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It was the worst flight of my life! I was flying from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Foz Do Iguaçu also in Brazil. It was a flight of just over two hours and everyone else was enjoying the views or catching up on much needed sleep. But I was really worried. Kirsten was supposed to be on this flight with me but she wasn't. I had no idea where she was. How on earth did I get here?
It all started when we flew to Germany at the beginning of the summer to stay with Kirsten's family and watch the football World Cup. The Germans were world number one, current world champions and as one of our German friends said - who can beat us??!! Hmmm, well Germany set a record but not the one they wanted ... they didn't get past the group stage for the first time in their history! In their third and final match they needed to beat South Korea, ranked 53rd in the world and got beaten 2-0. The whole country was in shock!
It was a real pity Germany didn't make it through to the knock out stages because we were having a lot of fun watching some of the matches - the Saudi Arabian number 5 who didn't look like he had played football before in his life; the Belgian Batshuayi who celebrated a goal for their team by trying to kick the ball into the stands but badly misjudging his kick - the ball hit the goal post, bounced back and smashed into his face!! Ooops!
By contrast, England did better than anyone expected. We had a new manager and a very young team and yet we managed to get through to the semi finals for the first time since 1990 - 28 years ago!
After the World Cup I flew to England to visit my family and do some walking and Kirsten flew to Canada. She only took hand luggage with her as she would be returning to Hamburg for a few days before flying back to meet me and we left a large bag in Hamburg that contained various parts we had ordered for our motor home in South America, all the vehicle papers, all our foreign currency etc.
I flew from London to Sao Paulo direct and would land an hour after Kirsten who would be flying via Frankfurt. Both were overnight flights and I got no sleep on mine. I landed in Sao Paulo at 6am and had 2.5 hours to get through to the next flight to Foz. Kirsten would have landed at 5am and would be way ahead of me getting through everything.
When I got to the first hurdle, passport control, there must have been at least 500 people in the snake-like, zigzag queue to get a stamp for entry into Brazil. It took over an hour to get through and despite trying to stand on tip toes to see to the front of the queue I couldn't see Kirsten.
Not to worry, I'd meet her at the gate. Next hurdle - picking up luggage. Sao Paulo is the first stop in Brazil so I'd have to collect my bag, take it through customs, check it back in at the flight desk and then go to the gate for the next flight. I've learned from the first time I flew via Brazil where I kept being told different things by the various officials - yes, you need to collect your luggage here, no your luggage will be checked through to your destination! Back and forth between the two. Total chaos. So this time I didn't even ask and just went to collect my luggage!
The luggage hall with all the carousels was absolutely heaving with people everywhere. I found the carousel for my flight but it was empty and had stopped running long ago because it had taken so long to get through the passport control!! I finally found a number of suitcases and other luggage seemingly dumped in the middle of the hall close to that particular carousel. Obviously the luggage had been taken off and put into a long line, but as people collected it gaps appeared so by the time I got there there were about 30 pieces of luggage dotted around on the floor! Fortunately mine was there!
Next queue - getting through customs and then another zigzag line at the flight desk. Here, people were getting really agitated because some of them were on a flight that was due to leave within 15 minutes! They were all called ahead so the rest of us waited longer. I finally got my bag checked in and had a gate change - the guy just wrote it by hand on the boarding card I already had with me from London. And off I went at a brisk pace because my flight was already boarding! Clearly 2.5 hours between flights is not enough!
I was really looking forward to seeing Kirsten again so I went up a gear as I weaved my way around all the people, children, buggies, etc to get through to my gate. I finally arrived ... no Kirsten! The people on my flight were already in a long queue but it was business class and passengers with children who were boarding.
I thought that maybe Kirsten was in the toilet but after 10 minutes there was still no sign of her. So then I rushed back to the other gates, the original one on the boarding pass, the gate change hand written on my boarding pass that was also wrong (I'd checked the electronic notice boards as I was rushing through and seen a different gate number!) but no sign of Kirsten!
