The Delta and the Río de la Plata by Boat

Called “Delta of the Paraná”, its name refers to the way in which the river of sedimentary waters empties into the Río de la Plata, thus giving origin to a group of islands and streams that make up an endless labyrinth which welcomes thousands of visitors everyday.

“Tigre” has become its popular name and it responds to the presence of jaguars all across its islands and woods in the past. However, once the area started to be populated (since 1900), these animals were forced to migrate to the core of the Misiones rainforest.


From the Past to the Present

Today, the various nooks of the Delta (or Tigre, according to preference) combines the charm generated by its privileged nature with the possibility of learning about its history, culture and lifestyle. Visitors only need to let themselves be carried by some of the boats leaving from the river station everyday to get deep into the island territory.

Dozens of rowing clubs, the old and aristocratic Tigre Hotel (today housing a cultural center), the Sarmiento Museum and some picnic sites that make this place the favorite spot for porteños every weekend stand out in the Luján River. The influence of the belle epóque is appreciated in each nook. Its ancient houses, piers and picnic sites show plenty of vestiges of a time in which luxury was imported from old Europe towards new America.

The famous Fruit Port, where the islanders trade their products and the fruit they harvest on the islands, Parque de la Costa and Casino Trillenium are the largest buildings visible from the water.

Leaving the Luján behind, the tour continues along a narrower and more beautiful river: the Carapachay or Angostura (narrowness). Visitors may watch the lifestyle and customs of the islanders (with their houses, schools and commuter passenger or groceries boats) mingled with the picnic sites, the resorts and hotels of international hierarchy or top-of-the-line restaurants.

The Sarmiento River hides most of the history of the area and of our country in its waters. Named after Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, its shores reveal the house dwelled by the former president, one of the greatest and most outstanding characters in Argentina in the XIXth century.


That Old River with the Color of the Lion

With these words Jorge Luis Borges defined the huge Río de la Plata perfectly synthesizing not only the shade of its waters when the sun shines but the untameable character of its surface with the wind blows from the East.

The truth is that in addition to learning about the secrets and most nooks on the islands, some river tours let visitors have contact with the giant river and catch a view of the immensity of the City of Buenos Aires from the water. Thus, the quietness and the dead calm of the rivers and streams are left behind to get deep into the waterfront channel of the Río de la Plata.

The boat begins to copy the tours that follow one another through the waterfront and its various coasts appreciated by visitors with a Buenos Aires getting bigger and bigger in the background. Various nautical clubs follow one another sprinkling the shores of San Isidro or the port of Olivos, which with its mooring posts, sailing boats and picnic sites give life to the north of the city. Following a course towards the South, the boat gets to the pavilions of the University Campus. At this point, the eyes of visitors look all around. Planes of all sizes take off and land one after another at the Jorge Newbery airfield and for a few seconds they eclipse the constant roar of the river.

A little bit more southwards, the endless pier of the Anglers’ club, along with its majestic coffee-shop and restaurant, gets all the applause from the members of the crew. Hundreds of anglers clap back on the border of the old walls, waiting with their bamboo rods and their intact patience for some large boga, dorado or pejerrey to bite.

The boat is already aiming at one of the mooring places in Puerto Norte, the place where the tour ends after taking everybody down the giant river with the color of the lion to spot, from the water, one of the most beautiful cities in the world.