Reserva Natural del Iberá

This reserve protects nearly 13,000 km sq of wetlands known as the Esteros del Iberá, a vast flat flooded plain which is one of the most important natural areas in all Argentina for its superb wildlife. The area is really only accessible to visitors from the little village of Colonia Carlos Pellegrini, from where excursions depart. There's a Park Rangers office and visitors centre where you can chat to the guardaparques, and get more information on the flora and fauna. They also sell an excellent guide to all the plants, birds and animals you'll find here - Iberá, Vida y Colour, in Spanish and English with the Latin names noted as well - which is indispensable if your guide on the boat trip doesn't speak English. Opposite the visitor centre is a stretch of jungle where howler monkeys hang out - a guardaparquemay accompany you if your trip doesn't include this.

The Esteros del Iberá - 'shining water' in the Guaraní language - are fed exclusively by fresh water from rain: no rivers flow into it. The marshes extend 250 km northeast to Ituzaingó on the Alto Paraná, and are some 70 km wide at their broadest. Clear waters cover between 20 to 30% of the protected area, and there are over 60 lagunas, or small lakes, astonishingly no more than a few metres deep, the largest being the Laguna Iberáand Laguna de la Luna. The area is rich in aquatic plants, including the beautiful purple camelote, tiny cream coloured star- shaped flowers, irupé(Victoriana cruziana) which forms a kind of floating plate supporting animal and birdlife, and when it stretches along the shoreline, it's hard to differentiate the land from the lake. The area owes its rich animal life to the profusion of embalsados, which sit like islands in the lagunas, but are just floating vegetation, dense enough to support large animals, such as the marsh deer, and sizeable trees and bushes. Carpinchos(capybaras) make their homes along the edges, and alligators can be seen basking on any protruding clump of mud. Watch out for the ghastly but ingenious colonial spiders, weaving enormous horizontal nets for unsuspecting insects in the late afternoon. Prolific bird life is all around. The boat trip is at its most exciting when you travel down narrow creeks between these embalsados, and when you're invited to walk on them - they are amazingly stable, but yield subtly to your feet with a pleasing springiness. In case you don't understand your guide's instructions in Spanish - if you suddenly start sinking, you're advised to spread out your arms before the embalsadocloses in over you. But don't worry - this is very unlikely to happen.

Boat trips

Your hotel or estancia will offer at least one boat trip included in your accommodation into Laguna Iberá to visit areas where there are lots of birds, alligators and capybaras. Depending on the time of day, these usually take two to three hours, and in summer it's best to go out in the early morning or later evening, to avoid the intense heat and to stand a better chance of seeing more birds. Do ask your hotel or estancia at the time of booking if there are guides who speak your language: many of the local guides are excellent and know the lagunas like the back of their hands, complete with all the resident wildlife, but speak little English. You can be guaranteed English speaking guides at Posada de la Laguna, Irupé Lodge and Rincón del Socorro. If you're lucky, your trip will be timed to return as the sun sinks on the water - sunsets here are really spectacular, when the whole world of water and sky is tinted vivid vermillion, an unforgettably moving sight. Some estanciasalso offer walks to the jungle to see and hear howler monkeys, swinging off the trees, and roaring, especially when rain is approaching. Night safaris are fun too: mammals, vizcachas, owls and lots of capybaras running around by the light of your guide's lamp.