The first stop of the day is a return to San Ignacio Mini to see it in the daylight. This is the most complete set of ruins I have seen to date, and even though it was a smaller reduction it provided a great perspective on just how large they could become.
There is also a nice museum on site with smaller artifacts from the ruins.
After the ruins it was time to make our way back to Paraguay and the long drive back to Caacupe. It should have been an uneventful drive, but…
About a half hour into the drive we came across a police stop on the only road leading to the ferry we needed to take back over the river to Paraguay. Getting on this road we took a turn lane which turned out to not be a turn lane. The officers stopped us and immediately started giving Tracy a hard time. There were threats of impounding the car, which gave way to threats to keep her drivers license until she met with the judge to determine an amount for the fine. After quite a bit of back-and-forth, and some emotions on Tracy’s part that were part real and part acting, the police finally backed down and let her go. When they figured out we were on our way to Paraguay for meetings and our flight home, I think they decided she might not be coming back for her license. Good choice on their part as Tracy had implied as much.
At one point Tracy tried to go down the bribe route (how much is this going to cost me?) but the police just blew past it. Dorothy, we’re not in Paraguay anymore.
We drove into the night and eventually arrived at the Camp and Miguel’s house.
The next few days were mostly relaxing and catching up, with a few business related calls and meetings for Tracy. It was also another exercise in living without decent internet. The camp loses internet frequently due to lightning storms, etc. Equipment fries or cables are damaged. It’s a good reminder we’re not in a first world country.
In a few days we’ll pick back up with our stop in Panama.
Stay tuned…Will