Back at my gate I waited and watched as the queue of people started disappearing as everyone boarded, getting more and more worried. Where was Kirsten?? Other passengers were still arriving for the flight but once the queue got down to the last 10 people I went to the harried staff and asked about Kirsten. At first they didn't want to check - she is a separate person and there's a problem with data protection etc. But I pushed my point and explained that we were supposed to fly together on this flight and she's not here. So they keyed in her surname - she wasn't even listed as being on the flight!!! Oh S***!!! Where on earth is she?
In a flash all the worst scenarios whizzed through my head, car accident en route to Hamburg - she was being taken to the airport by her brother; plane crash from Hamburg or en route to Sao Paulo. I discounted the latter because they were LATAM flights, the same flight company as the last flight to Foz and the staff did not look as if they'd lost colleagues and friends recently!!
I asked about the flight from Frankfurt and if Kirsten had been on that flight but they couldn't get that information for me, data protection or not. So I had a decision to make. Do I board the plane? I had to be quick because I was the last one!! I decided there was no point missing this flight and getting stranded in Sao Paulo myself. I knew that if Kirsten hadn't made the Sao Paulo flight for whatever reason, she would have to wait 24 hours for the next one.
So I got on the flight and worried for the entire 2 hours and 20 minutes. It was difficult not to focus on the worst case scenarios and I really hoped that Kirsten had simply missed one of her flights. Just before we landed in Foz I realised my next problem. Kirsten had all our foreign currency (Paraguayan Guaranís and Brazilian Reais, plus the US Dollars we needed to pay for the storage) and all the vehicle papers. Plus the keys!! I was really thankful that a few days before we were due to fly I sent Kirsten an email asking for her flight details otherwise I wouldn't have had any of the flight numbers and times etc with me!!
Once I landed in Foz I picked up my luggage and went straight to the LATAM desk to start asking. They couldn't help me due to Data Protection!! Once again I had to force my case. I certainly wasn't going to leave without answers. So they told me I would need the assistance of the Federal Police!
Off I went to the departures lounge and walked straight up to the police to ask for their help. Fortunately they were really nice and the officer came back with me to the LATAM desk and said they had permission to check. Kirsten wasn't on the flight from Frankfurt to Sao Paulo. They couldn't check the flight from Hamburg because that was with their partner Lufthansa and they didn't have access. I had already found out that there was no longer WiFi in the airport - I would need a telephone. I had one but not a chip for Brazil because foreigners aren't allowed to get one!!!
So the police officer took me to a travel agency in the airport and asked them to give me their password code so I could use their internet. Finally I got online and found several emails from Kirsten. I immediately phoned her using Skype and, thankfully, she was also online the other end!
Thank God she was alright!! She was at Frankfurt airport when I phoned her. Her flight from Hamburg had been cancelled due to a runway closure in Frankfurt because of gale force winds. She got a later flight but that meant she had already missed her connection to Sao Paulo which only flies once a day. She had to stay overnight in a very posh room at the Sheraton hotel at Frankfurt airport along with an evening meal and breakfast!! Now she was waiting for the next flight which meant she wouldn't arrive in Sao Paulo until tomorrow. So I said I'd wait for her at the hotel where Winnietwo was stored.
I was unbelievably relieved and then set about sorting myself out, getting some money and getting to the hotel. I had to go to three different ATMs because the first two charged $10 US transaction fee which was the same as changing US dollars (which I didn't have) at a money changer. The third one "only" charged $8 US. Ouch!!
Then I went to get some food and sit out the rain that was pouring outside. I was extremely tired as I'd been awake for over 30 hours and all the worry had taken its toll. I also needed to eat because, whilst the ATM had given me Brazilian money, the motor home was across the border in Paraguay and I wouldn't be going alone to use an ATM in Ciudad del Este because it's not exactly safe!
After food, my next job was to find out how much a taxi would cost. Back in June we'd walked from the hotel in Ciudad del Este to the border with Brazil and got a taxi for 40 R which is about $12 US. But from the airport the cheapest I could find was 100 R which is about $30 US!!! Another Ouch!!
