Carl Fredricksen: You'd better get up, Russell. Or else, the tigers will come and eat you.
Russell: Tigers don't live in South America. Zoology.
Tigers may not live in South America, but carpinchos (in English, capybaras) sure do. I saw plenty of these little creatures and much more during my last few trips. These were my last excursions outside of the city for the semester - I can't believe that I only have five weeks left in my program!
Tandil
I took my first of two "spring break" trips to Tandil, a city located in the southwest of Buenos Aires Province. It is known for its interesting rock formations and mining operations, as well as its amazing cheese products.
We spent our first day outside of the city at an estancia, where all the food we ate during our asado (bbq) lunch was local. The owners of the land focus a great deal of attention on cultivating the land for gardening and soy production purposes. These efforts made for an amazing meal - the salad consisted of perhaps the freshest ingredients that I've had during my entire time in Argentina!
In the city itself, we spent most of our time hiking, learning about local flora and fauna, and observing interesting rock structures. It is not uncommon to find large stones delicately balancing on significantly smaller rocks, though without enough care, these large stones can go tumbling down hills, as the Piedra Movediza (Moving Rock) did in 1912.
Iberá
Perhaps even more fascinating than Tandil were the Iberá Wetlands in the northeastern Province of Corrientes. I spent the majority of my break on this trip in Carlos Pellegrini, a small town of 900 people situated on the wetlands. This trip was by far my most favorite abroad experience thus far, and Iberá is without a doubt the most pristine place that I have ever visited in my entire life.
I felt so fortunate to be able to spend five days gaining a better understanding of the environment and ecosystem at Iberá. We went on several boat excursions, during which we came up close and personal with carpinchos eating, caiman (aka alligators) basking in the sun, colonies of hundreds of spiders preparing to hunt, and so much more. The air was so amazingly fresh that it allowed for the growth of some plant and animal species that exist only in this region of the world. The night sky was blanketed with so many stars that it looked like the artificial ceiling of a planetarium, and when I woke up early to watch the sun rise on the last day of the trip, I was awestruck by the sheer beauty and tranquility of the place.
The people in the town were some of the most friendly ones that I've met in my life. We met many of them as we roamed the street, and on one of the days that we spent there, we even visited the estancia of one of the local families. There, we had asado (of course!), learned about the gaucho lifestyle, and rode horses for 2.5 hours throughout the vast expanse of the family's land.
The experience was absolutely incredible, though much to my chagrin, I know that it will be extremely difficult to return one day. There are so many efforts to preserve the integrity of the wetlands that the residents of the area have made things especially difficult to keep tourists out of the region. It takes 2 hours on un-paved roads to reach towns like Pellegrini from the nearest major bus stop, and even within these towns, there are quotas limiting the number of "outsiders" who are allowed in. Regardless, I am extremely glad that I decided to partake in this particular excursion - it was definitely an experience of a lifetime.
Uruguay
The weekend after "spring break," we visited Carmelo and Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay. Of course, the experience was very different from my Iberá one, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. In Carmelo, we stayed in the countryside near the Río Uruguay, where a couple of us went kayaking to a sand bar a little whiles away from our lodge. Much to our surprise, the seemingly beautiful day quickly turned cloudy, chilly, and full of gusts of wind. As a result, the water level in the river rose drastically, making for quite a fun experience as we kayaked back. Thankfully, some of the staff at our lodge came out to ensure our safe return to shore, but the experience was still a bit scary, especially I had never kayaked before my trip to Tigre just a couple weeks back!
Things were a bit more peaceful in the Historical Neighborhood in Colonia, an area that was influenced by both Portuguese and Spanish colonialism. The area has been preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so it was really neat to explore the city's history, architecture, and culture in its original colonial context.
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