18. Ibera Wetlands

The marshes of Ibera - A destination not so famous yet
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- These marshes were an important step of our trip. They contain an extraordinary reserve of fauna and flora. To preserv the diversity of the species, an huge natural park has been created. The carpincho is the star-animal, living only here at wild state.
When arriving in the camping...
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- ... it looks totally normal, carpinchos are walking among the tents.
Caimans, not crocodiles
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- We saw also a lot of Jacare (native's name of caimans), under the bridge, on our bank or the opposite one.
- Zoology:
- Difference between caimans and crocodiles?
- One, two, three, still no ideas?
- You don't have a hint ?
- Sorry, here caimans won't hive you any...
- Brief, a caiman is smaller. One meter for the smaller ones, 2m50 for the adults. There are 2 species of caimans in these marshes:
- - the "negro" (translate it by black)
- - the others that I didn't catch the Spanish name
- But we saw only black caimans
A boat tour on the lake
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- We went discover the animals in their natural environment . We didn't forget safety jacket and cowboy hat (Looking cool won't hurt and the sun could be dangerous)
A swamp in Ibera
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- Also in a 3-hours tour, we discovered only a small part of the marshes. There are 20 like this.
The fauna
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- Deers, carpinchos, caimans, birds, dragonflies, storks-snake eaters-, ostriches, various kind of fishes, ...
Flora
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- Nenuphars (waterlilies), reeds, algae, aquatic herbs, a lot of different trees, Ibera is also full of plants.
A night in Ibera
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- We continued the visit during the night. Sorry for the pictures. Just believe it was great! Foxes, tattoos, carpinchos, deers and the best of all: fireflies. Imagine a sky full of stars! Not the same than in North hemisphere, here the stars are different. A sky not spoiled by any pollution. Moreover add some flashing fireflies' light in the bushes...
Walking in the swamp
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- Another part of the fauna could be discovered just walking in the forest and high herbs. We found this way a wildpig and an ostrich.
Some farmers with uncommon trophies
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- After 15kms walking after our last hitchhike, we found a farm where we have been offered water. During discussion about Ibera, the farmers display their caiman and boa dried skins. They live very far away from the world and were really surprised to find us here.
- Information: we can eat only the back on the caiman from the pelvis (belly) to the tail.
Advices to reach the marshes.
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- On the Lonely Planet guide, we could find 2 roads from Posadas (border of Paraguay) to Colonia Carlos Pelligrini:
- - the bus from Corrientes to Mercedes then Colonia Carlos Pelligrini (2 days of time)
- - a private jeep (4h-5h for 250€)
- - or we created our way: bus till an intersection between the road from Virasoro and Santo Tome and the regional road 40. Then we camped and we go for 150 km of hitchhiking and walking.
- Here is the map of our way.

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