So I went to the tourist info office an asked about buses. A lot cheaper but I would have to get one into the town of Foz and then one to get across the border. At least I could get a map so that I could follow the route the bus was taking and had an idea when I needed to get off! I went outside and had to wait 40 minutes for the next bus. It only cost $2 US but I had to lift my 21 kg bag over the turnstile to get through!
It took about 20 minutes to get into town and then I had to cross a busy road and wait for any bus that had Paraguay written on it. I helped out another tourist and gave her some Brazilian money to get a bus to a different bus station for long distance travel. She'd been given the wrong info by a bus driver and got dropped off at this bus station which wasn't the right one. Now she didn't have enough money for another bus. She already had a ticket for her long distance bus to Sao Paulo and I knew from personal experience how much using an ATM would be!
My second bus cost $3 because it had air conditioning (!) but I still had to haul the bag over the turnstile again! It took almost 2 hours to get across the border bridge in all the horrendous traffic. I wouldn't be carrying out the border formalities for Paraguay until Kirsten arrived and we'd do passports and vehicle at the same time. They allow free passage at this border so you can cross it without stopping. Once you leave the two towns on either side of the border though, you need the relevant stamps and documents. So one day wasn't going to make any difference and it could wait.
I didn't get to the hotel until after 4pm but at least they had a room for me and I could pay in Brazilian money. I didn't need to go out for food because I'd brought some with me from the airport. I sent an email to Kirsten letting her know about the taxi prices and giving her info about the buses but I wasn't sure if she would get it. I'd told her over the phone that there was no WiFi at Foz airport.
The following day it started raining in the morning and by noon it was bucketing down! I went up to the reception and lounge to wait for Kirsten but it rained so heavily that there was just too much water - we had a flood inside the hotel!! I was trying to help by sweeping out the water back onto the street but it was a losing battle. I returned to my room but didn't have any internet there. The rain was still really heavy and there were waterfalls running off the hotel roof into the forecourt!
Kirsten should have already got to the hotel - maybe she was sitting out the downpour at Foz airport before getting a taxi? I returned to the reception to check my emails and I had one from Kirsten but it didn't make much sense. Something about going to Curitiba but that city is on the coast and nowhere near Foz. So I didn't know where she was!
I later found out that she'd managed to get the flight from Frankfurt to Sao Paulo but then her flight to Foz was delayed. They finally took off from Sao Paulo but after 1.5 hours just before arriving in Foz, the flight was re-directed to Curitiba on the coast due to the bad storm. The plane sat on the runway in Curitiba for one hour and no one was allowed off.
Anyway, once the storm had blown over, the plane took off again and finally landed in Foz. Kirsten got a lift with other Germans to a shopping mall on the way to the border and she got a much cheaper taxi from there. So Kirsten finally got to the hotel at 4-45pm, more than a day late, tired and smelly because she didn't have any deodorant with her for the last two days, and a real story to tell!!
I was just really happy that she'd finally made it! We vowed that we would never fly separately again!
We spent that night in the hotel room whilst getting some of our stuff unloaded into Winnietwo. He had managed to survive the winter and we were really glad we'd done all the cleaning before leaving him because we could literally just put our luggage back inside and we were ready to go.
First of all though, we needed to go back to the border to exit Brazil and enter Paraguay. We walked there, got the exit stamps on the Brazilian side and stamps on the Paraguayan side. Then it took us a while to find someone for the vehicle permit. We finally found the right person and just explained that our vehicle was at the hotel. It wasn't a problem and we literally had to dictate the vehicle details and write it down in large handwriting because the man had forgotten his glasses and couldn't read the small print!!
Back at the hotel we took off the tarp, connected the batteries, put our route into the GPS, had a quick bite to eat and a coffee and then came the moment of truth ... would Winnietwo start??? Yes!! First time! The engine just sprung into life and at 2-15pm I drove really slowly down the very steep ramp. We had just a few millimetres space between the concrete and our front spoiler at the bottom!
