31/3 – 22/4/2016
We decide to have the clutch of our tsjolbak examined in Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay. Heading in that direction we visit the park of Gran Chaco. Once we get there we get a friendly welcome and are told that, as the new sanitary block is not ready yet, we have to use the toilet and showers 500 m from the campsite. The park is lovely but the air is very hot and humid. The only place with power is under the trees and when it is getting dark and we start to prepare our meal there are too many insects to stay outside. Michels gets mosquito bites through three layers of trousers. The next day we move to a more open space but when it starts raining the ranger says we have to move again because when a storm comes up eucalyptus trees may fall down on our tsjolbak. When the rain stops we move again and make deep tracks in the muddy grass. A branch of a tree is touching our tsjolbak and after two hours our sleeping place is full of ants. We move away from the tree and try to destroy the ants manually and with ours small vacuum cleaner. In the evening another ranger comes to say we have to move again. This combined with a night haunted by mosquitos makes us decide to move out of the park. We stay one night in Formosa near the Paraguayan border and go to a parrilla restaurant to eat asado, the national meat dish, a very disappointing experience, the beef is uneatable and there are too much offal sausages. Roos only eats the chicken and blood sausage.
The border passing between Argentina and Paraguay goes without problem and after a long search we find a camping in Luque, owned by a German couple. They have a very nice garden and a swimming pool. Temperatures are extremely high, 40°C is normal here! The lady of the house arranges an appointment with their friend-mechanic who replaces two plungers of the hydraulic clutch. He also replaces the damaged reflector of the head lamp, it takes 20 minutes (in the Toyota workshop in Merelbeke they claimed it was too difficult to do!). We have the side windows of the tsjolbak coated to reflect the sun and then we start a search for air conditioning. By the end of the day we have an appointment for the next day in het biggest airco workshop of Asuncion. The friendly people explain to us that the appliance we are looking for is not available in Paraguay but they can install a split. Once the airco is installed we leave for Laguna Blanca, 270 km to the East. Although the roads are good, a tyre gets damaged beyond repair. Luckily there is a tyre workshop at 100 m and the man replaces the tyre very quickly, efficiently and cheap. We only have 30 km to go then but it takes more than an hour because the unpaved road is full of holes, mud and water. Finally we reach the lagoon, it is a splendid place and we are the only tourists. We are however not alone because there are a lot of European volunteers working in the conservancy project in a house nearby. We all use the internet connection of the camping. There is a beautiful white beach and swimming is very relaxing. After one day the airco breaks down. We call the fitter in Asuncion and he thinks there may be gas leak, we go back over the bad road to the nearest city where the problem is fixed. We also buy a new spare tyre. After are these worries we can finally go for a kayak and fishing trip on the laguna. Only once because Michel has a painful athlete’s foot and has to avoid humidity. Roos goes for a long walk through the forest and makes photos of the many marvellous butterflies. On Sundays there are a lot of visitors. Paraguay has no access to the sea and some people drive 300 km from the region of Asuncion to relax on weekends. The parrillas are burning and large pieces of meat are roasted. By six in the evening we are alone again.
Every day the sun setting and dawnings are very colourful. Michel’s foot gets better and we do one more kayak trip. After three days the airco does not cool properly again and water is dripping from it. We drive seven hours back to Asuncion to get it fixed. Drivers in Paraguay are reckless, they try to pass from all sides. One driver blocks the way, Michel cannot avoid hitting his car slightly because there is a bus passing on the other side. Hundred meters further the man stops his car in front of the tsjolbak, comes out and asks money. As the fault was all his, we refuse to pay. He gets very angry and pulls the side mirror of the tsjolbak down, then he leaves. We are perplexed! When we finally get to the workshop it is late in the afternoon and we ask the friendly daughter of the boss to book a hotel room for us. In the evening we walk to a huge shopping centre with lots of luxury shops in two buildings with three stores. At nine o’clock in the evening the temperature outside is still 30°. In the night it starts raining and the next day it is a lot cooler. In the morning when we walk from the hotel to the workshop we see another Asuncion: big houses, nice gardens, magnificent trees. By midday the airco is repaired and a new mirror fixed. We do not dare leaving Asuncion the same day because we want to test the airco a couple of days. We go to a hotel/restaurant where we are allowed to stay overnight on the parking. The restaurant is well known for the good meat and indeed the steak is gorgeous, the pommes frites however are of lesser quality. After diner Michel talks with other customers, one of them, a doctor advises Michel to rest, take medicine and put ice on his painful ankle. The following morning Michel starts the treatment. Hopefully he will get better soon.
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