_{Chamamé music from Mercedes}

Besides marvelous fauna, flora and culture of the gaucho, it is worth to go out for lunch to La Fonda restaurant and try their degustation menu.

Religious tourists recognize Mercedes thanks to the famous Gauchito Gil sanctuary.
Gauchito Gil was the Argentinian Robin Hood - he was robbing rich and helping to the poor. Vatican doesn't recognize him as the saint but many Argentinians do, especially in the north of the country. They build the chapels dedicated to that person and pray to him asking for help in difficult times.

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Accommodation

We are budget travelers, so I cannot recommend you any of the exclusive hotels because I didn't visit them. However, if you are looking for a cheap place to sleep, I recommend one of the campings.

There are two campings in the area: the first one is in Mercedes, near to the river, but I do not recommend spending night there. It is close to the road and buildings and it's dangerous. When we stayed there, our cell phones and shoes were stolen. Moreover, there are no bathrooms there, only a place to make a BBQ. I assume it's a great place to make some picnic but not necessarily to sleep in that place.

Second camping is in the nearby village of Pueblito de las Ratas. Harder to get there, it takes over one hour to walk there from Mercedes but the place is fabulous: it has bathrooms, showers, it's guarded, there are pools, BBQ area, and the nearby river is inhabited by animals like otters. Watch out for spiders and snakes though. That bastards are there as well and I don't think it's a great idea to invite them to your tent.

Both campsites are free. For those of you who appreciate a comfortable bed, I recommend cheap hotels located behind the bus station in Mercedes.

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Transport to Colonia Carlos Pellegrini

Buses to Colonia Carlos Pellegrini leaves only once per day, in the early morning. Even though the village is located not so far away from Mercedes, the journey takes hours, because asphalt ends quickly and the bus traverses the rest of the time on a gravel road, occasionally blocked by capybaras or caimans.

Getting out of the village is even more difficult. You can go back to Mercedes the same way, but if nobody wanted to come to Carlos Pellegrini, bus won't leave Mercedes and you will be forced to wait until the next day. If you are planning to go to the other way, towards Posadas, the only way is to rent private transport which is incredibly expensive.

Of course, if you're going to visit Colonia Carlos Pellegrini in your own car, that shouldn't be a problem, but remember to check the weather. After heavy rainfall, the village is cut off from the rest of the world and it is not possible to travel to or from it.

_{road to Colonia Carlos Pellegrini}

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Colonia Carlos Pellegrini

Colonia Carlos Pellegrini is a very small village with 900 inhabitants, with several restaurants, a cafe, a camping site, lots of rooms to rent for a night or two and of course a national park right next door.

We stayed at the camping which is private so we had to pay to pitch the tent. I must admit that Carlos Pellegrini is an expensive place. Prices of all services and products differ from prices elsewhere in Argentina. It's often two or even three times higher than in a nearby Mercedes. It's a good idea to do some major grocery shopping before coming to this town to save some money.

In the village it's possible to participate in many attractions. Some of them are free, others you have to pay for:

• you can rent kayaks and take a trip on the nearby river
• you can go on a horseback trip
• you can visit the Park with a guide for free. A day and night tour is available. You can also visit the park on your own
• a second, smaller park with many birds and Howlers, the loudest monkeys in the world, is available for free
• you can make a boat trip and watch the sunset or sunrise from the river

The nearby Ibera Park is home to many interesting animals. You can easily observe here:

• capybaras
• caimans
• roe deer
• screamers
• more than 300 species of birds
• with a bit of luck you will see a Boa or a yaguarete

_{Look closely. There is boa on that photo}

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Capybaras

These wonderful, lazy animals are the largest rodents in the world. They are not dangerous, but touching them is not recommended, as they carry numerous germs. Capybaras are not afraid of humans, they seem to ignore the presence of tourists, taking care of what they like best: mud baths, chewing grass and ... sleeping.

_{lazy like me. Now you know why I love them so much}

_{that bird is using Capybara as taxi. Rodent don't care much though. He knows that bird will eat some parasites which hides in his fur and it's good for everyone. Full symbiosis}

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Cayman

Although they are usually not a threat to humans, keep your distance. Be especially careful when the caiman opens its mouth wide and points it towards you. In this way, animals signal a sense of danger and readiness to attack.

_{Crocodiles, Caymans and alligators are as old as dinosaurs. It's the only archosaurs on the planet}

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Marsh deer

A species of South American deer that is threatened with extinction. A very skittish animal by nature, but you will certainly be able to spot it. It is enough to go to one of the vantage points and sit down patiently for a moment to see them on the horizon. It is a good idea to take binoculars with you or a camera with a good zoom, because the Marsh deer will not come as close to us as capybara or caiman.

_{very distinguish animals, unfortunately easy to scare off}

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Howler monkey

The loudest monkeys in the world, whose screams can be heard even 5 km away. They are very intelligent creatures who don't like the presence of humans. Usually they sit on the highest branches of trees. Be quiet, be patient and walk the trail with your head held high and you will be sure to see them. We managed to find the Howler family. The female, male and kiddo, however, quickly fled from our sight, so the only photos we took are quite blurry.

_{not the best quality photo, as monkeys are smart enough to hide when they don't want to be seen}

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The birds

Over 300 species of birds of various shapes and colors diversify our stay in Ibera not only with visual experiences, but above all with colorful, intriguing singing. We were not able to identify all birds, but we recognized some of them, mainly thanks to the knowledge we gained from ornithologists we met elsewhere in Argentina.

_{Amazon kingfisher}

_{Chestnut-headed tanager}

_{Southern screamer}

_{the Giant Wood Rail}

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All the photos included in the post belongs to me.

If you want to know me better, here is my achievement 1 

Thank you for reading.
Special thanks to
@fendit
@belenguerra
@graceleon

@papi.mati