Villa Paranacito is a town in the southeast corner of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

of Entre Ríos, Argentina, head town of the Islas del Ibicuy Departament. It is located in the third section of the

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

at the heart of the low-lying

Ibicuy Islands The Ibicuy Islands ( es, Islas del Ibicuy, links=no) are a maze of low-level islands in the east of the Paraná Delta, within Entre Ríos Province, Argentina. They are located between the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers. The islands are part of the Is ...

in the

Paraná Delta The Paraná Delta ( es, Delta del Paraná) is the delta of the Paraná River in Argentina and it consists of several islands known as the Islas del Paraná. The Paraná flows north–south and becomes an alluvial basin (a flood plain) between th ...

and is the administrative centre for the dispersed inhabitants of the islands and the delta's timber producers. Many of the town's inhabitants live on outlying islands, and several thousand more live across the whole group of islands.

History and Tourism

The town was officially founded on 25 May 1906 and was settled by European colonists, many from central and eastern Europe. Communication with the rest of the province was originally by boat, principally boats to

Campana Campana (Italian and Spanish for "bell") may refer to: Places * Campana Partido, Argentina, a ''partido'' (administrative subdivision) in Buenos Aires Province ** Campana, Buenos Aires Province, a city in Campana Partido * Campana Island, Capit� ...

and

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

and the occasional steamboat to Gualeguaychú. In 1937 "hopscotch" dirt roads arrived and in 1971 the town was connected to a supply of electricity.

Amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communic ...

is still in use today. Formerly, the third section was populated by island

cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a Cotter (farmer), cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager ...

s nestled amidst well-manicured gardened parks and by Travelers Rest Guesthouses (Inns) for recreation and lodging. Some still stand radiating the charm of a bygone era, well known where Lietuva, Sagastume and Carlos Jahn in Arroyo Martínez, once they were used by the sport fishermen who indulged themselves in this paradise where fish of all type, specially golden dorado, surubíes, chafalotes, tarariras and boga thrived. Until recently it was possible to get here by commuter boats, the Galofré line (Spanish) had been doing it since the early 1930s, they would start from either Tigre and/or from the

channels in

, the journey took all of Saturday morning and the return trip most of Sunday afternoon, it crossed the majestic

Paraná River The Paraná River ( es, Río Paraná, links=no , pt, Rio Paraná, gn, Ysyry Parana) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Br ...

and the most inhospitable sections of the delta until finally arriving at Villa Paranacito, sandwiches and refreshments in white-clad servers where served on board. Hosteria Rose Marie

Nowadays you may get there by bus or car, located at 182 km from Buenos Aires, through the Zárate-Brazo Largo Bridge, turning off the highway, the last stretch being unpaved pebbled road. Within the epicenter of Villa Paranacito, several guest accommodations are still available that are used mainly for recreational activities. The one furthest apart which conserves a remarkable nostalgic air and is accessed by water taxi is Hostería Rose Marie, name of the daughter of a Hungarian who was proprietor of so beautiful large house constructed in the first decade of the twentieth century, strategically located in an area well known for fishing, just a short distance from the mouth of Arroyo Martínez. A very peculiar custom with folks that reside along the rivers is the delivery of mail, with a long cane which has a groove in the end where mail is attached, the boat without stopping by the pier delivers the mail to the hand of the islander (or vice versa) with no need to berth the ship on pier, this "marine mail delivery" has been a long tradition in the delta. Villa Paranacito is a base to explore the

. A small tourist office is located in the town.

References

External links

* {{Ar-mi-muni, ERI064 (Spanish)
Entre Ríos tourism guide
(Spanish) * Análisis. 26 November 2005
Intendenta de Villa Paranacito rechazó el traslado de papeleras.
(Spanish) Populated places in Entre Ríos Province Paraná River

History and Tourism

See also

References

External links