Delta Tour Day 02
19/05/08 21:03
Another beautiful Tigre street. It was low season but the weather was lovely.
First stop was the Museo Naval de la Nación. Argentina has a rich maritime tradition and has fought wars with all of her neighbours as well as the British.
This is the infamous Exocet missile. I was surprised how small they were.
This is the Alferez Sobral, an armed rescue tug, that was badly damaged during the falklands war. She limped back to Argentina, was repaired and is still in service.
This is LEHG II. The yacht used by Vito Dumas on his famous voyage. It was acquired by the navy in 1947 and used to train cadets. Later it was restored and donated to the museum.
A Douglas A-4Q Skyhawk. A large number of these were shot down during the Falklands war.
This is the wrecked bridge of the Alferez Sobral. The sign says she was attacked while rescuing downed Argentine pilots. An RAF report on the same incident “ The helicopter was then fired on by a second undetected vessel, the Alférez Sobral, which the second Lynx attacked and badly damaged, killing the Captain and seven crew members. The damaged patrol ship limped back to Argentina several days later”.
This sign refers to the first campaign to recover the Falklands.
Another view of the old Casino now Art Gallery.
A canal and park on the opposite side of Tigre.
After a walk around Tigre and some luch I caught another Sturla boat back to Buenos Aires via part of the delta.
Coastguard cutter in Tigre.
This house in the delta belonged to President Sarmiento. It is curiously preserved in a large glass box.
A typical delta scene.
A quiet part of the delta.
Natural erosion protection.
For a while we were followed by a couple of jet skis jumping our wake.
The trip back to Buenos Aires took a couple of hours. I spoke with the skipper about draft. Today it was around 2m but can vary substantially with wind and tide. I saw a couple of marinas near Tigre so in theory Kiriwina could get up there.
The launch terminal was in a yacht marina next to Jorge Newbury airport at the northern edge of Buenos Aires.
It was a big marina but seemed quite polluted and the boats were subject to movement caused by the river current.
I caught a bus back into town.
First stop was the Museo Naval de la Nación. Argentina has a rich maritime tradition and has fought wars with all of her neighbours as well as the British.
This is the infamous Exocet missile. I was surprised how small they were.
This is the Alferez Sobral, an armed rescue tug, that was badly damaged during the falklands war. She limped back to Argentina, was repaired and is still in service.
This is LEHG II. The yacht used by Vito Dumas on his famous voyage. It was acquired by the navy in 1947 and used to train cadets. Later it was restored and donated to the museum.
A Douglas A-4Q Skyhawk. A large number of these were shot down during the Falklands war.
This is the wrecked bridge of the Alferez Sobral. The sign says she was attacked while rescuing downed Argentine pilots. An RAF report on the same incident “ The helicopter was then fired on by a second undetected vessel, the Alférez Sobral, which the second Lynx attacked and badly damaged, killing the Captain and seven crew members. The damaged patrol ship limped back to Argentina several days later”.
This sign refers to the first campaign to recover the Falklands.
Another view of the old Casino now Art Gallery.
A canal and park on the opposite side of Tigre.
After a walk around Tigre and some luch I caught another Sturla boat back to Buenos Aires via part of the delta.
Coastguard cutter in Tigre.
This house in the delta belonged to President Sarmiento. It is curiously preserved in a large glass box.
A typical delta scene.
A quiet part of the delta.
Natural erosion protection.
For a while we were followed by a couple of jet skis jumping our wake.
The trip back to Buenos Aires took a couple of hours. I spoke with the skipper about draft. Today it was around 2m but can vary substantially with wind and tide. I saw a couple of marinas near Tigre so in theory Kiriwina could get up there.
The launch terminal was in a yacht marina next to Jorge Newbury airport at the northern edge of Buenos Aires.
It was a big marina but seemed quite polluted and the boats were subject to movement caused by the river current.
I caught a bus back into town.
Delta Tour Day 01
18/05/08 23:03
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.
.
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.
a huge railway cathederal.
I went to Tigre. First catching a regular train to Maipu and then changing to the Tren de la Costa.
.
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.