Villa Río Bermejito

Altitude: 132 m / 433 ft, Population: 695, Phone Code: 03732

From JJ Castelli, Ruta Provincial 5 heads north to Ruta Provincial 3, which dead ends at perhaps Argentina’s best-kept secret: Villa Río Bermejito. This small balneario(resort) town doesn’t even make it on most Argentine’s radar screen, let alone that of foreigners. Located on the south shore of where the Río Bermejito and Río Teuco meet, Villa Río Bermejito provides ample opportunities for water sports, fishing and boat tours up into the jungle. This hamlet is also at the confluence of Chaco’s indigenous cultures. To the west are the Wichí and to the east, the Q’om. Their villages may be visited to learn about their cultures and world visions, and to buy their artisan work.

Villa Río Bermejito was founded by settlers coming from Salta Province in the early 20^th Century. In the mid-1930s, the first tourists came, establishing the hunting and fishing clubs. It became a popular week-end get-away for residents of Roque Sáenz Peña and other Chaco towns.

Villa Río Bermejito prides itself on the golden beaches draping along banks where warm river waters lap, all amidst dense Chaco forests. Enjoying the rivers is a breeze, whether by aquatic bicycle or catamaran. Anglers can look forward to spending mornings away from civilization, casting their line in for whitemouth croaker (corvina blanca, Micropogonias furnieri). Also coming to these quiet waters to breed are pacú (Colossoma mitrei), a cousin to the piranha, surubim (surubí, Pseudoplatystoma coruscans), golden dorado (Salminus maxillosus) and sábalo (Prochilodus platensis). Among the premier fishing spots are Paseo de los Novillos, La Tabaquera, La Pelole, Los Chumucos, Laguna la Emilia and, of course, where the two rivers meet. Every February is the Festival de la Pesca de Corvina y La Palometa, with an additional folk music concert.

Other places of interest to explore are the ruins of La Cangalle, an 18^th-century Franciscan mission, and the sculpture Cristo Redentor del Impenetrable by Miguel A. Villaverde, near El Espinillo.

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Other places nearby Villa Río Bermejito : JJ Castelli, El Sauzalito , Fuerte Esperanza and Misión Nueva Pompeya.