The pastel sunset tones swirled into pinwheels with the stroke of the paddle. For a minute, our kayak moved in perfect time with a capybara swimming in the reeds. Toothy caymans lurked, invisible except for their eyes peeking above the water, round as bubbles, seemingly indifferent to our presence.

We reached the lake on horseback, plodding gently through meadows that gave way to expansive fields of palm trees that glowed in the buttery late afternoon light. In the distance, capybaras and cows stretched out companionably in the grass.

We were in the Iberá Wetlands, a huge expanse of waterways and bush in Corrientes province, and one of the most important such habitats in South America. While it doesn’t attract the same attention as the Iguazú Falls or the Perito Moreno Glacier, it’s home to a jaw-dropping variety of birds and animals. 

Two parks, the Iberá national and provincial parks, dovetail to form 768,000 hectares within the Iberá National Reserve. Iberá means “shining water” in the Indigenous Guaraní language, and from our kayak, it wasn’t hard to see why. 

Our day started with a walk through the forest, where, our guide assured us, families of howler monkeys snuggle up in the branches feasting on palm fruit. After half an hour, we spotted a ball of blond fluff high in a tree. 

Slowly, it unfurled into a mother monkey with a baby cradled around her neck. As if it were learning, her baby dangled from a branch from its tail, then painstakingly let go, plunging into the springy foliage.

Cut off from Argentina’s main roads by arduous, muddy drives, the wetlands are a long trip from most major cities — but nature lovers will be rewarded with the absolute tranquility of an expanse of untrammeled nature, home to hundreds of species of birds as well as capybaras, howler monkeys, caymans, and rare species such as the maned wolf and the jaguar.

The most developed gateway to the Iberá Wetlands is the town of Colonia Carlos Pellegrini. 

Head to Mercedes in Corrientes province (note: that’s not the Mercedes in Buenos Aires Province). From Buenos Aires, that’s a nine-hour night bus. From there, Carlos Pellegrini is a two-hour drive down a........

© Buenos Aires Herald