We picked up money from Western Union, the third office we visited had enough money for us, got some shopping from a supermarket and then drove out of the city along with all the rush hour traffic! We drove as far as we could in the remaining daylight and then parked up at a petrol station with a concrete forecourt for the night. Not all petrol stations have concrete forecourts but our motorhome was still clean from the car wash 4 months ago so we were trying to avoid all the mud left from the heavy rain!
We were heading for Independencia, roughly half way between Asuncion and Ciudad del Este where our friends Uwe and Claudia were house sitting. We met the Swiss owners of the house, Bruno and Renate, at Hasta La Pasta for Christmas last year. They had been busy building and setting up their property which includes camping facilities for other motor homes and now they were off travelling.
We were going to stay in the camping area for a while. We didn't really have any plans for this season in South America - we had both been too busy. But we had brought repair items from Europe with us so we would set about getting that done whilst we were there.
Uwe and Claudia described Yvy Yvytu, the name of the property, as a "Paradise." The only problem is the road to get there. If it rains the road is only passable with 4 wheel drive. It had been raining but we had a message from Uwe that the road was passable at the moment but it was due to rain again. He said he'd meet us at a supermarket in the town and then drive ahead of us to show us the way.
Kirsten jumped out to pick up a few supplies from the supermarket and to meet Uwe and then we went to "Erika's" a German bakery where Uwe's favourite cheesecake was made. We bought some lime pies - absolutely yummy! Most people speak German here and there are a lot of German shops/butchers/restaurants etc. It's mainly surrounded by fields, there are a lot of cows, it's very green and there's a small range of hills going up to 600m height in the near distance. It's a small place far way from large city stress and noise.
We followed Uwe for 3km which took about 20 minutes, we averaged about 6 mph! The first part of the dirt road was hard packed but then we got to the muddy bits - that part would be awful after rain!
We got to the house and parked on a gravel bay with electricity and water. Mia, our friends really sweet dog, was ecstatically happy to see us! We went down to the terrace for coffee and cake with our friends, catching up with what had happened since we last saw them at the beginning of June when they were getting repairs done before heading here for the summer.
We went on a guided tour of the property which really is a "Paradise." The house has a large lounge/kitchen, main ensuite bedroom and a walk in food storage area. There is a wrap around terrace with a beautiful view across to the forested hills nearby and they also have a small wood where they have laid out a walking path. Claudia and Uwe helped lay out the footpath which had to be cut through a tangle of brush, branches and undergrowth. Truly hard work!
There is an outdoor swimming pool with an outdoor shower, an ensuite guest room, a garage, and a campers shower/bathroom plus a dump station. Renate has her own vegetable garden and there are several orange trees around the house but only two trees have the variety of oranges that we can eat or use as juice. The others are too sour. Their gardener, Manuel, was kept busy picking up all the oranges that had fallen off the trees every morning and taking them down to a pit where the local cows and pigs could eat them!
Over the next few weeks we really enjoyed shady walks in the wood to get away from the heat where there are a number of different birds and even a large iguana! We went for cooling dips in the pool and spent a lot of time with our friends. We cooked and ate together - Claudia is a very good cook and we were trying out various combinations. I also made a Shepherds Pie which they'd never had before. Later on Kirsten used the oven to make various cakes and also made Franzbroetchen - cinnamon rolls which are a speciality from Hamburg and also enjoyed by Sylvia who is also from Hamburg and lives next door!
We got to meet other wildlife too - every night a huge amount of flies, bugs and all kinds of insects gathered outside the doors. This attracted huge toads that feed on them. But the toads excrete a toxic substance that is not good for us and could even kill Mia so they needed to be removed. Uwe did this every evening. He used the pool net that has a long handle to gather the toads up and then flung them over the fence! They made an unhealthy sounding "Thwock" noise when they landed on the other side. Although sometimes he didn't get his flinging action quite right and some hit the fence!!
Uwe's evening sport: toad flinging
We were also visited by some snakes (or was it the same snake that came back?) Either way it wasn't good. The first time it slithered into the garage whilst Claudia was cleaning inside their motor home. Mia had gone to investigate and was sharply ordered away. Mia really is well trained but she must have heard the urgency in Claudia's voice and immediately went back to the motor home.
