Misiones: Jungle and adventure

During August we had 5 days to take a short holiday. With two friends, we studied some places where we could go with our rubber dinghies. The Uruguay River, the Esteros of Iberá and Patagonia had been the set where some of our past adventures had taken place. This time, the idea was the same, sail all day taking pictures, stopping for lunch in beautiful places, watching the local fauna, the trees and the sky which we can’t see in the city. Just relax while the canoe slides down river.

We decided to go to Misiones. There were multiple reasons for our decision, for example visiting the land of the Jesuits, the tea plantations, tobacco or yerba, revive the stories of Horacio Quiroga, and all in all enjoy of the Province which magnetizes with the deafening sound of the waterfalls but that also hides lovely hilly alcoves. The wooden houses with their shadowed galleries, the zigzagging rivers and the people that talk a mixture of Spanish and Portuguese, make Misiones an inviting place to stay. But it was the jungle, which without saying so, inclined the weighing scale in its favor. So, the decision was made and the jungle it was… with everything our adventurous imagination could think of, the mystery, the risks and the isolation.

We didn’t waste any time and in just a fortnight we made all the arrangements for the trip. We left Buenos Aires on a Friday night, José, Nacho and me with two rubber dinghies, maps of the region that extends from Colonia Paraiso, a couple of kilometers south of San Pedro, to the Pepirí River, 5 kilometers south of the Saltos of Moconá. The maps from the Military Geographical institute, a GPS and a compass, would have to be enough to find our way around. We prepared some meals, like pies and empanadas for the first days, and we also took some fresh vegetables, meat, dried fruit and all kind of spices, plus an alcohol cooker.

Everything was ready. We took a bus from the Retiro Terminal Station, and 16 hours later we were arriving at San Vicente. Once there, after doing some shopping and asking some things, we took a local bus and during a sunny morning we did the 60 kilometers that separate San Vicente from Colonia Paraiso. We visited some of the houses looking for information, or just as an excuse to talk to the local people, who are so hospitable and answered everything we asked while they offered to smoke the charuto (tobacco wrapped in corn leaves). We finally met Giovanni, a quiet local who offered to take us to the Fortaleza stream, a branch of the Pepirí Miní River.

We had arrived at San Vicente at 9:00 a.m., at midday we were pumping up the dinghies while hundreds of multicolored butterflies flew all around us. We packed all our gear and, after a quick dip in the water, we left the coast. Giovanni said goodbye wishing us luck and making it clear in a funny tone, that he was the last person we would see in a couple of days. With nervous smiles we celebrated his joke.

The biosphere natural reserve of Yaboti extends between the provincial route N°14, the Uruguay River and the Pepirí Guazú, natural limit with Brazil. It is a protected area where sustainable forestry is allowed, which in turn provides suitable employment to the local area. This region is very rich in different species of trees and shrubs, with a wide variety of birds who look for their security. Enthusiastically we started coming down the Fortaleza stream, but we had only paddled for a couple of meters when we realized that the level of the water was too low and that our dinghies were getting damaged. We had to constantly hop on and off during the entire journey, making us feel very tired, and we were wasting precious time. It was obvious that we weren’t going to reach our daily target at this pace. We camped next to some reeds near the river bed. We put up the tent on top of some dry leaves and, after spaghetti with onion soup and a bottle of wine, we laid down exhausted, while we stared at the moon and heard the river singing.

We had agreed that we were going to wake up at dawn to take advantage of the day and make up some of the time we lost. Nevertheless the morning hypnotized us. To see the forest waking up is a unique and intimate spectacle. Millions of creatures answer the first sun beams that manage to sink into the depth of the jungle, while the mist and fog give the scene the feeling of mystery and magic. We sailed away and during the entire morning we had to do the same tiring thing as the day before. We were amazed to see huge rock walls where, due to the moisture, the vegetation grew in every possible direction. At midday, the screams of José, who was 100 meters ahead of us, announced that we had reached the Pepirí River, half a day later than what we had planned. We were tired, but this more larger river allowed us to sail easier without needing to hop off constantly, so we enjoyed the scenery and the rapids, though small, were enough to make the trip more exciting.

The activity of the forest during the afternoon is certainly quite feverish; dozens of unrecognizable noises create an unceasing and vital movement. The kingfishers stare at the fish in the water deciding which one will be their next prey, butterflies stand on our arms and inside the boats, the easy chat between friends an the amazing view of the huge roots which grow at both sides of the river made the trip an exciting adventure. With the sun coming down, we found a place to camp, a dry river bed. This wasn’t the best of places to be if during the night it started to rain, but it was impossible to go into the jungle because of the vegetation. Hours later, a vegetable stew and a bottle of Burgundy wine created the perfect atmosphere to enjoy a hypnotizing fire which we had been looking forward to the entire evening. Millions of stars, which we could hardly see behind the tree tops, were an amazing thing to look at while our eyes gave up to sleep.

