Island fun around Tigre

---

Tigre is where people from Buenos Aires go to in weekends to escape the city. One gets there by taking a train, which gives a good view of the less fashionable sights of Buenos Aires: slums and dim suburbs galore. Tigre itself has a friendly 'local tourism' feel to it, but the real fun starts out of town: a massive delta of teh Rio Paraña makes for hepas of islands and canals, with lush green banks. Boats are the most common form of public transport in Tigre, and what's not to like about that. It's touristy nature does make it a bit of an uninteresting town for people that like to go to more tranquil places. I tried for a long time to find a boat to a remote island where i could just camp and be peaceful, but everything was filled up with private accomodation (it is one pretty place to live), restaurants and hotels. Campers are directed towards 'campos de recreos', basically a canteen with a pool and a football field, where families go to relax. And where i ended up pitching my tent, being quite happy that i was there on an out-of-season weekday. It sure lacked some wildness, but the boat ride was a lot of fun and offered very pleasant sights.
The next day, i boatcommuted back to town, where i tried continuously to contact my Tigre based friends, which in the end failed. Meanwhile, i enjoyed the fine colonial style buildings (that apparently are all owned by rowing clubs), and lay in the sun. In the late afternoon, i took boating to a next level, and got on a catamaran ferry to Uruguay. The journey was very pleasant, jungly riverbanks, a nice sunset and enthusiasm amongst all fellow travellers. At nightfall, i ended up in Carmelo, Uruguay.

---