The snake disappeared and we didn't know where it had gone. It meant that every night we had to take torches with us to check where we were walking en route back to our motor home or going to and from the campground shower.
Two days later the snake slithered onto the terrace. We were sitting in the kitchen but Claudia was on the sofa and saw something move out of the corner of her eye. The snake slithered up to the mosquito net and Claudia quickly got up to close the sliding terrace door and keep Mia inside. Claudia and Kirsten grabbed their cameras whilst Uwe went to fetch Manuel the gardener. He declared it poisonous and killed it.
Apparently when it rains too much snakes will head for drier ground. Well the river runs along the bottom of the property and there is a swampy area on both sides during the rainy season. Well October and November are the rainy season (namely right now!) and it's been raining a lot so that would explain the snakes visits. But there's too much of a risk to us and Mia so the snake had to go.
Very poisonous snake
The time seemed to whizz by so it was a good job that we set about doing our repairs right at the beginning because otherwise we might not have got around to it - a walk in the wood or a dip in the pool were always beckoning!!
We had brought along some thick insulation material from Germany to put inside our alcove. With the high humidity here in most of the South American countries we were battling with condensation inside that just dripped from the metal roof. We had been looking for a solution since we bought the motor home but hadn't found anything. So we'd just continued doing what the previous owners had done - namely, used kitchen rolls wedged into the back of the alcove to catch all the water from the sloping roof.
It wasn't ideal but it worked. So now we had new insulation material and it didn't take long to cut it to size and fix inside. Over the next few weeks it was tested and, so far, seems to have passed the test! It has certainly had a huge impact by blocking the amount of heat coming through the metal roof. It will probably keep us warmer if ever it gets too cold!
We had also brought some door insulation with us which meant taking off the old stuff first and then replacing it. The first test for our back doors came just two days after we arrived when it rained heavily. We didn't quite get it right first time and we needed to improve it.
We'd only been in Independencia a few days when Marion and René came to visit and it was really good to see them. René has improved a great deal since his stroke in May and Kirsten made a lemon cake which we all enjoyed along with coffee. Marion also brought along some of their home-made pasta for us. They have sold their pasta business so we were grateful that we can still get their yummy pasta!
Whilst Marion was out of earshot René invited us to her surprise 60th Birthday party. He had arranged for a meal at a restaurant in Caacupé the following Tuesday. We were really looking forward to it but the rain was a major factor. If it rained we wouldn't be able to drive out there.
Caacupé is approximately 140km away and we planned to stay at Hasta La Pasta, a further 35km away, for 2 nights. That meant we needed to drive our motor home and we could only do that if it didn't rain and turn the road into a muddy, boggy four wheel drive only route. The forecast was for rain and it wasn't until the morning of Marion's birthday that we actually knew we would be able to drive!!
In the meantime we needed to have a birthday present for Marion. I had the idea of a voucher for a massage that I knew Marion really liked. But we wouldn't be able to get such a voucher from here so Claudia had the idea of "making" our own voucher and just putting cash in it. We went shopping at the local supermarket for ideas and materials and then came back and spent a whole afternoon making what turned out to be a super voucher, even if I do say so myself!!!
It was great fun coming up with the ideas for the massage theme, going off and finding what ever else we needed. In the end we used a photo frame and cut up pieces of bamboo, and made little towels. The photos show our creation and we were all happy with the result. We could only hope that the glue would hold it together especially through the first bumpy kilometres along the dirt road!
Voucher for Marion
Claudia came with us and could sit comfortably in the back of our motorhome, guarding the birthday present, whilst we drove out. Uwe stayed to house sit with Mia who wasn't at all happy that she was being left behind! The forecast had been for rain but it was still dry when we left at 8-30am. It took us 20 minutes for the bumpy ride into the town where we picked up a cheesecake as birthday present for Regula. It was her birthday the day after Marion's. She had been staying at Hasta La Pasta, making the pasta and helping out after René had his stroke.
