When you book to stay on a houseboat by the river its probable a good idea to check that you can just walk onto the accommodation from the jetty – something that we overlooked! We decided to spend the first few days in the area of Tigre – in the delta region outside Buenos Aires where the Portenos relax at the weekend – in a floating houseboat, secured to an island in a yacht harbour.
No problem getting on as the owner and his son took us over in their motor boat. But then….we could only come and go in a small rowing boat. Apart from anything else we had no food or water!
All we had to do was row from the houseboat to just beyond the Afrodita – the two of us in the boat…. It doesn’t look too bad, if you’re a dwarf or so. However, after a bit of floundering around, we managed not to sink and then a neighbour picked us up and brought us to the jetty tugging the boat behind. Fabulous.
So after we wandered around Tigre went to a restaurant for a parilla (this time not sized for dwarves). On the way home we went to the Carrefour supermarket and then were ready to return. The home ride should be easier – the jetty was at the same level as the boat so it should be easier to stabilise it. But no – each of us tried. I got in the boat and had no clue how to move it with the oars or steer it with them. Hilarious except we were sort of stuck. Luckily another guy in a motor boat came past and we were able to flag him down and hitch a lift…… Todays another day…