4Runner Roadtrip – Argentina & Paraguay: The Misiones Province

After an overnight flight from Madrid to Montevideo we were ready to resume our ‘light’ overlanding in South America. We spent two nights in Montevideo before going to pick up the 4Runner from the guys at UY Storage where she had been stored for the winter season. Aside from being a bit dusty, the 4Runner was waiting for us and ready to go.

While there we briefly met a couple from Germany also picking up their rig. You can find them on Instagram @happycamperin, I was a little jealous, it’s my dream overlanding vehicle. We first saw one at an overlanding festival in Germany and since then I’ve been convinced that would be the way to go if money was not an object.

We had an overnight in Trinidad, an area of Uruguay we had not travelled in before. One of our Uber drivers in Montevideo had described the areas north of Montevideo as “feo” which translates to ugly in English. While I wouldn’t describe it as ugly, it is a bit boring. Mostly flat or slightly rolling hills, some trees, and not much else. After Trinidad, we headed to Fray Bentos to our favorite Airbnb in the border town. This time we did not lock ourselves out. We had to do all the dog paperwork again in preparation for crossing the border into Argentina.

After an uneventful border crossing, our first destination was just shy of Colon and a little spot in the country side. What a great spot! The family that has the cabinas could not have been nicer. The two teenage daughters spoke English but only one was brave enough to practice with Shani. The whole region had been experiencing torrential rains and we got a little taste of that as well. Coming down in buckets! We went to Colon a couple of times and could not believe how swollen the river was. Whole streets underwater and the rain kept coming. That tends to have a pretty adverse effect on the dirt roads, we were sure glad we had the 4Runner.

Continuing north we had a lovely 2 day stay in Federación and then Alvear and then finally to San Ignacio, a village known for its Jesuit mission ruins. San Ignacio Miní was one of the many missions founded in 1610 in Argentina, by the Jesuits in what the colonial Spaniards called the Province of Paraguay of the Americas during the Spanish colonial period. In 1984, it was one of four reducciones in Argentina to be designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. (Wikipedia).

Dogs aren’t allowed in this bit of ruins and so we had to take turns and went on seperate days. Not that we both couldn’t have visited on the same day but the heat at the beginning of the afternoon was rather uncomfortable and so early visits were our better option.

We stayed a few days in San Ignacio and took a drive up to visit Salto Encantado, a waterfall in a Provincial Park. We had thought we might get a hike in but the massive rainfall had wiped out trails and everything was basically closed. Still, the waterfall was nice and the drive was pretty through fields of yerba mate, what has to be Argentina’s national drink.  Next on the agenda was the big destination of Iguazú National Park. We stayed in Puerto Iguazú in a nice little duplex with private gated parking. Unfortunately for us, on the afternoon of our arrival the government of Argentina had decided to devalue the currency by 50%. This provided a problem for us as our rental rate was tied to the dollar exchange which now had shifted and we were short of cash. Getting cash in Argentina is a whole other issue that I won’t get into here but it is a pain! Our landlady was super nice and everything did work out just fine in the end.

And then it was on to the falls. Dogs aren’t allowed and so Shani went to Iguazú Falls first. We had planned on this and she had a driver, a super nice guy called Omar, take her and pick her up. She went on a Thursday and had the place mostly to herself. I went the next day and did not have the same luck. She got to see monkeys, toucans and even a deer. I saw one probably rabid monkey.

What a difference a day makes. Regardless, the falls are amazing. Because of all of the rain some of the viewing platforms had been destroyed and so we didn’t get to visit all of the park. Even so, it was still the better part of the day to see what was still open.

Currently there is no visa required to visit Brazil although this is subject to change and so Shani decided to visit Iguazú from that side as well. It was an easy walk to the bus terminal, there is a special bus lane at immigration and then she was dropped off at the park on the Brazil side. There is also a large zoo/rehabilitation park featuring about 143 species of birds, plus some reptiles & butterflies. Apparently it is the best aviary in South America (according to Omar).

After Iguazú we were set to head into Paraguay but we weren’t planning on staying very long as it was just too damn hot. We should have done a bit more research about the best time to visit. We had planned to visit Monday Falls, a waterfall system just south of Ciuadad del Este and the apartment we got was almost spitting distance to the falls. In fact, the restaurant we had our breakfast in each morning had a brilliant view of the falls. Crossing into Paraguay was one of the most unique border crossings we’ve done. If you go the long way around you have to go into Brazil and then Paraguay. But, there is a small crossing where the 3 countries meet that is a car ferry across from Argentina to Paraguay directly. We found the little immigration trailer on the Argentine side, showed passports and turned in our Temporary Import Permit for the 4Runner, bought ferry tickets and did our crossing. On the Paraguay side we showed our passports, had pictures taken and after some back and forth finally figured out where and how to get our Temporary Import Permit. It was actually a fun border crossing. Second on our list for sites to visit in Paraguay was the Itaipu hydrological dam. Once the largest dam in the world but now it sits in 3rd place. Of the twenty generator units currently installed, ten generate at 50 Hz for Paraguay and ten generate at 60 Hz for Brazil. Since the output capacity of the Paraguayan generators far exceeds the load in Paraguay, most of their production is exported directly to the Brazilian side. (Wikipedia)

Tours of the site are only via the tourist bus at the visitor center. We didn’t know if Sebastian would be allowed but we figured that we would just each take a turn on the bus. At first the lady seemed like it might work for Sebastian to go on the tour but in the end we understood that she would watch him in her office while we went on the tour. A very sweet gesture, but Sebastian just doesn’t roll with that. In the end Shani got to go on the bus and Sebastian and I stayed in the 4Runner.

Next up was a visit to Trinidad. Trinidad is a district in the Itapúa Department of Paraguay. It is well known for its Jesuit Mission, La Misión de la Santísima Trinidad de Paraná. In 1993, the mission was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We got a little cabina run by a great German expat couple that have lived there for the last 10 years. Breakfast was included and they even made us American bacon! What a treat.  Our cabina was an easy walk to a view point and then on to the ruins of the mission. There was a short film with English subtitles about the history of the mission and the surrounding area and the ladies there seemed thrilled that we were visiting. Technically dogs probably weren’t allowed but we had Sebastian in his backpack and they didn’t seem to mind. Also, we were the only people there who didn’t work there.  With our 3 main sites seen and the thermometer still in the red we decided to head back into Argentina. The largest border crossing was into Posadas and we had heard that it was a very slow crossing, 3 or more hours to get across. This did not sound fun. A closer look at the map and iOverlander showed a very small crossing much like the one we used to get into Paraguay. Big rigs were not allowed and it was a small car ferry like before. Much more fun!

We had just missed the last ferry before lunch and had to wait but we just chilled and had lunch after showing passports in a tiny building. When the ferry started running again we were first in line and they directed us to the very front of the boat. On the other side we showed our passports, got our TIP and were on our way.

Stay tuned as we head up into the wetlands near Colonia Carlos Pellegrini, have an epic lunch in Cordoba, chill in Merlo and start our trip north to the Salta region.