The Delta (21 K)

The Delta
The Delta, 32 km away from Buenos Aires, connects the mouths of two big rivers: the Paraná and the Uruguay and together they flow into the Río de la Plata. .
The Delta is the result of the accumulation of clay silts and sand that the river Paraná and its tributaries carry along its course. This process apparently began about 6,000 years ago, and it reduced the length of the Río de la Plata in approximately 300 kilometres. The delta advances steadily on the Río de la Plata and it grows from 50 to 90 m a year.
The Paraná is divided into three arms: the Paraná de las Palmas, the Paraná Guazú and the Paraná Bravo, which include an extensive net, small rivers and channels.
With a variable width of 50 to 100 km, it occupies more than 14,000 km and its subtropical climate is brought by the Paraná from its source (in Guarani language, Paraná means, relative of the sea). This climate produces lustful vegetation, representative of the forests where the Paraná comes from rather than temperate region of Buenos Aires.
After the Spanish colonisation, the islands were occupied by the Jesuits who cultivated the area with the Indians until they were expelled in 1767. The abandoned area became the refuge of pirates and smugglers. It was also asylum of political refugees.
When the Law of Islands was passed in 1880, the measurement of the zone began and the land was sold, mainly to European immigrants, who formed colonies that still exist today. One can hire a one or two hour tour to visit the Delta. These tours are not expensive and one can see the construction on piles (houses are prepared for possible inundations, the river can grow 3 or 4 m in time of floods).
The calm lifestyle of the area includes the boats of merchants that look like true floating warehouses. They offer fresh products and all sorts of essentials to the villagers as well as clothes, even the newspaper is delivered every morning.

Delta river, (21 K)

Another form of visiting the Delta is to take a collective launch, a sort of floating bus which travels along the rivers and which even gets to the city of Carmelo in Uruguay after five hour navigation. The launches leave from the Terminal Estación Fluvial in Tigre. There are a series of restaurants and hostels, camping sites and clubs with all the necessary services to spend the day or the whole season.
In the Delta all sorts of water sports can be practised: rowing, swimming, fishing, sailing, water ski. Special sites have been fenced for the practice of water ski in the Río San Antonio.
The vegetation smells of orange blossoms and eucalyptuses and the contrast between the tranquillity of the delta and the city of 12 million inhabitants is enormous, especially if one considers its proximity.
The "corridor plantations" cover the banks of rivers and streams, with species like the laurel, mataojos, canelón, chal-chal (Psychotria carthagenensis), tarumá (Citharexylum montevidense) (its red fruits are loved by the small flocks of pavas (Dusky-legged Guan, Penelope obscura)), and the timbó (Cathormion polyanthum).
The elegant pindó palms (Arecastrum romanzoffianum) stand out. They have given the Paraná de las Palms its name. The ceibos (Erythrina crista-galli), (with its scarlet flower is the national plan), are typical trees of the Delta. Since they can grow on low lands, these trees are fundamental in the development of new islands. On the river banks Creole sauces (Salix humboldtiana) in almost pure concentrations may be found.
There is a considerable variety of birds: the lechuzón orejudo (Striped owl, Asio clamator), a splendid rapacious owl that feeds on small rodents; the biguá (Neotropic Cormorant, Phalacrocorax olivaceus), a bird that flies, swims and dives very well; the otter that lives on the rivers banks; the carpincho, the biggest of all rodents; the humming bird and the federal (Scarlet-headed Blackbird, Amblyramphus holosericeus) with its splendid colours.