Los Carpinchos (car-PEEN-choh)
Monday, October 17th: Colonia Carlos Pellegrini, Argentina
We had a continental breakfast at the lodge, smearing as much dulce de leche on a piece of toast as we could. Then after asking the front desk for the third time, we finally understood that we needed to pay the park entrance fee, get our wristbands and the staff would take us to the departure point for the boat tour.
Organizing this part of the trip is not what we were accustomed to – only about half of the lodges have websites, so we had to use WhatsApp to communicate and inquire about accommodations or we’d try to call them, but seldom would they answer. Tours seemed to operate for hotel / lodge groups, set up from local to local and without any self-service booking options or travel agencies like Viator. Though a little less familiar and flexible to customize our plans, we enjoyed the all-inclusive lodging that came with a meal package and organized tours.
We joined six others in a small boat for the tour of the marsh. Our guide, Jose, did not speak English, but he had a bilingual book that identified all of the flora and fauna. We saw capybaras (los carpinchos), caiman, deer and a ton of different birds (garza blanca, carancho, federal, etc.). The sounds from all of the birds were musical.
We returned to the lodge, took a morning siesta, waking up just in time for lunch. They served a chicken milanesa with creamy mashed potatoes, a hummus-like chickpea spread and a citrus puree / curd with meringue on top for dessert.
Our afternoon excursion was a guided horseback ride through the fields that bordered the marsh. We were paired up with another couple from Buenos Aires, and we did the best we could to make small talk in Spanish. Our horses had no names, so we called ours “Empanada” and “Dulce de Leche” matching the colors of their hair. We slowly trotted through the fields and forest of palm trees accompanied by three dogs – two belonged to the guide and the other we were ready to take home. The third was small and young, a mix of a light caramel color and white, very docile and sweet. At the midpoint of our ride, we dismounted our horses, following our guide through a small patch of woods. We weren’t quite sure what his intention was for bringing us there until he pointed up into the trees and we saw our first howler monkey. We saw a family with a few different females and one black male as they leapt from tree to tree.
We returned to the lodge, made a cup of tea and the delicious treat they prepared, which was simply saltine crackers layered with dulce de leche and chocolate.
The menu for dinner was a tuna cake, vegetarian Asian style pasta and dulce de leche mousse.
Accommodations: Nande Reta Lodge, Colonia Carlos Pellegrini, Argentina
