Ibicuy Islands facts for kids
The Ibicuy Islands are a group of low-lying islands in the eastern part of the Paraná Delta in Entre Ríos Province, Argentina. They are located between the Paraná River and the Uruguay River. These islands are part of the Islas del Ibicuy Department and have small towns like Villa Paranacito, which is their capital. You can mostly reach the islands by using the Ibicuy River, which is a branch of the Paraná River.
What Does "Ibicuy" Mean?
The name Ibicuy comes from the Guaraní language. It means 'sandy area'. The Guarani people were the first people to live on these islands. They built small mounds of sand and earth called cerritos. These cerritos were used as lookouts and to protect against floods. You can still see them rising above the thick plants in the river delta. The Guaraní people might have come to Ibicuy looking for the tierra sin mal, which means 'land without evil'. This was their idea of a special paradise.
How Were the Islands Settled?
European settlers started coming to the islands in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Many of them were Italians from Montevideo who came to find wood for making charcoal. Most of the settlers were from northern and central Europe. They worked in farming and forestry, which are still the main jobs there today. To mark their land, protect it, and get water, the settlers dug new channels and filled in old ones. This changed how the islands looked.
Exploring the Ibicuy Islands Today
Because the islands were hard to reach (you could only get there by boat at first), they sometimes became a hiding place for people who wanted to avoid the law from cities like Buenos Aires and Montevideo. A writer named Liborio Justo lived there in the 1940s. The tough environment and the people he met inspired his book of short stories, Rio Abajo (which means "Down the River"). This book was later made into a movie.
Today, tourism is a big activity on the islands. Visitors can see many types of Delta wildlife. Some animals you might spot include the Neotropic cormorant (a type of bird), the capybara (a large rodent), and the marsh deer.