We'd only just left Independencia on the tarmac road when it started raining. Phew that was close! We only just made it out and then it literally bucketed down!! If we'd left 1 hour later we wouldn't have made it! I had to drive through heavy downpours all the way to Caacupé.
The weather didn't dampen the birthday celebrations though! Our present managed to withstand the ride and got to the birthday girl in one piece! We had a room just for the birthday group at the back of a restaurant and were serenaded by live music.
I didn't realise the music was live and made fun of the German oompah style! Then I realised that it was being played by the Julio Iglesias of Paraguay on a small keyboard behind me and felt really bad so I clapped after every song!! Fortunately only our small group had realised - we were sitting with Claudia and Regula on one end of the tables. Besides René and Marion we didn't know any of the other guests.
Marion's birthday party in Caacupé
We all had a really good time, enjoying the food and the company. Even René got up to dance! After nearly five hours it was time to leave. It hadn't stopped raining and so we drove through the rain to Hasta La Pasta. In San Bernadino, a small town near the campground, the roads were badly flooded and we had to drive through some deep water!!
The road to Hasta La Pasta is sand but it's good to drive on. It's slow going because of the pot holes but we didn't get stuck and arrived at Hasta La pasta at 5-30pm. The last time we were here was 6 months ago. Since then they have built a new campground toilet and shower block that we went to look at.
We hadn't really spoken to Marion and René much at the party earlier but we made up for it in the evening when we sat at their terrace/dining room later. We were fed yet again!!, and were treated to home made bread, salami and cheese. Happy Birthday Marion!
The next day it was Regula's birthday and we sat with her and Claudia at Regula's table for muesli and yoghurt for breakfast. Regula had treated us to cinnamon biscuits the day before (that Kirsten has since bought from the shops every time we see them!) but this time she brought out a home made carrot cake! Oh boy, we haven't even given her the cheesecake for her birthday!! At least we all went for a circular walk around the outside of Hasta La Pasta and managed to walk off a few calories so that when we got back for coffee and cake we could actually break out the cheesecake!!
Regula's birthday
At 5pm we were back down at the dining area for more food!!! Regula had invited us for a real Swiss fondue for her birthday! It was made with three different types of Swiss cheese - Vacherin, Raclette and Gruyère - all Swiss but made in Paraguay. What I didn't realise was that the "real" version has at least a litre of white wine in it plus a generous helping of cherry schnapps!! The first bite made me woozy!! Holy Moly that is really potent! I thought cheese fondue was just cheese!!!
I had to stick to mainly bread and tried to dig down to the bottom of the pot as the alcohol tended to float on the top unless it was stirred. Some other travellers sent Claudia a Whatsapp from northern Brazil whilst we were eating so we sent them a "drunken" photo! It was another really good night.
The next day both Claudia and Regula had indigestion from the alcoholic fondue so I was glad I'd held back. We sat with them both for breakfast again and then started sorting things out to leave. It took us well over an hour to say goodbye to everyone!! It's our favourite campground and we were looking forward to returning for Christmas and New Year.
We drove back along a different route via Sapucai and stopped for shopping en route. Once we left the town of Independencia we got back onto the sand road. The first part was fine but when we got to the uphill road to get back to the property there was so much deep mud that we almost got stuck!! Poor old Winnietwo couldn't get any traction and we were really fortunate that we were on an incline and could use our weight to get us rolling back down to drier and more hard packed ground.
There had been too much rain and that part of the road was impassable unless you had four wheel drive and were prepared to clean off all the mud afterwards! There was no way we were going to be able to get back.
We'd already had discussions about this possibility and knew that we could park up at Hilda's - a small shop with a petrol station that we'd passed and was only about 300 metres from where we were. So, once I'd got us back onto firmer ground, Claudia and Kirsten grabbed all of Claudia's things and most of the shopping, and set off on foot through all the mud to get her back "home".
I waited with Winnietwo. It only took about an hour and Kirsten got a lift back by a local German woman who had four wheel drive. Kirsten said that they'd only had to walk to the top of the hill and Uwe came to meet them in Renate and Bruno's four wheel drive truck. Her Cloggs hadn't got that muddy because, unlike Winnietwo, she hadn't sunk into it so much!!
