Our brother… the Paraná River
by Pacho Coulchinsky
It has a length of 4,880 km.
It is the second longest river in South America, after the Amazon.
Among the longest rivers in the world, is located in the fourteenth place.
Mobilizes 16,000 m3 per second.
When it flows into the sea, it forms the largest freshwater delta in the world.
It is the road that Spanish navigators traced 400 years ago to reach the heart of South America.
I'm talking about my legendary Paraná River. Scare this data a bit, but being born on the banks of such a brown snake, decreases the magnitude of the giant that seems asleep, but when it wakes up it becomes as fearsome as Vesuvius.
Beyond the statistic, it is above all, a great provider of life: freshwater, an indescribable flora and fauna for its variety and beauty as well as aquatic and terrestrial vegetation; a source ... (inexhaustible?) of resources that it is urgent to preserve.
My city was installed about 10 km from its coasts, the frequent and uncontrollable floods so determined. But just by traveling about 8,000 meters, we reach its shores and meet the people who make the river their lifestyle.
We, who live in the village, go there as one who goes to the courtyard of the house ... or rather, as the pilgrim who seeks peace and rest in a sanctuary. And there we remain silent watching the slow and heavy passage of its brown waters looking for the sea, hoping perhaps that it will also take us away as surely sooner or later it will?
