Dec. 8: Making it to Paraguay

We had to go though some of Brazil to get to Paraguay, so now I can say I've actually been there, though my passport lacks a stamp to prove that claim.

It cost a whole 3 pesos, or a buck, to ride the bus from Argentina to Paraguay. The driver didn't stop at the boarder, so we had to get off a little down the street and come back to the boarder to get our passports stamped. Apparently, three white people, two with huge backpacks, can pass as locals to drivers.

We got out passports stamped after walking down a street that would fit any movie director's vision of a third-world country city cent. The one thing this city is known for is selling stuff cheap, since it's on the boarder of Brazil and does not have the high import tax found in Brazil. There were shops everywhere selling everything among the city's high rise buildings.

After we got our passports stamped, the plan was to go to the bus stop to head to the dam's camping site. We exchanged our pesos for G's, the currency here and were trying to find a taxi when we saw this girl who was also wearing a huge backpack looking around lost.

We started talking to her and it turned out she was looking for the bus stop too. As we were talking to her, Nev arranged for us to get a ride to the bus station from these two guys in a shady-looking van. We jumped in, after convincing the girls it was OK, and since the bus stop was a ways a way and we didn't know that, we were starting to wonder if we'd all just been kidnapped.

Turns out we weren't. However, there was a miscommunication over the driver's fee. He had wanted the money in Brazilian currency but we only had Paraguar' money and assumed that was what he wanted, since we were in Paraguay.

We stood there trying to figure out how things were going to work out, as the guy grew angrier by the second. He wanted 50,000 G, we were offering 20,000 G because that's what we thought he had wanted.

As I realized 50,000 G was about $10 US dollars, I realized the four of us had incredible buying power in this country, especially when acting as one. I kinda felt like a money bully upon realizing this.

A short time later, I pulled out two 10,000 G bills, all I had in my pocket. He saw the money, took it and left. Nev was like, as soon as he saw those bills, he was gone, you shouldn't have shown him, we could have negotiated lower. My reply was that it was only $4 US and it ended our discussion with an angry Brazilian on a Paraguay street.

There weren't any busses, so we had to take a taxi. The driver was really nice, he took us to the bank, the grocery store and to this awesome campsite that has bikes and horse rides for free. We had to get special permission to stay here and he drove us around for two hours to get it.

I'm not exactly sure what happened because of the language barrier, but I'm pretty sure he had to vouch for us to stay here since he had to fill out some paperwork as well.

The campsite is in a jungle. The area has been improved with benches, fire pits, sinks, a playground and community bathrooms, complete with showers.

I'm pretty sure we are the only ones staying here since the park is closed, unless you have a special permit and I haven't seen anyone other then the four of us and park officials.

This place looks like it is either going to be home to one of the most amazing two-day camping trips ever, or the science for a real-life horror flick. I'm hoping it's the first.

I stayed with the bags and the taxi while everyone shopped for food, since Tara can effectively shop for both of us at this point. Since she's a vegetarian, I asked Nev to make the meet selection for me. He went with what looks like the front quarter of a lamb, which is currently cooking.