Colón, Entre Ríos - Secrets from Paradise

Fresh in my head are my friend Pata’s words saying: “white sandy beaches, untouched nature, the smell of flowering orange trees. I can still see the last rays of sun reflecting on the river, while a group of doves fly round and round the old boat station. Just 320 km away from Buenos Aires, can you believe it?”

You can reach Colón on route Nº 14, 100 km past Gualeguaychú. It is only 4 hours by bus away from BA. –“Go and see Charlie, a fascinating Englishman who owns an adventure travel agency. He is on a corner; crossing San Martín Square, just look where the statue is pointing and you’ll find him.” And she went on and on about the nautical safaris on the islands, the promise she made to herself of making an asado on the white sandy banks on a full moon night, camping just to see the birds early in the morning as they approach the river. Just like that, on one of the last winter evenings, we left BA and headed for Colón. That night we were going to sleep there and next morning Charlie Adamson would come and pick us up.

We wake up to a sunny morning. In Charlie's M601 army truck, we go along the streets of this gorgeous town, while he tells us about the origins of this city. It started out being a Swiss-French colony, way back in 1857, and the port was built in 1863. The architecture preserves its original houses with patios and smells of jasmines, wide stone roads protected by the shadow of flowering lapachos and jacarandas, quiet squares bursting in azaleas, and of course the cherry on the top of the cake is the coastline, main attraction of this town. During the morning we visit old quarries and stone laundries, we meet Selva Gayol, who shows us her reservoir of semi-precious stones, where she reveals the incredible secrets of local stones. We get enthusiastic about her hobby and end up on a “stone search”, a while later our pockets are full of treasures. After this, we are taken by our host to a place he says will surprise us. We end up in La Fonda, eating very well in front of the old boat station. There we meet Tincho, an architect-chef who decided to exchange the stress of BA for an amazing old house in front of the river.

That evening we meet Pablo Latzina at the port, he is the other partner of Ita I Corá. He is going to take us to San Francisco Island and the Animas sand banks. We leave Colón behind as the wind hits our face and the sun reflects on the water. The smell of orange trees impregnates the Uruguayan coast. Just a couple of minutes after leaving, we reach a white sandy beach. While we go along a path full of lianas and virgin greenery, Pablo explains us that as this island gets completely covered by water when the river rises, it is impossible to exploit it commercially, and this is the reason why this place remains so untouched, immune to human depredation. We are aware that the animals hide when they feel our presence; we can see their fresh footprints. We are able to see some birds, kingfishers and herons among others. We keep going on up the river to the Aminas bank where we walk barefoot on the white sand. We come back when the sun is coming down, fascinated by the beauty of the scenery. Next time we are allowed to camp on an island, I would like it to be in a place like this, with the sound of the jungle and the river reflecting the sun.

The lights in Colón slowly turn on as we walk to the Casamate Hostel. We stay there chatting till late with Maro Brykman –another fellow who got sick of the city and decided to live in this gorgeous place. Hernán gets completely excited with his fishing stories and the size of the dorados (local fish) and all of a sudden he is planning to go out with him. Maro tells us about a shelter of Fundación Vida Silvestre, an Argentinean Nature conservation fund. It is called “La Aurora del Palmar” and it is only 45 km away, very near the National Park, where you can also go horse riding, canoeing, go on a safari in SUV’s and do some trekking.

We wake up very early next morning. By 9:30 we are at the thermal waters. The air is still cold, but the sun slowly goes heating up the atmosphere. Immersed in one of the baths we see how the river goes filling up with small boats. At quarter past one, we plan to be at the bus station to take a bus to La Aurora. One hour later, we will be arriving at this amazing place, with 200 hectares of palm trees, citric trees and a jungle reserve that surrounds the El Palmar creek. María Eugenia and Ariel, together with their family, make this place a great option for those of you who love nature. There will be plenty of time to canoe and laugh of how bad we are at this, while we enjoy a hypnotizing sunset as we horse ride through palm trees.

And as we always say, the life of a nomad traveller is full of sacrifices. Travelling is like a never ending story, every time you visit a place, you find another one to go to next time. We will come back to Colón some time soon, we feel there are still more hidden treaures for us to discover.
Content courtesy of Nomada Magazine