Caiman, cabivaras and crowds of birds at Carlos Pelligrini

Away from everywhere and at the end of a very bumpy road was the settlement of Carlos Pelligrini which sits right by the Ibera Wetlands. This is a national park of some 1.4 million hectares of flat swampy land through which many rivers empty. It is a haven for flora and fauna and the town appears to live by providing travelers with full board and trips out into the areas of the park that are open to visitors. A large part of the park is closed which is good. We were told they have reintroduced large anteaters into the area and it appears there is a serious effort to protect the environment too. Nevertheless there are cattle farms right up against the park and it is possible to see cows and capybaras using the same space.Having seen photos of these strange animals I could never imagine what size they were. The closest animal I could associate them with was the wombat and perhaps they share an origin some time in prehistory. Grass eating, swimming, rodents with three toed webbed feet are certainly different. There were many of them grazing and swimming along the waterways in the late afternoon when we were taken out in a boat to cruise through the shallow channels. Waterlillies and water hyacinth covered the shallow areas and other water plants grew in spaces suited to them. Birds were plentiful. Some I knew by family eg the equivalent of the spur winged plover and rails but the southern screamer was a new one for me. A bird almost the size of a turkey but it flies better than you would think and is grand to see coming in to land. We saw jabiru which look like those in Aus plus king fishers, ducks etc. I love this place and can see why it is popular with bird watchers.We stayed for two nights and on the second evening we went out again this time to spot a marsh dear which we eventually did. Roger and Karen from UK were as keen as I was but the younger women gradually lost interest and one could tell from their body language they were keen to get back and try some more local wine. Other animals seen include howler monkeys, eating not howling, a small rainforest dear and I spotted a good sized snake when outnwalking on the last morning.