The sun was coming out and we were bringing our tent down, the sky was covered with clouds. The morning once again marveled us with the smells of the tropical forest, fresh because of the dew which had fallen during the night. After a big breakfast of coffee and toast, we started our journey. Sailing was fun, the rapids made it even more exciting and, with no major difficulties, we sailed towards the Uruguay River. Every now and then the wind blew a little bit, and after a cold gust came warm breezes which suffocated us. We felt as if these breezes came from a dark place way into the heart of the jungle, where it had been kept static for years.

In one of the many turns of the river, Nacho, who was now alone on one of the dinghies, pointed out a tapir who stared at us for a couple of minutes and then ran into the forest.

The clouds were getting heavier and, during lunch, we discussed what we were going to do next. The food and the days we had left were few, so we realized that our goal of reaching the Uruguay River was going to be impossible. Studying carefully the map we saw a path that went down river, this would take us to the provincial route n° 21, which leads to the Saltos of Moconá.

We kept paddling at a steady speed and, a few kilometers upstream, a huge eagle stopped on the branch of a white quebracho. We were amazed by the size of his claws and body. His head went from one side to the other one a couple of times. We stood in the dinghies to take a picture while we struggled with the current, trying not to make any movement that would scare him away. From where we were, his stance made him look proud and imposing. We stopped struggling with the water and we paddled away.

After two days rowing in the Pepiri River, we were finally reaching Garibaldi and we felt confident and secure. The rapids appeared with no major difficulties along the entire trip, so we didn’t pack our gear tight enough, although everything was in water resistant packages. After a curve we could see a rapid downstream. A tree had fallen and, as the river was narrower, the water current got stronger. It was too late to realize this, surprise struck us and after a bad movement we fell into the water. We got hold of some roots on time, while our bags floated with the current. Fortunately, Jose who was 50 meters ahead of us, was receiving the bulks and loading them on his dinghy. The outcome of the accident was that we lost some clothes and food. The alcohol cooker, after a long search, was found it in a shallow part of the river.

A couple of hours later, we reached what was left of a bridge, and on the right side we could see the path we had seen on the map. It was an old road that the workers used 10 years ago. The forest had invaded it quickly. This was the end of our aquatic adventure and, after a light lunch and rearranging the gear in our backpacks, we started walking with nearly 30 kilos on our backs. According to the map, the first part of it was up hill and zigzagging. Using our last breath we walked along this path that promised to take us to route N° 21, where we would have to find transport to take us to Colonia Paraiso. Our feet got tangled with plants that invaded the old tractor’s prints while we were at the limit of our strength. We walked in silence, sweat coming down our foreheads and with our hands occupied in tightening things and grabbing others.

We stopped every 20 minutes, looking for the recovery we knew would never come, as we looked at each other in surprise because of the unexpected outcome of the trip. At that moment we knew that the result of what had been an innocent trip was now a huge effort to reach the road with no major problems. Without talking we realized there was a problem on our way. We were afraid this was not the path we were supposed to be taking and we didn’t have enough water, we had left it behind due to excess weight at the beginning of the path. At sunset we decided to camp in an open space on the jungle where, after just a couple of words, a small dinner and no fire, we slept like logs. In the middle of the night the sound of an animal woke us up, we shouted and we heard the steps running into the vegetation.

When we woke up, the storm was imminent. We started walking with some rain drops hitting our faces. The temperature was lower and this meant less of an effort. The path started to go down hill and, according to the map, we were now in the middle of it. Our strengths were wearing out and all kind of fears sprang to our minds. Nacho was walking in front of us and, all of a sudden, he stopped. With a quiet gesture he pointed out a "yaguarete" (spotted animal of the cat family) which was standing in the middle of the path, 20 meters in front of us. The imposing animal stared at us for a long 30 seconds and, with a quick and agile movement, disappeared. Without even talking we started walking again. We noticed that the footprints of the yaguarete were all over the place. A weird feeling crept down our spine.

One hour later, with very little beliefs in this path, we reached the route. We burst into cheers and hugs; we took the bags from our backs without caring if there was anything that could break. Relieved after two entire days of uncertainty and fatigue, we laid down to rest.

José lost and was now responsible for finding transport to the colony. It started to rain and, with Nacho, we improvised a campsite at the side of the road. We talked about the anecdotes and images that we had lived the last 4 days, surely the most exciting ones this year. We were laughing when we saw José coming with a tractor. We managed to sit and arrange all our stuff on it. We did the 40 km to the route N° 14, while the deafening sound of the motor covered the misty murmur of the forest. It was a tiring but marvelous trip. While we were coming into Colonia Paraiso, an amazing thunderstorm hit the town. The rays and thunder were a great show for the end of this trip.

We reached San Vicente by bus. After a hot shower in a hostel, we enjoyed dinner surrounded by travelers wishing to hear about our adventure. We answered gladly while they kept staring at us in astonishment, trying to figure out if we were daring, scared or just serious adventurers.

Esteban Bigliardi
Content courtesy of Nomada Magazine