17. On the road of Ibera Wetlands

Our walking started in Posadas - By Benoît
1
- As Posadas was just an Argentinian city like the others, we directly took a bus until the beginning of the regional road 40, between Virasoro and Santo Tome. It's the way we created to reach Colonia Carlos Pelligrini, village in the middle of the marshes of Ibera.
Dirt road as far as the eye can see
2
- At 7pm, we started to walk in the direction of the marshes and discovered the landscapes of this country. The flat horizon let us discover a whole scope of pasture. It was amazing to observ the red of the dust, the green of the vegetation, the yellow of the dried herbs, the blue of the sky. Herds of cattle were standing in the open fields with the horses and the birds. This place was a paradise for ornithologs: from the bright sparrow to the majestic stork, ostrichs, macaws and raptors with an orange beak.
Night in the middle of nowhere
3
- Then arrived the evening: the sun disappeared behind the horizon in a clear sky. Unfortunately we didn't succeed to hitchhike this evening because the only jeeps we crossed were going to the other direction. Then we camped under the tent in the plain, prepared a comforting fire to warm the dinner. This first experience of autonomy was pleasant. No mosquitos, no pollution in the sky to watch the star. Perfect!
A long day of hitchhiking
4
- We woke up early in the morning, starting again to hitchhike and after less than 3 kms, a jeep stopped. It was electricians going to repare defectuous cable 60kms away. We talked about the region and they asked us a lot of questions. Ten minutes after we got dropped, a farmer accepted to drop us 50kms away. He was not talkative at all ! He owns 2000 cows and keep them in open fields for their meat.
Along the roads, because there are no trains, the cows have only us to look at!
5
- Leaving the car, we continued by feet on a sandy road. We were walking in total freedom, breathing pure air, ready to give back a lot of energy in the effort. After 3kms, we entered the Far-West: a herd of cows was lead by kind of cowboys. They just needed a colt to be real ones!
Boa and caiman skins
6
- We walked for 15 kms without meeting any cars. At the unique habitation we passed by, Pierre, leading the walk, has been hailed by a lady. He was trying to communicate with eloquent gestures and less eloquent English words... then I arrived to help. We explained her our world tour and our project to reach Carlos Pelligrini. We still had 30 kms to go! Her husband and her son arrived and talked about fauna in this region. We had to pay attention to caimans and snakes. They showed us the dried skin of a 2m long boa and a caiman! But a cloud of dust stopped our conversation. It was a car that Pierre hitchhiked. We said a fast farewell to the Argentinian farmers and entered in the small car that dropped us into the city center of Carlos Pelligrini! This day was full of meeting and discoveries. We totally recommand you hitchhiking!

17. On the road of Ibera Wetlands

Our walking started in Posadas - By Benoît

Dirt road as far as the eye can see

Night in the middle of nowhere

A long day of hitchhiking

Along the roads, because there are no trains, the cows have only us to look at!

Boa and caiman skins

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