Dec 29 Tigre We have landed in paradise!........Let me start from the beginning,
We left our hotel in downtown Mendoza with a plan to get on the 7:30 pm bus for the 12 hour overnight trip to Buenos Aires where we would then get on another bus headed for Mar del Plata ( 5 hrs away) and hang out on the beach for the last week of our journey. I suddenly became concerned that perhaps the beach on the Atlantic in Argentina would be the same as it was on the Pacific in Chile- cool, breezy, sometimes foggy and not at all how I wanted to spend my last week of travels. I bought the perfect bathing suit and had not yet been able to wear it! I suggested to Remy that perhaps we go elsewhere or stay in BA where at least it was hot and if we could find a place with a pool the boys would be happy too. Given that we had already spent 5 hours searching the internet looking for accommodations during the busiest holiday of the year I deserved the look I received from him. BUT..... we haven't been through 20 happy years of marriage for nothing, he knew we should change locations too but just didn't want to face the seemingly impossible task of finding an alternate. Together we would conquer!
We arrived in BA quite bedraggled and bleary eyed from a restless night on the luxury bus. The sleeping pill and the 1/2 bottle of wine had little or no effect on me at all- mental note- get proper sleeping pills from Canada next time we travel. Do not depend on broken Spanish at the pharmacy of all places, goodness knows what it was that they gave me. The boys were chipper though and were very patient as we inquired, searched the internet, read our guide book and then finally our angel was sent to us. The man at the bus station suggested Tigre for it's river delta, beautiful scenery, wildlife, cabana type accommodation and tranquility. It's located just one hour north by train is a favorite destination of portenos- Buenos Aires locals. A quick search
on the internet gave us a list of about 20 resorts to choose from. One Skype call later and we were booked in at the Rio Manso. For $900 for 6 nights we had a place to stay with a pool a little kitchen and breakfast and dinner included. This would be where we would ring in the New Year!!!
Here is the river boat loaded with supplies for the 1.5 hr journey to our resort:
** Interesting observation- it is NOT possible to buy wine from any other country in Chile or Argentina. They both export all over the world but neither appear to import, not even from each other.
After an uneventful train trip north we were in Tigre. A beautiful small town located on the river Parana . We shopped for supplies then boarded the beautiful river boat for the final leg of our bus, train, boat trip. We were totally out of place with our mountain of luggage but it didn't seem to matter. All our stuff including boxes of wine and loaves of bread were tossed onto the roof of the small cruiser and we were off. The huge delta is unlike anything either of us has ever experienced. The large river splits off into tiny tributaries much like the veins on a leaf. Houses of all descriptions from mansions to tin shacks dot the river banks. All have a wooden dock that allows the owners to jump off the river cruiser to their own property.
1.5 hours later we arrived at the dock of our small resort. Everything is perfect! We have a small cabana built on stilts to ourselves, a pool outside our door, a river for the boys to play in, lots of space for them to light fireworks off in, a canoe and kayak to explore and best of all... it's HOT. I plan to live in my new bikini!! I shudder to think we nearly ended up in some 4 star hotel in the big city with a pool that was 10 floors or more below our room. This just reinforces for me the notion that EVERYTHING happens for a reason.
~Liz
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