Iberá Marshes Rewilding Safari

Iberá National Park, Corrientes · Argentina

Easy5 daysSouth America~£850 est.

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Overview

The causeway into Colonia Carlos Pellegrini doubles as a game drive: capybara families graze the verges, caimans line the lagoon edge like parked cars, and marsh deer stand belly-deep among floating gardens of water hyacinth. The Iberá wetlands — 13,000 square kilometres of them — are South America's quiet answer to the Pantanal, and thanks to the Tompkins-founded rewilding programme they are getting wilder by the year: giant anteaters, pampas deer, macaws and, since 2021, jaguars again breeding on San Alonso island. Days here are gentle and close-range: boat safaris nosing into the reedbeds, horseback rides with local gauchos, night drives picking out lamplit caiman eyes and maned-wolf shapes on the road. Birders tally 350-plus species without trying. Posadas in the village are estancia-style, all home cooking and siesta courtyards. The catch is the access road: 120 kilometres of dirt from Mercedes that rain turns to impassable clay — build in a buffer day. Reach Mercedes by overnight bus from Buenos Aires or fly to Corrientes and drive. Five days full board with excursions runs £700–£1,000; spring and autumn dodge the fiercest heat.