The banks of the Puerto Deseado ria witnessed the misadventures of the English war corvette HMS Swift, which shipwrecked off shore until it completely sank on March 13, 1770.

Nowadays, the large amount of elements contained by this vessel are displayed at the Mario Brozoski Municipal Museum after being discovered by enthusiastic scuba divers in the troubled waters of the ria in 1982. The museum was named after Mario Brozoski, one of the young divers who took part in the search and passed away some time after the finding.

According to various chronicles, the English corvette set sail from Port Egmont on the Malvinas Islands on March 7, 1770 in order to explore the Patagonian coastline. On March 13, it was hit by a strong tempest and Captain George Farmer decided to take shelter in Ria Deseado, where it ran aground twice and then sank 50 meters off shore.

Thanks to one of the 88 survivors of the shipwreck, the very spot where the episode had occurred could be estimated and some uneasy local scuba divers took charge of finding it and recovering many of the elements today displayed at the museum.

This finding has a very important potential of knowledge for disciplines such as bioanthropology, whose analysis can determine social aspects such as diets, diseases or pathologies related with the labor done by the crew of this vessel.

Upon entering the venue, visitors may observe countless objects like bottles, dishes, an hourglass, glasses, ceramic items, wooden boxes, buttons and wools, among other elements, all of them are displayed in boxes made of glass. Information and data about the features of the corvette is displayed in signposts.

That is how we learned that the HMS Swift was in fact a sloop-of-war, equivalent to the “corbeta” in the Spanish nautical classification. HMS stands for His Majesty's Ship, as it was part of the British Royal Navy.
The sloops were light small boats easily maneuvered. They turned out to be particularly suitable for patrolling and coast recognition tasks. They were equipped with iron cannons mounted on wooden carriages and their caliber corresponded to the weight of the balls they shot.

Also touring around the museum, we learned about some of the habits and lifestyle of the Swift crew. It seems that the sailors had to eat and sleep in the same area. The tables were removable and some hammocks known as “coys” would be used to sleep. Then they were rolled up and kept to take advantage of the space.

At the moment of the shipwreck, the Swift had a crew of 91 men. Only 3 of them died in the shipwreck. Years later, some members of the crew appeared before a court-martial when they returned to England.

Luján is best known for its large neo-gothic Basilica, built in honor of the Virgin of Luján, the patron saint of Argentina.

Every year, more than six million people make pilgrimages to the Basilica, many walking there from Buenos Aires. The city is known as 'La Capital de la Fe' (Capital of the Faith).

It is popular day-trip for non-believers too, with abundant grill restaurants (like most places in Argentina) and souvenir shops with kitsch religious memorabilia.

The church was designed by the French architect Ulderico Courtois and started in 1889, completed by 1937. Its towers stand 106m high and it has a copper roof and bronze doors.

The huge church towers over the surrounding flat country and houses the tiny 38 cm high statue of the Virgin. A large and important organ by French builder Cavaille-Coll stands in the gallery in a state of deterioration, although efforts are underway to see to its restoration.

Luján is also home to the Enrique Udaondo museum complex, housing exhibitions of colonial life in the house of the Viceroy and old town hall, with art, uniforms, silverware and transport with many antique vehicles including Plus Ultra the first hydroplane to cross from Europe to Argentina and La Porteña, Argentina's first steam locomotive operated by Ferrocarril Oeste. Also on display are the prison cells where Colonel William Carr Beresford, commander of the 1806 British invading forces, and General Cornelio Saavedra, president of the first national government (Primera Junta) in 1810, were held.

The nearby city of Mercedes is seat of the Bishop of Mercedes and Luján. Luján is the principal settlement of the Lujan Partido or municipality. The city has a railway and bus station and is easily reached from Buenos Aires.

The Ibera natural Reserve is located in the province of Correintes, in the northeast of the Argentine Republic, the known ecosystem as Esteros del Iberá must to their name to the Ibera lagoon located in the zone Eastern center of this immense system of humedals.

The Iberá word is formed by two words of the guaraní language: ¨Î¨, water, that put in front to ¨berá¨, brilliant, in its Castilian translation to express to the site like ¨el the water that shines or brilla¨, name that supposedly gave to their original guaraníes settlers when observing the chispeante brightness him of their surface.

This peculiarity is visible in its water mirrors during the aurora or anocher, when the own calm of a closed system, without fluvial currents, bankruptcy with the breeze produced by the change of temperature between the surrounding terrestrial surface and the water of the matting or lagoons, causing itself a superficial movement that reflects with very particular effects the solar light to crepuscular.

Certain objection exists nevertheless on this origin of the denomination, because between the settlers the belief that still lasts the name must to heroic princess Iberá, the daughter of the guaraní cacique who submerged in the matting to protect the dignity of his culture .

In fact this name has been evolving with happening of the time, since registries exist that they originally identify to the site like Matting of Expensive Face, because in this place the emigrated natives lived on the Mission of Santa Ana by committed crimes, knew by “Caracará”, name also given to a bird of rotten prey: the “owl”.

The Natural Reserve is known for its biodiversity, including four species that have been declared "provincial natural monuments": the neotropical river otter, the maned wolf, the pampas deer, and the marsh deer. It is also home to the two Argentine species of alligator, the Yacare caiman (yacaré negro) and the broad-snouted caiman (yacaré overo), as well as the capybara (the world's largest rodent) and about 350 bird species.