Knowing a local is the best way to really see a place. Luckily for us, Claire's mum has a very good old friend, Alex, living in Buenos Aires. Even more lucky for us, Alex has a gorgeous waterside house on one of the many islands that make up the small community of Tigre, just outside of Buenos Aires, which she invited us to.
Braving the pouring rain, fully ladened with packs, we met Alex at her apartment in Belgrano. After lunch at a local haunt (so much easier having a Spanish speaker around), we stuffed our packs into her car and drove the hour of so to Tigre, where we boarded a mahogany boat that resembled a streched out Halvorson with about 40 or so locals, to take us to 'Alex's island.'
One of the many boats that ferry people to their homes
With pets and bags usually on the roof (luckily we managed to get our packs inside because of the rain), the boat weaved its way through the maze of interconnected streams, lined with beautiful houses and exotic gardens, passing rowing clubs and even the local school which sits perched besides the river on one of the islands before coming to a stop almost an hour later at Alex's wharf.
The house was gorgeous - a red and blue cottage not 25m from the river's edge. Perched up on stilts (so as to avoid wet feet when the river breaks its bank) the massive glass windows of the sitting room let you take in the beauty and tranquillity of the surroundings . It's the perfect getaway from the hustle and bustle of BA. While munching on a meal of melon and prosciutto, we all crossed fingers and toes that the torrential rain and (albeit) amazing lightening show would magically disappear by morning so that we could take full advantage of our time on the island - by sun baking on the wharf.
Woo hoo, it did clear up a bit the next day. We grabbed deck chairs and a posse on the wharf and watched the world go by - children swimming and speeding by in tinnies up the river, and the food boat that comes by everyday at 3pm ladened with pretty much everything you could possibly want or need - all while having our first sips of mate, the national drink of Argentina.
The food boat stopping at the house over the river
How to describe mate?? Hmmm. At first glance you really don't know what it is - a slush of herbs and nutty looking pieces absolutely stuffed to the top of your shared hollow
calabash gourd (wikipedia it) mixed with a bit of hot water. It tastes, well like nothing I can compare it too (helpful, huh). I was really apprehensive about my first slurp through the metal straw when the mate mug was passed too me. Someone had described it to us as tobacco tasting which really put me off trying it, but it is in no way similar. And it isn't really like tea either. It has a much more strong, bitter, almost slightly eucalyptusy flavour, although ours had been mixed with orange to give it a bit of sweetness. Definitely an acquired taste. Wouldn't say I'm rushing out to buy myself a mate mug - The number of people that you see in Uruguay carrying around their mate, with a thermos under their other arm for refills is insane. Every man and his dog has a mate cup and thermos attached to them like it's their left hand. You would think that it was their national drink, but apparently not, or maybe they were all Argentines on holiday...
Claire, sampling mate
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