A Quiet Border Crossing into Paraguay with my Motorcycle
Update 18 (February 2022)
Cataratas del Iguazú to Paraguay
This is a long one, I hope it is loading okay for you.
It was time to cross into a new country. Paraguay this time. A fellow traveller asked me if I get nervous crossing borders. I think I said no, but at the time I had been skipping between Argentina and Chile and it had become pretty routine.
This time it was a new country and I had to make myself familiar with it’s rules. But I was pretty comfortable after doing some research. I could have made my way to Paraguay from Puerto Iguazu but that would mean crossing into Brazil first which just seemed like an extra complication, with the motorbike involved.
My original idea was to back track to Posadas and cross there, but upon leaving the town the first time, I saw the queue crossing the bridge into Paraguay. It must have been 2 kilometres long.
My next plan was to cross at one of the many small ferry crossings of Rio Parana. On my way to Puerto Iguazu, I had detoured off to Corpus and checked the border crossing at Puerto Mani was operating. It was open. I also met a nice local while having a break from the heat, in the shade of the town square. I gave him a wave when he rode past on his motorbike. Five minutes later he is back with a cold bottle of Sprite for each of us and ready for a chat. We talked for about 15 minutes and then he was off to go about his day. It was just a really nice gesture.
One other side note of interest, is the unofficial market in Brazil and Paraguay for the cheap Argentine fuel. I had first noticed big lines of cars at the gas stations in Puerto Iguazu and had asked my host whether there was some fuel shortage I should know about. Oh, that is the Brazilians was the response. They cross the border to stock up on the cheap fuel. I assume that also had a lot to do with the long line to get into Paraguay at Posadas. Once I was in Paraguay there were huge numbers of people selling fuel in soft drink bottles by the side of the road.
So I left Puerto Iguazu early, with a light drizzle to keep me company. It was 240kms to the Corpus border crossing. I ended up arriving at 1:10pm, lunchtime. At 2pm I was the first to get processed. Unfortunately for the dozen people behind me, the Argentine migration officer initially had no record of me being in Argentina. Luckily I had the Temporary Vehicle Import document for the motorbike that showed when and where it entered. After much searching it seemed I had been entered as a Canadian and that had thrown things out. Eventually we all got on the ferry and were off.
I assume this barge at Puerto Mani ended up here in a flood. Must have been some flood.
The ferry crossed Rio Parana that is almost 5,000km long and passes through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.
The border control into Paraguay was small and obviously focussed on locals that move back and forth for their daily activities. They processed me and sent me on my way. But the paperwork didn’t seem right. They all saw I had a motorbike but no one at customs had done anything about it. Luckily my Argentine SIM card was still working and was able to use my translator app to query it with them. I knew the oversight would catch up with me eventually and probably be bad for me.
They said they didn’t have the paperwork to process the motorbike and I would have to ride 40km to the Paraguay Customs office in Encarnación. This was going to take me back to the crossing I had tried so hard to avoid at Posadas (Argentina side). I asked them to write an explanation note for Encarnación Customs, but that got me no where.
So off I went to Encarnación, after finding an ATM to at least have some local cash on me. It was an adventure. The queue for the border crossing stretched for about a kilometre through the town. It must take people hours to get through. So I took advantage of having a motorbike and wove my way through the queue and some pretty tight spots. Of course this was the queue to leave Paraguay. I had to find the Customs Office entry point. I ignored the strange looks and lots of waving as I rode against the traffic into the processing area. Eventually I was able to explain the situation with lots of pointing and they processed the bike through for me (no SIM card yet, so no translator app).
I always like to stay a few nights on first arriving in a new country. You always need a bit of time to settle in and get organised. As it turned out there was a nice little town called Trinidad that was close to my original ferry crossing and pretty quiet. So I stayed three nights there. There is a strong Deutsche presence in parts of Paraguay, from the late 1800’s.
About 100 metres from my Posada Maria Hotel accommodation is the Jesuit Mission of Jesús de Tavarangüe. The ruins are a World Heritage site and hopefully good for the local economy.
There is a lot of farming going on in Paraguay, be it soy beans, coffee, cattle, bananas and maybe a few goats. I worked my way towards the Bolivian border, trying to stay clear of the major centres, just cause I prefer that.
I should also give Paraguay a plug for having 100% clean electricity, with all of their supply coming from hydroelectricity.
Paraguay is the fourth largest exporter of soy beans.
Soy beans rule around here.
Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona)
Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia).
Coffee beans, I think.
Volleyball nets are very common. Although I saw some kids using a football to kick back and forth, without touching the ground, so I am not really sure what goes on.
A lot of the smaller towns have roads with this cobblestone construction.
I had booked a hotel room in a town called Doctor Juan León Mallorquín and worked my way through the local farming area. But I did meet a dead end or two because of private property. In Australia, the Lomaps on my Locus Maps app seem to be pretty good at distinguishing public roads from private roads. But that has not been the case in South America. But it pays to ask directions. I was just about to give up and back track 40km to the main road, at the last minute I spotted a tractor driver and asked directions. I think I still rode through private property but he and his coworkers ended up finishing work and guiding me through in his truck, so it was all good.
I had one night in Doctor Juan León Mallorquín. Now where? Oh look, there’s a ferry crossing to somewhere, I wonder if it is open on a Sunday? It is open. The barge just needs some water pumped out before we can leave.
All the other motorcyclists ended up pushing their bikes up a plank onto the fast ferry. The green one. I’m too much of a heavy weight for that.
I just had to be patient and wait for the barge to finish pumping the water out.
Getting ready to go. We are crossing Lago del Río Yguazú.
A second ferry arrives as we are loading.
Another fast option going by.
We arrived in the community of Tembiaporá, where it is all about bananas. It was a simple rural area, although the small townships were quite well serviced with local shops and there was some real estate development going on.
The view from the bridge over Rio Paraguay just out of Concepcion. I also met Pablo and his co-workers at the Shell gas station, who inspired me to get moving on translating this site into Spanish. Soon….
I stayed a couple of nights in General Isidoro Resquin, after I noticed the bottom seam in one of my Enduristan panniers opening up. The best glue I could find was shoe repair adhesive. I am not that confident in the repair but I am supporting it with an extra strap for now. Enduristan came through later with new bags under warranty. They are a great product and I still use the same setup about 70,000 kms later.
Parents watching the kids football practice from the grand stand.
Local General Isidoro Resquin street.
A healthy looking Toborochi tree.
Flooded river along Ruta PY09 towards the border with Bolivia.
Yacare caiman that didn’t make it across the road presumably.
Where the Yacare caiman should have stayed. Actually, this is probably where it was heading.
I am glad I went through Paraguay. It was certainly better than going over old ground via Argentina.
Prior to entering, Paraguay had copped a bit of criticism about police corruption from previous visitors. I did have one roadside traffic stop with the police, that started playing out the way I had been warned, but it ended fine and if I reflect back, they were just doing their job (maybe in a somewhat confrontational way), but who am I to judge.
The people I met were all super friendly and supportive. If you are in neighbourhood, you should definitely consider visiting.
Las Cataratas del Iguazú, Argentina
Update 17 (early February 2023)
Entering Bolivia from Paraguay
Update 19 (February 2023)
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