Provincial Esteros del Iberia

Aquatic plants and grasses, including "floating islands", dominate this wetland reserve that covers 13000 square kilometers in north central Corrientes, Argentina.

Twitching vigorously. That´s what I was doing most of the time here as birds were abundant almost beyond belief. I saw close to 40 new species. We also saw capybara, swamp deer, howler monkeys, otters and caimans (crocodiles).

Capybaras are the largest rodents in the world. They look like giant guineapigs. It is the rodent equivilent of a hippopotamus. Cattle Tyrants perch on their backs and much ticks all day long. Tasty.

Caimans are also abundant in the reserve. They aren´t big enough to eat people but could certainly take off a limb or two - so we were encvouraged not to dangle our feet from the boat.

I wouldn´t want to be a juicy fly with one of these in the vicinity. Easily the biggest frog I have ever seen. It would provide a month of meals for a gastronome except I suspect they are poisonous. When my knuckle brushed against one (curiosity can be a killer), it felt like I had touched a stinging nettle.

We never did hear the Howler Monkeys howl. They were far too busy lazing around in the trees, doing nothing. The alpha male did come to check me out but from the disdain on his face, obviously did not think I was much of a threat, and he wandered on.

Most of the reserve consists of rivers, reeds and lakes so the best way to explore it is by boat. I was lucky to find a guide who was a guru on birds who also took me on some walks into the reeds. As you walk, you can feel the ground sponging beneath you and you realise that you are walking on a huge island of floating grass. Happily we didn´t fall through - much to the disappointment of the caimans.

The sunsets were gorgeous. We appreciated the early mornings and evenings as a refreshing reprieve from the very hot and muggy days. We were expecting to do battle with swarms of mosquitos but were suprised (and delighted) at how few there were. Probably thanks to my many feathered friends, not to mention the giant frogs.

We also explored part of the park on horse back. Where else can you rent horses and a guide for $ 3,50 an hour? We enjoyed it tremendously but sure felt it the next day. Our guide was a fun and chatty guy so we got to practise our Spanish. We are finally getting to grips with the language, just as we head off into Portuguese speaking lands. That´s life!

Cloudy reflections

You know you are in swamp lands when...

...you share your shower with a baby frog.


New birds seen

• Olivaceous cormorant
• White-necked Heron
• Maguari Stork
• Southern Screamer
• Brazilian Duck
• Snail kite
• Rufous-sided crake
• Giant Wood-Rail
• Limpkin
• Yellow-billed tern
• Spot-winged pigeon
• Picui Ground Dove
• Smooth-billed Ani
• Guira cuckoo
• Band-winged Nightjar
• Green-barred Woodpecker
• Field Flcker
• Narrow-billed woodcreeper
• Yellow-chinned Spinetail
• Sooty Tyrannulet
• Pied water tyrant
• White headed Marsh-Tyrant
• Cattle Tyrant
• Brown-crested Flycatcher
• Masked gnatcatcher
• Tropical Parula
• Greenwinged Saltator
• Yellow-billed Cardinal
• Redcrested finch
• Rusty-collared seedeater
• Great Pampa-Finch
• Shiny cowbird
• Bay-winged cowbird
• Golden-winged cacique
• Unicoloured Blackbird
• Epaulet Oriole
• Troupial
• Scarlet-headed Blackbird

Excerpt from Ally's dairy

We arrived in the small village which is inside the park and found a lovely hostel. R60 for the night for a luxury room with bathroom including shampoo and conditioner. It is the bargain of our trip so far.

The next morning we went out early by boat to see the birds. The air was thick with them and they were not worried about us as all. G was twicthing merrily as every bird he saw was new. His admin manager (me) could hardly keep up with ticking them off.

It was so hot during the day that all we did was sleep but we had a horse ride to look forward to that evening. The horses were just right for me. I could get on them by myself from the ground and they were sturdy and happy to listen to you when you wanted to direct them. We tried to communicate with our guide who was so patient with us but I would have loved to have had a real conversation with him – he was so nice. He quickly cottoned on that G was looking at all the birds so at least there was a subject in common. It was a very poor town. He pointed out the one house in the village with satellite TV and also a tiny tradtional house made from mud and grass which housed 8 people. I actually could think of nothing worse than living in a two roomed place with 7 other family members and it is 35C in the shade! We are blessed. Needless to say there are no stables for the horses as the lowest tempreture it gets is 20C. We did a bit of a gallop on the horses which was fun but I was bowed legged when I got off – and I certainly walked funny the nexy day!

We went to the only restaurant in town. Well it was really a room in someone´s house which was subdivided with the (very tiny) supermarket and we could watch the family TV from our table. They had three items on the menu - crumbed veal, pizza and meat pasty. The veal was great and we arranged to come back for the special the next day. We ended going four nights in a row - it became our local spot.

When we walked home we saw thousands of bugs in the road and looked up and realised that they wre being killed by the light. No wonder there are so many birds around with the easy pickings off the road.

At the hostel where we stayed, there was a little girl who had so many pets. Dogs, a little puppy (whose eyes had no even opened), a baby capybara and a pony. Just amazing to be surrounded by all these animals. I loved the puppy. It made that special crooning noise that only a very small puppy makes. I wanted to take it home.

Thinking about the village it gives the expression a one horse town a new meaning. The population ratio must be, to every 1 person, something like:

• 10000 mozi`s (renewed daily)
• 1000 frogs (they turn up everywhere – even your shower)
• 500 crocs (they look so menacing)
• 4 horses
• 3 dogs (and boy, do they bark)
• 2 cows
  

All in all a great place

On our last evening we went out in the boat. The birds were singing, the water lapping, the sky was changing to a deep pink and slowly sinking and then our guides cell phone went. He went a deep pink himself and I think if the water could have swollowed him he would have gladly gone. You just can`t get away from it all, no matter how hard one tries. But this place was magic.

So onward to Igauza Falls.