Guided walks and boat excursions in the Delta

On Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, the Tigre and Paraná Delta Guides’ Center offers guided walking tours and visits to different places of interest in Tigre and the Delta. For example, tomorrow, June 21, at 4pm, they will conduct a free one-hour tour of the

Museum of the Reconquest in Tigre, explaining what happened in 1806 when English troops captured Buenos Aires and were routed after French-born Santiago de Liniers (1753-1810), who at the time was chief of Spain’s local navy outpost, landed with reinforcements in Tigre.

The meeting point is Av. S. de Liniers and Calle Padre Castañeda. In addition, from 12.30pm and every hour after that, there are one-hour guided excursions on the Líneas Delta passenger boats (Stand Nª 6 of the boat terminal), during which the guide tells the stories behind the rowing clubs, the Argentine Naval Museum, the weekend summer homes built in the early 20th century, the Tigre Hotel and former Tigre Club, School Nº 8, the Chapel of Our Lady of Luján, the museum that occupies Domingo Faustino Sarmiento’s summer home in the Delta, the Fruit Market, the Trilenium casino and the Parque de la Costa amusement park. Participants pay the price of their tickets. Members of the Center also lead two-and-a-half-hour walking tours in the Tres Bocas area in the Delta that put visitors in contact with nature and island residents. The meeting point for these excursions, which begin in a passenger boat, is the Todo Delta stand (Nº 2 in the boat terminal) at 2.45pm. It costs 25 pesos including the round-trip boat ticket. For more information, visit http://www.tododelta.com.ar/, or call Gabriela at 4749-4770, or Luisa at 4743-1648, or the Todo Delta stand at 4731-3555.

PHOTO CREDITS: Diorama of Captain Santiago de Liniers' landing in Tigre, in the Museum of the Reconquest; a passenger boat in the Delta. Both photos by Bonnie Tucker.

Free transport to Tigre port shopping mall

Every Saturday and Sunday, Mercados del Delta, the new shopping mall in the Puerto de Frutos outdoor market of Tigre, offers a free shuttle service that leaves every half hour, from 11.30am to 7.30pm, from the parking lot in front of the train terminal. A city ordinance bans entry of cars to the area on weekends owing to the congestion produced by the thousands of shoppers who go on those days. You can also walk there; a mere eight blocks separate the train terminal from the Puerto de Frutos. Ask for a map in the city Tourist Office in the boat terminal across the road from the train terminal. The mall occupies warehouses of the sector of the port that the Casa FOA design and decoration show reconditioned last year for its 25th edition. Its 48 upscale shops, food court, kiddies’ games and a space for cultural shows are open from 10am to 7pm Tuesday to Friday and until 8pm on Saturday, Sunday and holidays. Mercados del Delta brings a touch of modernity to the traditional Puerto de Frutos, where you can still find wicker furniture, plants and other products of the Delta. It also meets the needs of the ever-larger crowds of weekend shoppers, more than 100 of whom bought, dined and were entertained there during the last four-day Easter break. Have a look at http://www.mercadosdeldelta.com.ar/.

PHOTO CREDIT: The 25th edition of Casa FOA in Tigre's Mercado de Frutos, precursor of the Mercados del Delta shopping center, Bonnie Tucker.

Nautical activities

In Puerto Madero
The Yacht Club Puerto Madero rents kayaks and sculls to people who have passed its course. Club membership is not necessary. Info at 4313-8008, ext. 103.

In the Delta
All outiftters teach novices, but not all will take you on long rowing tours if you haven’t taken their course.
Caraguatá Rowing (4728-2325) offers private rowing lessons in rivers and creeks inside the Delta. Puro Remo (155-808-2237)does two-hour rowing trips and moonlight excursions. Rowing Trips (155-707-6957) offers excursions in sculls with bilingual instructors. Delta Rowing (154-971-9342) offers two-hour excursions in sculls or kayaks. Delta en Kayak (154-075-9975) runs four-hour excursions in two- and three-seaters with stops at restaurants. M&G Kayaks (155-642-9261) specializes in tours for groups in single- or double-seaters. A Remar! ( 4826-7733) takes you paddling in the Delta and further afield; Selk’nam (154-888-6660) offers guided excursions in canoes for two, three or six paddlers, and moonlight tours.

Timber boat cruises
For charter cruises in the Delta on board timber boats refurbished as yachts, with lunch served on board or at the Los Pecanes inn, call 4293-1040 or 15-5002-1071.

PHOTO CREDITS: Rowing in Puerto Madero (Photo Yacht Club Puerto Madero). Kayaking in the Delta (Photo Delta en Kayak). Lunch on board Doña Julia (Photo by Bonnie Tucker).