Click on a photo to enlarge it.
We needed to leave Paraguay by the 12th March and were heading for Brazil but we also wanted to see something of Paraguay along the way. We'd been in Paraguay for almost three months but hadn't seen much because I had a slipped disc. I was hoping that my back had had enough time to heal so that we could travel again.
Our first stop was only 10km away from the campground - Casa de Retiro Villa Marionella. It is a hotel but also a refuge for meditation. It looks quite old but was built in 2003 and only opened in 2008. It was designed by Italians and each of the 92 rooms are different, to represent the diversity in humanity. The brick work and brick inlays are very intricate and the grounds are well looked after. It costs 250,000 per room per night (approx $48 dollars).
We spent about an hour looking around and then drove into Atyrá to see Iglesia San Francisco. The building looked modern because the current one was built in 1928. The original church was built in 1782 and the carved wooden altar from that time still survives and is the main attraction.
We didn't leave until 6pm so we didn't make it to our preferred stop for the night - a petrol station that sells really good empanadas. We had to settle for a different petrol station 45km before it in a town called Colonel Oviedo. It was just too dangerous to drive in the dark when we don't know the roads and there's a lot of heavy traffic.
After a noisy night we got to the empanadas the next day and stopped for a late breakfast. We tried a variety of the pasties and also bought some peach shortbread cake to take with us. We should have bought a lot more of the cake because it was truly delicious!
We drove all the way to the border but stopped at Monday Falls (closed on Mondays!!) We paid 20,000 Gua each (approx $3-80) to walk to the 40m high, 120m wide waterfalls. But then we found out that we had stopped at the wrong place. There was another entrance, obviously run by a different company, where we could walk in for free and get a lot closer to the falls! Oh well, at least we saw the falls and Kirsten took a lot of photos of butterflies.
Monday Falls
We were sweating buckets by the time we got back to Winnietwo and needed a cold drink. Then we drove through Ciudad del Este and out the other side. We were looking for the office to get a camping permit for Tati Yupi - a protected area 17km north of the dam where we could camp and get electricity, water and showers all for free. We thought we'd found the office but it had already closed. We'd have to return the next day.
So we drove 1km further to the visitor centre for the Itaipu Dam and found out we could plug in using one of the many electrical points. I guess they produce enough electricity here so they provide plug ins for electric cars ... and motorhomes! But first we had to find the correct adaptor. It was still over 30°C so we had to open up all the doors, switch on the fans and turn the fridge up a notch or two.
We'd already been to the dam and done a tour 16 years ago but we found out that they have a one hour night tour at 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays only. It just so happened that it was a Friday night - perfect timing! Normally you have to get tickets online in advance but at 7-30pm you can go to the office here and see if there are any tickets available. So Kirsten got in the queue and we actually got tickets for the evening. Great. It's also free! Super!
We could also stay the night but would have to move to a different parking area with no power but as long as we were going on the tour we could stay plugged in at the visitor centre car park. So we quickly made ourselves something to eat and then went to get on the tour.
The first part of the tour was to drive in the dark for what seemed a very long time. I could just about make out water on the right hand side of the coach but it was too dark to see anything. There were 5 coach loads of people on the tour and it looked like we were the only foreigners! Not many people know about the night tours yet. We got out at a viewpoint area where there was a video presentation in Spanish with English subtitles giving details about the dam.
Construction started in 1975 as a joint venture between Paraguay and Brazil; 40,000 workers from the two countries; the volume of concrete used could build 210 football stadiums; if all the excavated rock and earth were put into dumper trucks, the line of trucks would circumnavigate the earth 3 times. The largest dam is the three Gorges dam in China producing 22,400 megawatts. Itaipu is the second largest, producing 14,400 megawatts. It would take 536,000 barrels of oil a day to produce the same amount of energy as this dam!
Once the video had finished some very good and very dramatic music started being played through the loudspeakers as the 7km long dam right in front of us was lit up slowly. The video doesn't really do justice to the experience. Being there in person was far better but at least it gives you an idea!
Itaipu Dam Night Show
Back on the coach the dam was still lit up and we drove past the massive turbines and across the dam. We can definitely recommend the tour and we decided that we would come back here for the day tour after we had been to Tati Yupi.
