"

Poor house.  I was going to come up with some options for it, but I couldn't even see the home.  No tiene una casa either apparently!

Spring had arrived, and the yards were filled with colorful azaleas and lilacs. It was absolutely gorgeous. The kids loved imagining living in such a place, and stared out the windows in awe as we rode along, searching for new things to explore.  Just one more of many field trips we hope to take as we fully enjoy our adventure.  City life, jungle life, delta life... ever the blessed life and we are so thankful.