Hello, everyone!
Welcome to the summer 2018 leg of our South America journey. Actually, it’s winter in South America, so maybe I should say welcome to the winter 2018 leg of the journey.
The game plan is to spend the first two weeks in Paraguay while Tracy runs a large group tour for young adults (and their loved ones) who were adopted from Paraguay. Most of them are in their 20’s now. Tracy works with a group called Ties that sets up these trips around the world. She is coordinating all of the tour events for Paraguay and will also be interpreting for some of the adoptees that are meeting their birth parents/families. I am tagging along on the Ties tour while I wait for the time Tracy and I head out to see more of South America.
After Ties, the plan is to visit Bolivia, Peru, Chile, and Argentina. We will also spend a short time in Brazil as a part of another of Tracy’s tours where I will get to see the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls for the first time. And, we’ve built in a three day layover in Panama City to wrap up the trip. Tracy hasn’t been to Bolivia, Peru, Panama, or one part of Chile we will be visiting, so I am excited she gets to do some new things as well. She has spent quite a bit of time showing me around parts of South America she has already visited, so I’m happy it’s not all a repeat for her.
Our first flight left at 5:00 AM on July 23rd. Tracy’s father Bill, bless his heart, picked us up at 2:00 AM and dropped us off at the airport. The flights to Paraguay went off without a hitch, and we were at our hotel just outside Asuncion around midnight that same day. This flight typically spans two days, so it was a treat to leave and arrive on the same day.
Tracy’s daughter, Maliya, had already been in Paraguay for a few weeks visiting family, so she picked us up at the airport. She was driving the Toyota Noah minivan Tracy and I had purchased in Paraguay earlier this year. The plan was to use the Noah for our driving trip, but the ride from the airport was the first sign we might have some troubles along the way. The car was hesitating, pinging, and generally being persnickety. Other people drove the car while we were back in the states, so we assumed one of them had put cheap gas in the car. Our first stop was a gas station to fill up with the correct gas. Stay tuned as this part of the story unfolds in future updates…
Will