A Day in the Life

Yesterday, Monday, April 19th, was a day that deserves its' own blog.

We checked out of our Buenos Aires apartment early with an active day planned but with no advance reservations so we weren't exactly sure how it was going to work out. Weighed down with our heavy backpacks we took a local bus to get to a small train staion and then caught the commuter train to Tigre, a small town 45 minutes up the river from B.A. Tigre is a lovely place built on a delta and there seemed to be as many river roads as there were paved ones. For many B.A. residents it is their version of Muskoka, and when you consider that you can get there by bus and train in about an hour for less than one dollar it is no wonder that this secluded spot is so popular. Upon arriving mid-morning in Tigre our first priority was to purchase tickets for the boat to Carmelo, Uruguay on the final departure of the day at 4:30 pm in order to guarantee that we had a seat. Then we found out that they could not pre-check or store our backpacks (for 6 hours while we toured Tigre) so we found the nearest hostel (2 blocks away) and went there to see if we could temporarily store our bags there. The owner was an older Argentinian lady, who spoke some English, and she was not only happy to look after our packs but refused to accept any money from us for doing so, and gave us some good advice on taking a local boat around Tigre rather than the bigger catamarans for the tourists.

Our trip on the public boat, which started shortly after, took us further inland about an hour to a small neighbourhood called Lama Negro (another recommendation). It was a splendid trip on a warm sunny day, along several different rivers and channels with frequent stops to pick up and drop off locals who hopped on and off the boat during the brief (less than 5 seconds) dock stop. When the driver advised us that it was our stop (no signs anywhere along the river since it was all homes and private docks) we departed with one other passenger (a local) and decided to follow her as she walked along the shore on stepping stones (just like we do with our McKenzie Lake neighbours). However, we stopped to take a few pictures and our 'guide' disappeared. We did not come across any small parks or restaurants that we had seen at other places along the main river so we kept following the path which suddenly turned inland beside a smaller channel. After travelling about a kilometre, and admiring the scenery along the way, we were ready to turn back but then came across a small convenience store attached to a home. When communication with the old and frail, but smiling, owner failed us, we ordered a cerveza and sat down to laugh about our fate. In the middle of nowhere, we had no idea what we were doing or where to go next. Shortly after, our 'guide' reappeared with a friend at the store, and between her broken English and our broken Spanish, we determined that we should head back to our boat drop-off point and then walk a little further in the opposite direction to the way we had gone, in order to catch the public boat returning to Tigre. When we got back to our starting point we walked in the opposite direcion as instructed but before long the stepping stone walkway disappeared and we found ourselves walking thru backyards. This is the beginning of winter (think late October for us) so in spite of the 20+C temperatures (and it was a Monday), most of the properties were empty so we weren't disturbing anyone. Then we came across some home owners who via some more translation advised us that the public boat would stop at any dock as long as you flagged it down, and that the next one should be by in about 30 minutes. Noticing that the dock next door had nice benches and no one was around, we pointed it out and got the thumbs-up. We proceeded there and had the picnic lunch that we had brought with us along with a bottle of wine from our pack. It worked out perfectly as the river taxi came along as advertised and we hailed it down.

We arrived back in Tigre with just enough time to purchase a bakery item gift for the hostel owner and then retrieve our backpacks for the 3 hour boat ride to Carmelo, Uruguay. Prior to boarding we cleared Argentinian customs and successfully got our gear passed by a beautiful golden retriever 'sniffer' dog who checked every bag. Before departing we noticed the guards hide a treat in some spread out, folded up chairs, and when directed, the retriever had no trouble finding his reward.

After clearing Uruguayan customs in Carmelo, we had a short walk to the main plaza where several bus companies had services to Colonia, our final destination of the day (1.5 hour bus ride). One of the companies had a bus departing in 5 minutes, so once again the sun was shining on us (even though it was almost 8 pm and dark outside). Once there we followed our Lonely Planet travel bible to a nearby hostel, that had an available dorm room with no one else in it so we settled in for the night.

It turned out to be a fabulous day..........4 different places, 5 transportation legs, and almost no waiting time anywhere. There were a few anxious moments along the way but everything seemed to break our way and we had a lot of laughs along the way. And the locals laughed with us.....or perhaps at us :) We are obviously still in the 'consciously incompetent' stage with our Spanish!