There is a factory passage and the ecosystem of the Riachuelo, a mass of metal and neighbors eager to tell their story. The past and the present come together in a walk of just over an hour that can be done on Fridays and Saturdays from the start of operation of the Nicolás Avellaneda Ferry Bridge that connects the neighborhood of La Boca with Maciel Island.
Since January, the platform that dates from 1914 and moves between both shores is operated by the National Highway staff to delight touriststhat, in groups of up to 25they make the crossing while a guide tells the story of the transporter bridge that seeks to be a World Heritage Site and is one of the eight remaining in the world of its type, and the only one in Latin America.
The pilot project carried out by the Matanza Riachuelo Basin Authority (ACUMAR) has a tourist and environmental nature, since it seeks to disseminate the historical and natural heritage of the Basin. Is named “The bridge and its two shores” and it is free. Tickets to cross the river can be obtained at the Environmental Promotion and Interpretation Stations on both banks and the route departs from there.
“The circuit proposes to approach the river, know what the tasks of sanitation and environmental recomposition are aboutwhile participating in a unique experience that is appreciating the territory from the nacelle of a bridge that is a patrimonial icon of Argentina. In this stage of sanitation, Acumar has complied with actions that allow people to reconnect with their natural environments,” analyzes María José Parra, director of Community Strengthening and Development Promotion at Acumar.
Camila Solari is the guide who accompanied Télam and a heterogeneous group of tourists including families with children, foreigners who barely speak Spanish and residents of Barracas who found a great program for their Saturday afternoon.
“The ferry bridge that allows crossing from one bank to the other of the Riachuelo It’s from 1914. Brought disassembled from England and it was rebuilt here to make it easier to move. There were others along the river but only this one survived”, he recalls in front of the gray cloud iron mass that was used to cross the Riachuelo and was a faster alternative to the traditional boats that made the journey tirelessly.
Then he points to the orange bridge that is a few meters away: “In the 40s the other bridge with the same name, Nicolás Avellaneda, was built and it is made of concrete. In the 1960s the ferry was put out of use and was going to be sold for scrap until in the 90s the neighbors organized and managed to have it declared a cultural heritage and to preserve it”.
When and where
The ferry will operate on Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the exception of rainy days, strong winds or electrical storms, and can be used by 25 people on each trip, departing from each shore every 30 minutes. By the end of each day, the shuttle will have made 13 trips with a total of 325 people.
The crossing between one shore and the other takes just a few minutes on the gondola that moves operated from a checkpoint on the heights of the bridge. During the tour you can see the postcards of the picturesque tenements of La Boca, beyond, the factories of the Dock Sud and even inhabitants of the native fauna.
“There are herons over there, and here I see fish that seem to be carp”one of the passers-by, who came from Tigre with his children, is astonished and also points to the sleeves with which the Basin Authority contains the waste that the water brings and which is later collected with cranes or catamarans equipped with large shovels.
Someone remembers that the ferry was used in some episodes of the emblematic series “Okupas” by Bruno Stagnaro, and the guide points out that it was also filmed on Maciel Island. Then it indicates that the walk can end on the opposite shore or extend around the island, where the members of the tour can join the tour organized by the Municipality of Avellaneda with the collaboration of some neighbors.
On the other side, the guide is Maximiliano Stugo, from the Avellaneda Tourism Department., seconded by residents of the island. The first thing he does is end with the image that Maciel is an island: “Except since the intubation of the Maciel stream. It is not separated from the mainland ”, he specifies.
Beside him, Horacio Eusebi points out that in that territory that bears the name of Cosme Maciel, an “exiled” Santa Fe politician who had a shipyard 7,000 people live in the area, according to the latest census.
“In 1895, there were barely 160, one of them was my great-grandfather”, the neighbor is proud, who soon becomes a host at the Carpintero de la Ribera House-Museum “My father, Pocho, worked here, he was the one who repaired the boats. He knew how to choose the type of wood for each repair and shaped it with hot water and his tools. He worked miracles, that’s why some of the boats had the legend “Thank you, Pocho” on the sign where they had the license plate.
With the guidance of Maximiliano, Horacio and Andrés Soto, another resident of the neighborhood, visitors take a quick tour of the island. You can see the tenements painted in bright colors such as those in La Boca, the health unit, the kindergarten, the Our Lady of Fatima chapel where Father Paco de Oliveira and the Maciel Island Foundation worked for the people. One of the tenements proudly displays a sign that says 1910: “There was a gambling den there and people would get together to play cards and other things”secretes one of the neighbors.
“The idea is that if the pilot test works and we have visitors, we are going to put together another four tours: one of murals and another in relation to soccer since In Maciel is the field of Club San Telmowho in 1976 starred in a feat and beat Boca Juniors 3-1”, recalls Soto proudly, while pointing out the number of residents who wear the blue and light blue shirt of the club nicknamed “El candombero”.
In front of the José Hernández square, a series of murals recall the weight that the island had in the spread of cumbia from Santa Fe. “There was a radio host from Maciel who invited the singers and played music when it was not known. That is why many times they go to play on the island”, points out Soto. The murals are the result of the project “Painted the island” who motorized the school 24 and summoned visitors from everywhere, and from all over the world, to come to the area to color the walls.
Towards the end of the walk, in front of the river bank, Stugo reviews the movies and series that were filmed in the area, from the very recent “Alternate” starring Juan Minujin, in which Brian Montiel, a neighbor from the neighborhood, made his debut; to “La Mary”, a cult film starring Susana Giménez and Carlos Monzón.
The return to La Boca can be on the ferry or using the pedestrian platform of the new Nicolás Avellaneda Bridge, inaugurated by the then president Cristina Kirchner in 2015, which has elevators, escalators and security cameras and facilitates the crossing of Macielenses who study or work in the City of Buenos Aires. During the week the most picturesque option are the boats that make the journey in two shifts: in the morning and at night.
