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It just started raining as we were about to leave Ybycui National Park but we managed to drive along the sandy, bumpy road to get to the tarmac main road without a problem. The rain got heavier though as we drove to Asunción. It was extremely humid and we hit traffic in the capital city. It was after 6pm by the time we got to the workshop "Vertigo" where we want to get our rust dealt with and we didn't know whether they would still be open.
We parked around the corner and Kirsten went on foot to see if there was anyone still there. A few minutes later she came back to get me and said we could park directly in front of the large garage. The place was full of cars so we weren't surprised when Sonia, the manager, told us we'd have to wait until the end of January/February before we could get in. She took a look at our motor home and gave us an estimate of 2 million Guaranís and told us it would take one week. Sounds a lot but it's only $340 US. In Europe it would cost us more than the vehicle is worth!!!
So we threw our plans out the window, something we're getting used to, and went to Hotel Westfalia for the next 21 days. We were here almost exactly one year ago for ten nights. We can park under a roof for only $4 US per night with electricity, water, pool, wifi, clean showers and toilets plus a new addition - a new fitness room area with a running machine and two different bikes, table tennis and table football. We took advantage every evening to do between 1 and 2 hours of sport. Super!
Fitness in Asunción
The first week was unusually cool and dry, at around 30 degrees and very low humidity. (It's normally 36 plus degrees and 90 %!) We didn't know if we would stay that long here and one idea was to take advantage of the cool weather and drive off to the Chaco area of Paraguay which is north of Asunción. It's normally 36 to 40 degrees there. We were about to change our plans when Kirsten came down with a cold! How that happened in 30 degrees is a mystery! Anyway we stayed at the hotel and by the time she'd recovered the temperature had gone up to 36°C in Asunción, and over 40°C in the Chaco! So that part of Paraguay will have to wait.
We didn't get bored because we could sit on a sofa in a reception area of the hotel and watch our football team win three matches! They're top of the table even though it's now the second league that we're playing in! We worked on our website, cut each others hair, and also drove into the city when we needed to go shopping and get money. Kirsten could still get her German specialities from Casa Rica, a large supermarket, so she was really happy.
On Thursday 20th December we drove across the border to Argentina. If we were going to wait until February to get our rust done we would need more time in Paraguay. Our current visa would run out on 7th January when we were planning on being at the campground in Hasta La Pasta. If we drove from there to get to the border it would be a far longer round trip. So we decided to go over before Christmas to give ourselves more flexibility.
We were heading for a National Park not far from the border but we got stuck in traffic. It was stop and go and took us over half an hour just to do a few kilometres and we were sweating buckets. Good job we have GPS because we took the next left, off the main drag, and went down side streets to cut a corner.
We finally got to the border where Kirsten jumped out to see if she could get through the formalities for both of us and the vehicle whilst I stayed with the vehicle. It worked and only took 30 minutes! Then we drove to Laguna Blanca in Río Pilcomayo National Park. It was getting dark and the final 5km are on a sand/gravel road but we just managed to get to a parking area before sunset.
Kirsten jumped out to go and take photos of the sunset whilst I sorted things out in the motor home. We can park under trees in the shade here but there is no electricity. There's a visitor centre but it's already closed so there's no one to ask.
Unfortunately, after, we got plagued by mosquitoes despite having nets. We had to keep all our doors open because it was still 35°C inside. It took us ages to eat our meal because we were constantly killing mozzies!!
It was an uncomfortable night and the temperature barely dropped below 33°C. We had all our doors open but had to sleep under another mosquito net for the bed which doesn't really allow a breeze to get through. Then at 4-30 am it started raining! So we had to get up to close the back doors, skylights and side door.
You might think that the rain would cool it down enough for us to get some sleep ... but only 45 minutes later the howler monkeys had other ideas!! At 5-15 am they made a huge, and I mean really HUGE!!, noise. They make a loud growling noise that sounds really threatening even though they're not going to come nearer or harm us. Still, it wasn't exactly a reassuring feeling!! There were also other birds and animals joining in with the early morning concert but the monkeys drowned virtually everything else out!
Yikes! Only a few hours later whilst we were strolling along the various boardwalks next to the lagoon and watching the many brightly coloured butterflies and some beautiful double winged dragonflies, Kirsten came out with a classic. "Oh, it's really peaceful here!" I laughed and reminded her about the millions of mosquitoes and the howler monkeys!! No, peaceful is not a word I would use to describe this national park!