Then we drove back to Hilda's and asked if we could park up for the night. It was already 6pm and she was about to close but there wasn't a problem. Apparently Bruno and Renate also stay there overnight when the road conditions are bad! Hilda introduced us to Luis Maria who runs the petrol station and he said we could park in a bay with a roof over it. It used to be a garage but it closed down some time ago. We could also plug in which was fantastic because we needed to switch the fans on to cope with the heat!
The roof above us came in really handy when it poured with rain overnight and all the next day. It meant it was really noisy though as the sound of the rain pounding onto the aluminium roof was quite loud! The next day I took videos of the sheets of rain coming off the roof and the muddy forecourt whilst Kirsten was talking to Hilda in the shop and discovering that they stocked the cinnamon biscuits that Regula had had!!
Torrential rain
Unfortunately there was no internet and we couldn't top up our Claro card to use to watch HSV play but we used the time to sort out papers and do other jobs we hadn't managed to do yet. We thought it would be another two days before we could drive so we were really surprised when Hilda came the next morning to say that the road was drivable! It had rained so much the day before that we thought it would be impassable for at least another day.
So Kirsten went to take a look at the incline where we got stuck and yes, we could drive! It had been windy overnight and that, along with the sun, had dried it out enough! Astonishing! So we packed up, thanked Hilda and Luis Maria, got some diesel and drove the last 2 km back to the house.
Claudia and Uwe didn't think they'd see us until at least the next day so they were surprised when we drove in. Mia didn't even hear us until we were virtually parked back up on the gravel camping pad!! That evening I made us a Shepherds pie that Claudia and Uwe hadn't had yet! I made a huge portion because I was aiming for left overs for the following day. Well, we ate the lot! The left overs were just wishful thinking!!
We were kept busy with a new app that Claudia had recommended to us - called Wort Guru. You have to find the words from the letters given. It's in German but I think there is an English version aswell. But there's no way I'm downloading the English one because you get hooked and can't stop playing!! We ended up playing the darn thing for hours on end - and you don't even learn the language because Kirsten is absolutely convinced that the solutions aren't even correct German words. She won't believe me when I try to tell her that maybe she doesn't know her own language!!!! Since then she's been looking up the words online and ... yes they do exist!!
Two days after we'd returned I just missed the birth of a calf when I went for a walk in the wood. The local cows here come and graze on the grass and also like to walk in the woods - they always leave their evidence right in the middle of the path!! Normally they stick together in a herd along with Loca, the horse who seems to like their company. So when I saw a single cow wandering into the wood and just lying down amongst the brambles and branches on the floor, I wondered if the cow was okay.
The baby calf must have come into the world just after I left. Two hours later Claudia and Uwe went for a walk in the wood with Mia and saw the new addition to the herd. It was really cute and very wobbly on its legs. Loca the horse seems to have been made godmother and took it upon herself to protect the calf from one of the local dogs called Beluce. The dog is a menace and has bitten all of us! He thinks its a game so the bites weren't in earnest but they still gave us bruises. So it was a good job the calf had Loca who could chase off the dog!!
We also had problems with fire ants. Kirsten had been bitten whilst we were at Hasta La Pasta. The ants must have been on a seat she was sitting on because she got bitten on the inside of her thigh. At least 20 bites which were very painful. Plus they didn't want to heal. She tried various ointments but it was cortisone cream that actually worked the best. (Two months later and Kirsten still has the scars!)
Claudia told us about a lovely drive up to a viewpoint in the mountains we can see from the house. So we decided to go on a little drive out there. We packed some things for a picnic up at the viewpoint and didn't set off until 3pm. It was only 25 km away and Claudia didn't think it would take very long.
She ended up being very wrong!! The first part was on a tarmac road but then there were 17km on an unpaved road that was extremely bad - huge ruts and potholes, very curvy, and the final 2km went steeply uphill. We got severely bounced around in the back of the 4 wheel truck and had to hold onto Mia who was having difficulty staying on the seat! It took us 2 hours to get there!!! That meant we only had a short time up at the viewpoint because otherwise we would end up driving in the dark!
