Where the Parana meets the estuary of the Rio de la Plata, the river divides into hundreds of channels, forming a delta of low wooded islands that has no roads. Here everything travels by water: passengers, building materials, schoolchildren, groceries, rubbish. Houses stand on stilts above the reach of the tide, with a jetty in place of a driveway. Tigre is the town at the gateway of this world, an hour from the centre of Buenos Aires. Its Puerto de Frutos grew as the delta's commercial landing, receiving the produce of the islands, fruit, timber, reeds and wicker, for sale on the mainland. That trade has largely gone, but the port has kept its warehouses and its name, and now hosts a sprawling market of basketwork, furniture, plants and crafts that draws crowds every weekend. The contrast is what makes the place. On one side, a busy market town and the elegant rowing clubs and villas of the riverbank; on the other, a slow, green, half-amphibious life a few minutes away by launch. Filmed in 4K, from the water and from the air, the programme suits travel, culture and art-de-vivre strands.
