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Day 3: el tigre

After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we took a van to El Tigre. Forty minutes north of the city, El Tigre offered an eclectic mix of former, palatial casinos and hippie bungalows. We voyaged across the murky river into the delta. We waved at everybody we could in the hopes that they would wave back; apparently, it's tradition that you offer up a cordial wave when you see someone standing on the docks. Once we arrived, we feasted on country fried steak, fries, and eggs. For our dessert, we had a delicious dulce de leche. 

After our delectable meal, we embarked on a guided tour of the beautiful church and surrounding fields. The church, or more precisely, the convent once housed Franciscan monks who sought isolation in the delta. The convent stood tall since the delta is prone to floods, so it hovered over us, bright in the midday sun. After this tour, we walked along the arroyos, where trees had grown red and yellow in the autumnal light. We gazed upon birds and learned of the wildlife in the area. Capybaras, pumas, turtles, and caimons inhabit Argentina, but they only thrive many miles from where we were. In the paths, we constantly slapped mosquitos, but we did not mind because the view was too serene.

Eventually we made our way back to the base camp, where we began to play pool and passed the soccer ball. While playing pool in the shed, we took our merienda, our late afternoon aperitivo--we drank hot chocolate and indulged in some wonderful churros.

After the sunset, with the full moon only a day away, we returned to our base camp where Edge magnificently played guitar, and we sang to all of our favorite tunes. Fernando, our tour guide, put the Argentina vs. Colombia soccer game on for us to see. After the match, Fernando taught us how to play truco, a traditional Argentinian card game. For dinner, we ate thick, traditional Argentine pizza. We ate from a diverse assortment: olive, ham, arugula, pepperoni, and cheese. Of course, we also had some empanadas. For dessert, we curbed our sweet tooth with some crepes, which were stuffed with dulce de leche and garnished with chocolate syrup and strawberries. 

After dinner we rested well in our cozy dens. Truthfully, we blundered our chances of shut eye because we thought the heaters in our rooms were AC units; however, we learned a lot about El Tigre and made memories that we will cherish as we walk past each other in the Poly hallways.  

Written by Brad and Santi 

The Franciscan Convent in the El Tigre Delta


Milanesas! 

Hearty Meals Galore

Base Camp


Un juego de Truco


The Bell

Post-walk Breather

Merienda y Juegos

Atticus showing off his game.






Comments

Rcaragher said…
Loved reading about your vast array of experiences- only exceeded by the incredible range of photos- awesome to see your intense experiences. And such good food too.
June 12, 2025 at 6:32 PM
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