Colonia Carlos Pellegrini
Trip Start
Aug 19, 2008
1
4
15
Trip End
Oct 04, 2008
Colonia Carlos Pellegrini,
Argentina
Sunday, August 31, 2008
The road was as we remembered it, unpaved, bumpy, with fields of cows, sheep and emus. It took about three hours to get there, and we stayed at the same guesthouse as last time, although the owner, Carlos, took a while to remember us.
We spent the first afternoon relaxing and getting used to the place. It was bigger than before, with more houses and hotels, and this time there were a few restaurants. We saw some parakeets in the trees, squawking and making a terrible racket.
In the evening we went to a restaurant near our guesthouse and had some homemade pasta, and then went to bed.
On Saturday we spent the morning sitting outside our room, enjoying the sunshine and watching the birds go by. We were visited by several humming birds, but getting them on film was a bit of a challenge.
In the evening we took a three hour boat trip on the lake. We saw two anacondas curled up catching the sun. There were loads of capybaras, the biggest rodents in the world. Most of them were very relaxed, eating, sleeping, wallowing in the mud, swimming. There was one stroppy individual who tried to charge us, barking like a dog, but the rest just watched us go by.
We also saw several caimans, a couple swimming, but mostly just catching the sun. I asked the guide if they ate the capybaras, but he pointed out that the capybaras were about ten times the size!!
We saw a couple of marsh deer, sitting on one of the floating islands and watching us, very calmly. We even got out of the boat at one point to walk on the islands. They are made up of floating organic matter and plants, about one metre thick, and walking on them is very strange, like walking on a giant sponge.
There were fewer birds around this time, but Iīm not sure if that was to do with the different weather, or the increased number of people. This time we were one of about six boat trips at that particular time. Three years ago I think we were the only one that day.
On Sunday we decided to try out the horse riding. We went for a two hour ride through the palm trees. It was very peaceful, and the horses ranged from slow to very slow. We didnīt see that much in the way of wildlife, except for some caracaras (scavenging birds) on a dead cow.
In the afternoon we walked around the paths near the visitors centre and were lucky enough to see some howler monkeys up fairly close, as well as lots more capybaras resting in what remained of the daylight.
In the evening we went to a small restaurant where we had pre-ordered a local stew made of beef, onions, parsley and polenta. It was very filling, and we were given second helpings. It was delicious.
On Monday we were catching a bus out of town at 5.00 pm, so we spent the morning visiting the visitors centre again, and were again lucky enough to see a couple of monkeys.
We went back to the same restaurant for lunch, and were rewarded for our loyalty with a free pudding.
We were very sad to leave Colonia Carlos Pellegrini, knowing that by the next time we visit the march of progress will mean a paved road, more houses, more tourists, more hotels, and less of the magic that makes it so special at the moment.
During the three-hour bus ride out of town I watched the wildlife growing sparser out of the windows, the birds and the capybaras watching the bus pass, and was rewarded by the glimpse of a crab-eating raccoon trotting towards the road and then stop and turn tail at the sight of the bus.