We had a quiet and peaceful night but then were given a real run around the next morning when we were sent from one office to the next and back to the first one in our search for a permit for Tati Yupi!! In the end we had to make do with a day pass and hope that we would be allowed to stay overnight.
But first we needed to return to the visitor centre car park for electricity and wifi so we could watch our team HSV get thrashed by Bayern Munich 6-0. I mean couldn't they have been happy with 1-0? Do they really have to rub it in? They can't get any more than three points anyway, right??? Oh well, I think we will be getting relegated for the first time in the history of the club!
At 1pm we headed off to Tati Yupi despite not being in a very good mood! Then we hit a road block and ended up going around the houses on various sandy roads and had to get directed by the locals! A truck had broken an axle on one of the road corners and had completely blocked the road. It was also very hot so our bad mood wasn't being helped. At least we managed to find a small supermarket en route to pick up a few supplies for the next couple of days - providing we are allowed to stay in the park, that is!
We finally got there around 3pm and spoke to the security guards. We needed our day pass but also got permission to stay for the night. If we wanted to stay a second night we would need to ask again tomorrow. Great! At least that worked out today.
We parked in a spot under a tree, plugged in and went for a short walk to see the reservoir. The Tati Yupi Biological Reserve is 3km north of Hermandarias and approx. 12km from Itaipu dam. It has an area of 224 hectares of protected land that has 247 bird species, 39 mammal species and 21 reptile species. There are pumas here!!
There are also crowds here over the weekend and the place gets really full with lots of screaming kids. There are various things to do - tractor train rides and horse and cart rides. The guided walking tours have been stopped temporarily because there are too many vipers!!
The people all disappeared after 4pm so we had the place to ourselves - at least until the next day, Sunday, when it got full again. We were truly grateful for the electricity because it was very hot and we needed our fans running 24 hours! We waited until most people had left and got on the last horse and cart ride of the day! It only lasted 10 minutes and we didn't get to see much but it was a very pleasant and relaxing ride. At least the seats were padded - good for a bad back!
Tati Yupi Biological Reserve
On Mondays the park is closed so we packed up our things and found out that termites had feasted on the rubber casing of our electric cable!! Fortunately they hadn't eaten through the wires but we had several places where we needed to get out our electric tape for repairs!
At around 11-30am we drove out and returned to Itaipu dam visitor centre and got tickets for the 2pm tour. Unfortunately we only stopped at one viewpoint and had to make do with taking photos of the rest of the area through the coach windows but I still enjoyed coming back to see the dam in the daylight. At least it was a nice sunny day!
Then it was time to head for the border. We stopped for some last minute shopping - we wanted to get some more Nescafé Cappuccino because we didn't know if we would get it in Brazil - and then got stuck in the evening rush hour traffic. One massive queue, moving slowly towards the border.
Kirsten jumped out with both our passports to get us both stamped out of Paraguay and then we continued in the queue to the next office where we were to hand in our vehicle permit. We didn't quite know which building it was and, whilst still in the traffic jam, Kirsten waved our vehicle permit out of the window and shouted "Here?" A border guard standing outside an office came over to take it from us! Great way to deal with the formalities!!
We crawled in traffic over the bridge and into Brazil. We pulled over to a parking area and Kirsten went off with all our papers and passports. I stayed with the vehicle and Kirsten managed to get us both stamps and a vehicle permit without me needing to get out of Winnietwo. It had taken almost two hours including the traffic jam to get through the border formalities. Bem-vindo ao Brasil!
We were supposed to meet Claudia and Uwe at the Paudimar campground just over the border in Foz do Iguaçu. But it was already after 8pm and we didn't want to pay the $20 US fee for the night. Well we didn't have any Brazilian money either!!
So we drove to the airport first, where Kirsten used the ATM to get us some money and checked out a free camping spot nearby. Then we drove to Paudimar and Kirsten jumped out to go and find Claudia and Uwe. They were in the restaurant along with Rainer who had also stayed at Hasta La Pasta! Uwe gave Kirsten a tip about an area where we could park for the night that was just around the corner. He had seen it whilst taking Mia for a walk so we wouldn't need to drive all the way out to the airport again.
Kirsten promised we would be back at 8-30am the next morning so we could look after Mia for the day whilst all of them went on a tour to see the Argentinian side of the Iguazo Falls - but that's for the next report.
