By Sanra Ritten

It’s best not to talk, in fact, don’t make a sound. The only noise should be that of your paddle softly slicing the shallow, dark water. As your canoe forges onward along the swampy river it noiselessly parts the endless green mass of camalote. Bid farewell to civilisation and discover a world removed in the swamplands of Formosa.

At first it seems silent in the marshy land, but there is actually an orchestra of harmonious noise, chirps, lapping water, rustling, croaking, and buzzing. The guides will tell you that you have to blend in as much as possible with the organic choir so as not to alert the Jabirú that you are approaching. The elegant stork is the tallest flying bird in South America, reaching up to three metres tall. Jabirú means ‘swollen neck’ in Guarani, due to its featherless red and black beak. The endangered bird is fairly easy to spot in Formosa from a far but in order to see it up close you have to be patient, alert, act with cat like reflexes and creep along in the canoe with stealth. Bird watching is a lot more work than the name implies.

While maneuvering through the winding maze of wetlands in Bañado La Estrella one has the possibility to see nearly a quarter of the 632 bird species in the province of Formosa. This forgotten region tucked away in the north-eastern part of Argentina is truly a haven for die hard bird watchers, eco-travellers and outdoor enthusiasts. However, since it is one of the country’s poorest areas, despite it’s excess in natural resources and beauty, and hundreds of kilometres from the capital, it is far off the tourists beaten path.

While it’s nice to get away from the cacophony of Buenos Aires and the bustling tourism in Patagonia or Mendoza the Catch 22 is that there is almost no infrastructure in Formosa to explore the endless grasslands, glens, estuaries, forests, and the great expanse of the Chaco desert and mountains. The public transportation is limiting and the roads are unreliable and hard to get around if you aren’t familiar with the area.

Luckily, based in Las Lomitas, Carlos ‘Puli’ Spagarino and Gisela Infantino run El Jabirú, a bird watching tour. The couple is originally from Buenos Aires and they moved to Las Lomitas five years ago. El Jabirú is the outcome of their passions for photography, nature and travel.

Apart from El Jabirú, Puli also is a forest engineer who works with a non-profit organisation dedicated to the development of aboriginal communities in the region. Gisela also works in the social service department providing free legal services to those who most need it. They are very knowledge people with diverse backgrounds and experiences and so aside from being able to point out the difference of a Chilean swallow to a Ruddy breasted seedeater they also have an understanding of fragile ecosystems, culture, politics and socio-economics of the region.

Depending on how much time you have they offer several different tours. You can explore the Río Bermejo, The Río Pilcomayo National Park, and the Formosa Natural Reserve. We only had time for a two-day jaunt to the Bañado La Estrella. The ‘Bathed Star’ is a wetland created by the meandering digression of the Pilcomayo River, which originates in the Andean region in Bolivia. Submerged in a world of stark contrasts, the wetland is teeming with over a hundred fish, reptile, mammal, plant and bird species.

The Bañado La Estrella covers 400,000 hectares and is in the middle of an ecosystem with the characteristic semiarid conditions of the Chaco region. The specific weather creates a very special ecosystem in which there is great biological diversity, a sanctuary for aquatic bird species. It is actually considered one of the three most important ecological reserves in South America after the Pantanal in Brasil and the Esteros del Iberá in Argentina.

Our tour started with a small boat ride around the wetlands. Engarled bare, bony limbs of dead trees, called champas or ‘ghosts’ in the local indigenous language, create ghastly forms silhouetted by the clear sky. The champas are havens for various birds which make colonies in the hanging masses of thick vines which encircle the trees. Large flocks of biguaes, black ducks, also hang from tree branches to dry out their feathers, wet from their fishing excursions, in the sun.

Aside from the birds in the sky there are also many animals on the ground not to be missed. Very common but hard to spot are the furry capybaras, the world’s largest rodent. Slick bodies of river otters and coypus, an aquatic rodent, also slither in and out of the water. Basking in the sun on the sandy banks are yacaré, caimans, and boa curiyú, yellow anacondas, up to five metres in length.

After the first safari ride, lunch was served. Gisela prepares most all the food on the tour and luckily she knows that a well-fed heart is a happy heart. You will undoubtedly eat a pig or lamb asado, accompanied by typical local dishes like charqui, dried beef, empanadas for appetisers and mammon y queso, papaya and cheese for a sweet ending.

The hearty servings of food are needed for the 3km trek into the Chaco mountain, which is actually a dense but dry jungle like ecosystem. Gigantic anthills, some over two metres in diametre, and native trees surround the trail. Quebracho Colorado, with it’s hard wood used for all the railroads in Argentina adorned with huge orchids, Palo Santo with it’s beautiful green wood used in handicrafts, and Yuchan or Palo Borracho, with it’s typical yellow flowers stand tall in the dry Formosean jungle.

The end of the trekking leads you to the refuge, a brick and palm trunk structure on stilts. From the refuge you can take night bird watching treks or just lounge with an incredible view and enjoy the hot bowls of locro, courtesy of Gisela.

In the morning, either the wild call of charatas, mountain turkeys, or the sunrise will wake you as the refuge has no walls but everyone sleeps in individual mosquito nets. For those serious bird watchers the wee hours in the morning are the best time for bird watching but it is optional. I choose to lie in my sleeping bag and contemplate the incredible view.

I have been few places where I truly feel isolated and lost in the world.

With all the globalisation, expansion, industrialisation, modernisation, there are few places where you can really feel like you are off the map. Everything has been explored, GPS cell phones reach into the impenetrable depths of the Amazon rainforests, few kilometres from mammoth glaciers left over from pre-historic times you can check your emails or even watch a re-runs of Seinfield on a hostel TV. Modern civilisation with all its commodities is everywhere, almost impossible to escape even if one wants to.

But canoeing through the Bañado la Estrella in Formosa surrounded by gnarled Tim Burtonesc trees silhouetted by the most intense sunset I have ever seen and looking for the Jabirú, I felt so far from any place I have ever known.