Delta Tour Day 01

My first trip outside Buenos Aires. I caught a train from Retiro station
a huge railway cathederal.



I went to Tigre. First catching a regular train to Maipu and then changing to the Tren de la Costa.
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I got off at Anchorena and walked along the river to the next station at Barrancas. The River Plate here is pretty featureless but the built environment is quite attractive. There is money here.


Tigre is a canal town servicing the nearby Delta del Parana. This is a maze of shallow waterways and islands which absent a nearby seaside became a retreat and playground for wealthier residents of Buenos Aires.


Rowing clubs were a favourite form of recreation. Tigre has a lot of them.
The imposing building behind the tour launch is the Buenos Aires Rowing Club.



It is a very attractive little town with lots of quiet tree lined streets. Through the tourist office I arranged to stay in a small hotel. Price A$100 (about £16)


This street is named after the famous Argentine yachtsman Vito Dumas. I have a copy of his classic book, Alone Through The Roaring Forties, aboard Kiriwina.



Rowing Club Argentino


Tigre Boat Club



Club de Regattas la Marina


Tigre Sailing Club


Club de Regattas la Marina launch jetty.


Swiss Rowing Club


Club de Regatas America.



Nahuel Rowing Club


Rowing Club Italia


Buenos Aires Rowing Club (British)


Tigre Boat Terminal - The main embarkation point for the large number of delta tour boats.


A slight variation on the British phone box.


I took a delta tour with Sturla. One can choose from a number of boat tours to various points in the delta. In season there are restaurants and hotels situated in the delta who send launches to collect their clients.

This is the old Tigre casino which is now an art museum.



A typical boat station in the delta. Note the reinforced barrier along the shoreline. Our guide mentioned that this costs US$5000 per metre and is necessary to prevent erosion from the large amount of wash generated by passing boats. I wondered why they didn’t just slow the boats down but was told that the distances in the delta make slower speeds impractical.


Desirable weekend residence needing some attention.


An attractive italian style property in the delta.


Given all the rowing clubs in Tigre there was not much rowing activity. This was one of the few rowboats I saw.


A small delta beach. The water is brown and heavily laden with sediment.
I was told more than once that this water is badly polluted.


A delta fuel station. Everything moving in and out of the delta must go by boat.


Back in Tigre and an attractive Riva style tour boat.


Heavily polluted water near the popular Puerto de Frutos.


Puerto de Frutos is the site of a very large weekend craft/fruit/food market.
This pepper grinder was about 5 feet tall.


The delta trade boats moor in Puerto de Frutos. These are grocery boats.


A greengrocer boat.


Lots of timber boats heavily loaded with decks submerged.