From Campo Maria we drive another 60 km on the perfectly maintained dirt road to tarred road, which means farewell to the Mennonites and the difference is plain to see: plastic bags hanging on fences everywhere and a lot of litter along the road. We reach El Roble, near Concepcion, in the late afternoon, after a beautiful ride over red sandy roads and between immensely tall trees. We are kindly welcomed and get a place under a giant big tree giving a lot of shade. We are not really happy with our place, there is rubbish all around and we are close to the pork stable. The other facilities, showers and toilets are alright and that gives us a good feeling. After a delicious “Gentse waterzooi” with salmon, prepared by Michel, we go for a drink at the bar. Talking with Peter, El Roble’s boss, Michel recognizes the man from the “Travel Waes” program. Two years ago we saw the program on TV in Belgium and by chance we ended up here. Of course, we have very interesting conversations with Peter and it gets pretty late. Very early in the morning, we are awakened by crowing cocks and crutching pigs, and the stench of the pigs does not favour our sleep. We move to a lower section on the parking lot. First we watch the catch of 2 large (1 meter long) tigre surubis (catfish). The fishes are caught by experienced men from a pond which is pumped nearly empty and then transferred into a special tank, the fishes will serve for reproduction in a lab. On the farm there is a small zoo, aquariums and much fish ponds. For the tourists there is nice accommodation and a good restaurant. The next day we go for a trip on the River Ypané River, usually it is done hanging in an inner tire like Tom Waes did, but we use our kayak. The journey takes about 2 hours and is very pleasant, the flow takes us at 6 km per hour, we see beautiful birds and monkeys, to our surprise there is no litter. The crocodiles remain hidden. Afterwards we meet a man who left everything in Germany and now voluntarily lives on his own in the bush, we get some climate info because the level of the river has increased so much in recent years that they had to rebuild the road. After a cold wet Sunday (already 5 weeks bad weather on Sunday, a financial setback for Peter), we leave Bella Vista, back to the north. In Yby Yau, we are enquiring whether the road to BellaVista is tarred and get a vague answer. The road is indeed good till 20 km before the city and they are working on improvement. The information we have is scarce and we hope to get more at the local tourist office. Of course, it is closed in the afternoon and the listed camp site does not exist. At the military base they cannot help us. The police, however, knows a place close to their office on the banks of the Apa River. It rains when we arrive and we park on the remains of a concrete basketball court. When it stops raining, it turns out that we stand in the middle of the football field. The children reposition the goals and do their thing without annoying us. They play until it gets dark and then all is quiet. The visit to the tourist office in the morning is successful, the young man, Arlindo, speaks English and is very happy to meet tourists who ask more than a brochure. The announced attractions in the brochure are no longer accessible, but he can organize a visit to the Ojo de Mar. He also takes us to a family where we can buy deep-frozen fish and 2 kg of frozen tapir meat. The Ojo de Mar, a crater lake, is 50 km from the city and we need to find a guide near a building without walls. Driving over red sandy roads through a beautiful landscape we find the building and the guide. The mysterious lake was caused by a volcanic eruption 250 million years BC and, according to legend, has no bottom. Locals say that people who try to cross the 100m width of the lake have found themselves swallowed up. Until recently the rare white crocodile could be found here. No one ever saw one except the policeman who killed one. Also here, the water has risen 5m in recent years, making the mirador no longer accessible. We spend the night at the farm of very friendly Florinda Sylva, mother of our guide. On our way to the east, we stay for another two days in the Cerro Cora Reserve, the place where Mariscal Lopez, a national hero for the Paraguayans, a dangerous dictator for the neighbouring countries. He was responsible for the death of 99% of the male population and refused to surrender in the triple alliance war (against Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay). He fell in action in Cerro Cora in 1870, his motto was “A Paraguayan never surrenders”. The whole domain is a tribute to this “hero” and daily buses with schoolchildren come for a walk to commemorate this defeat, which is presented as the ultimate act of love for his native county. The campsite is nicely situated, but totally neglected. Apparently a lot of investment was once made, a deplorable waste of money. Our stay in Paraguay goes to its end. Before we cross the border we stay for a further three days on a private campsite with a fantastic swimming pool. There is a walking trail through a botanical garden to a waterfall. Two days it rains so hard we hardly use the beautiful swimming pool. The border crossing is special this time, one side of the street is Paraguay and the other side is Brazil. After spending a small fortune in “China Shop”, a giant shopping mall where really everything is for sale, we are having a lot of trouble finding the Paraguayan immigration offices to get our “out” stamp and to deliver our TIP to customs . We drive to Brazil without stamp of arrival in our passport, according to our guidebook we can easily obtain the stamp in Campo Grande.
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