The view was superb though so we were glad that we had come out here but next time we'd need a whole day! We could only stay for 45 minutes and had our little picnic in a bit of a hurry after taking lots of photos. Then we left Uwe to drive the truck along the first part which was very steep and the rest of us walked that stretch - we were faster than Uwe in the truck!
Once we got back onto the tarmac we went on a little diversion to go to Uwe's favourite ice cream parlour! He needed a treat after the gruelling drive!
Mirador del Cerro Akati
We had some really hot days where we could only survive by dipping into the pool and we also had quite a bit of rain. The rainy season here is October and November but it normally finishes by mid November so we had a week or so to go before it would end. Still, we had plenty to occupy us - Kirsten made sure we didn't lose weight by baking cakes and cinnamon rolls and there was always Bundesliga football and the German Cup to watch.
By mid November Uwe and Claudia's 3 months visa would end so they needed to go to go across the border and then come back into Paraguay to get another 3 months. We decided to stay until they got back and then we'd head towards Asuncion.
Claudia and Uwe were only gone for 2 nights to get their border formalities sorted out but they picked a really hot couple of days to drive over to Brazil and their air conditioning didn't work! So they had to go to a garage to get that fixed. When they got back, Mia said a very loud and happy hello to us - she was really happy to see us - and then went and jumped into the pool!!! The poor thing was on the verge of overheating!
The day they returned was also Claudia's birthday so we had strung up some balloons around the house for her. Unfortunately before they got back the wind had really picked up and the one set of balloons had been blown away - Claudia found them 2 days later hanging from one of the trees. They were all deflated but still attached together.
That evening we invited them for a meal at the German restaurant. Claudia got the last portion of Roulade seeing as she was the birthday girl, Uwe had meatloaf and Kirsten and I had pork Schnitzel with chips. Very tasty.
Towards the end of the meal we could see a storm coming in the distance. The sky kept getting lit up with flashes from all the lightning! Oh boy, that did not look good. There was also a threat of hail so when we got back we moved Winnietwo. He was parked in the open and any hail could potentially cause quite a bit of damage.
There was some netting tied between trees near to the camping pad which was designed to provide shade from the sun. So we drove underneath it and used bamboo poles to hold the netting above the motor home. We were hoping that the netting would catch any hail so that we didn't get damaged.
The only problem was that we had to do all of that in the dark with the lightning getting closer and closer. We also put our windscreen cover on the outside of the windscreen so that it didn't get smashed. Our mistake was that we used some thin rope to tie it down. We'd brought the rope into the drivers cabin to attach it inside and once it started raining, the rain went along the rope and dripped inside the front cabin!
We didn't discover the problem until the early hours - it was raining so heavily that it was a very loud night and we didn't get much sleep. Kirsten heard the dripping and got up to investigate and ended up having to untie the rope and tie it outside and then clean up the puddles in the front! It was all for nothing anyway because it didn't hail!
Oh well, at least it was dry and sunny the next day so we could dry out our windscreen cover which is supposed to be used inside as sun protection, not outside against the rain!! It was our last day there so we had quite a lot to do, getting ready to drive again. Claudia cooked for us that evening - Osso Bucco as a farewell meal. It has to be cooked for 3 hours but it was well worth all her effort!
House sitting is fun!
The next morning I drove into town with Uwe to check the road and despite all the rain we'd had, the road would be passable. When we got back we packed the rest of our stuff up, cleaned the campground bathroom and left just before 2pm. We would be meeting up with them again for Christmas in Hasta La Pasta which was less than 6 weeks away!
After heavy rain, the way out turns into is a one way road. Only 4 wheel drive can move over into the mud if other vehicles come the other way. There was no way we could move over for others so Uwe drove ahead of us so that he could stop traffic coming the other way. As it turned out, no one came but at least we could drive through without a problem.
We'd had a wonderful time with our friends but it had gone too quickly! Now, after four weeks of staying at our little paradise, it was time to move on and head off for our next adventure.
