Paraguay: 23. – 25.06.2010

We hoped that the border crossing from Brazil to Paraguay would be as easy as the one before, but it was different. Even if the open Bridge connecting the two countries is called Friendship Bridge; this is only for one day. That is how long you may stay in the former smuggler town of Ciudad del Este, if you want to stay longer you have to go to the migration offices to get your passport stamped.

While all people just passed by we had to stay in line to get our exit- and the corresponding entry stamps. Just after we passed the bridge memories of Central America came up. People have been waving with their arms, this time not to help us with the border, they where as easy as everywhere in South America, but to organize us parking. Foreigners seem to visit this town only to buy cheap electronics. But as it was up north, a polite no was not accepted, some of them had to prove their fitness and run along Nisto just to see that we drove on, passed their open parking space. Sorry folks, we only want to get to DHL, to get our package from home and then out of this chaotic bee house as quickly as possible towards north.

However we didn’t want to just drive through the country. Unfortunately there wasn’t much to see on our route with one exception, a little German Settlement called Ciudad de Independencia, that we didn’t want to miss. But we got “disappointed”, just the road names reminded of good old Germany else wise it was just a normal village.

So we continued our journey drafty towards north. Along that way we got to know the, for us, largest village of the world. Always when we thought we passed it, there came new settlements just behind the next turn. Nothing for wild campers, who are seeking a quiet place in the wild. So it became another gas station with the knowledge of not being able to sleep in. Quite the contrary already in the middle of the night neighbor’s roster started its concert and was hoarse in the morning, and we still tired.

Already in the early afternoon we arrived in Pedro Juan Caballero, where we wanted to fill up our tank and fridge a bit cheaper before we headed for the search of the border control. That wasn’t as easy as one might think, then before we could turn around, there were only Brazilian License Plates on the roads. Oops! After a bit of investigation we found the border and a bit later even the migration offices and we were officially allowed into Ponta Pora, the Brazilian town that is only separated by a green stripe from its Paraguayan neighbor.

Now it goes off into the Pantanal. What crossed our way up here in the next report.

Bye bye from the Transpantaneira.

Sonja and Markus

Here it goes to the pictures...