Laguna Blanca - 360° Panorama
(move mouse over panorama and click on the arrows)
After the boardwalk we tried to walk through the woods but encountered a cloud of mosquitoes and had to give up. There are too many insects and flying things around but then we only came here because we wanted to get another 3 months in Paraguay. We had already had to move from the parking area earlier in the morning because rain turns it into a quagmire and we'd parked in front of the main gates. Then we had to move again when it continued to rain to park on a gravel area.
We already knew that the road into and out of the park would be 4 wheel drive only in rain, so when loud thunder woke us up at 7-55 am the following morning, I suggested we leave straight away. Kirsten wanted to make a cup of tea which we could drink whilst we drove out but I said I'd need to concentrate and kyboshed the idea. We didn't realise how prophet that was ...
The rain was turning the sand and dirt road into mud and there were a few places where we were sliding! We only had to drive 5km to get to the tarmac road and we'd managed to get through the first 4km when we saw a female moped rider in front of us struggling to get through a wet patch of sand/mud. She was slipping and almost tipped over.
She was also very slow and we were catching up with her even though we were also moving slowly. I didn't want to stop because I knew if I did that we would probably get stuck. But the moped rider was just too slow and I ended up having to move to the right to overtake! Sounds like I was moving fast but I was doing less than 5km/h. Any slower and I would have stalled or got stuck.
The moped rider managed to get going and overtook us to get through the mud patch but for us it was a disaster. We'd been forced to move over into deeper mud and we got stuck! Damn, damn damn!! I saw us spending Christmas in this mud, or worse, having to get out into the mud to dig ourselves out. Yukkety yuk! No way that was going to happen.
Those thoughts flashed through my mind in a split second as we got stuck and motivated me into action. I shoved Winnietwo forcefully into reverse to rock backwards, shoved him back into first gear and turned my wheels slightly to the left to create an angle. If the tyres are straight they'll just spin and dig us deeper into the mud. Then reverse again, turning the wheels, then first gear and turning the wheels back. I rocked us backwards and forwards, keeping us moving the whole time, albeit just centimetres.
Then we stalled! Quickly I turned the engine back on and got us rocking again. I was starting to sweat and all the time the lightning was flashing all around us but I didn't give up. I was going to get us out of this mud if it was the last thing I did ... and finally after what felt like the 40th gear change we started to get some traction. I continued the rocking manoeuvre, shouting "Come on, come on" and finally we got back onto the less muddier part and got through. Holy moly, never again!!! That was way too close for comfort!
We only had another 500 metres to drive and got onto the tarmac. What an unbelievable relief! By now it was raining more heavily so we didn't stop for a cup of tea or breakfast and just drove straight to the border.
We hit a massive queue. At least 3 or 4km of lorries parked on the road. Fortunately the police were there and we could drive past them all to see the reason for the queue - a lorry had got stuck in the mud and had jackknifed, partially blocking the road. Smaller vehicles could get past but the other lorries had to wait.
Parque Nacional Río Pilcomayo (Laguna Blanca)
We were in another queue just before the border so Kirsten jumped out to see if she could get the paperwork sorted out whilst I rolled along in the queue. I told her to grab the umbrella but she made the mistake of getting out before she'd opened it up. It took her so long to get it open that she got really wet from the rain!! Not much use having an umbrella was it? Then she got stuck because the rain water had created puddles and some of them were too wide and deep for to get through.
In the meantime, the traffic had started moving faster and I caught up with her. So a very wet Kirsten got back in! That had been a real waste of time!! Oh well, it wasn't really our day so far but at least we were welcomed at the border because we are from "Germany" and Kirsten managed to get through the formalities in only 15 minutes whilst I stayed with the vehicle.
We drove through the traffic to Casa Rica, a large supermarket that sells lots of German food and I dashed in to buy us some apple strudel whilst Kirsten made the bed. It was after 11 am by the time we finally got a well earned cup of tea!
Kirsten was really happy because the Christmas "Stollen" (German marzipan cake that's more like bread) had been reduced by 35%! Merry Christmas!!! Claudia and Uwe were also happy because we had a shopping list from them aswell which, of course, included Stollen.
After getting our shopping we drove to a brand new Super 6 supermarket in San Bernadino and then went to Hasta La Pasta, our favourite campground. We said hello to Marion and René - it was really good to be back and we were looking forward to our stay here.
Mia, Claudia and Uwe's dog, must have heard our voices because she came sprinting down to see us and her tail was wagging so much it looked like a propeller! It was a huge relief that we'd finally made it here despite nearly getting stuck in all the mud!
