For travelers continuing up the Río Uruguay littoral through Corrientes Province, there are only minor points of interest en route to Misiones Province and its world-famous Iguazú Falls. The capital city of Corrientes, in the northwest corner of the province, has its strong points, including one of the country’s best Carnaval celebrations.

What should be Corrientes’s biggest attraction is Esteros del Iberá, a wildlife-rich wetland equal (if not superior) to Brazil’s better-known Pantanal and even Amazonia—but it remains almost unknown because of relative isolation and the fact that both provincial and national authorities seem clueless as to its environmental wealth and traveler appeal.

Still, anyone pressed for time but eager for a more intimate experience should consider writing off heavily touristed Iguazú to see Iberá, which is worth a trip to the province—or even to Argentina—in its own right. It’s accessible from the western provincial city of Mercedes or, with more difficulty, from the Misiones provincial capital of Posadas.