Today is our last day in South America. We had some hours to see some more of Porto Alegre. But then we walked back to the hotel, where we stored our luggage. We took a taxi to the airport. We were there early in order to search for some gifts in the stores. But in the international part of the airport was not one single store. The plane left with some delay. We had a good night on the plane and landed in the morning in Lisboa in Portugal. We had not to wait long for the plane to Zürich. Here we arrived on time. Our daughter came to pick us up. We live for the next time in the house of our daughter. The boat with our RV is today near Lagos in Senegal and will arrive in Antwerpen in about two weeks. The picture shows the building of the administration of the State Rio Grande do Sul and the Monument to the Azoreans, built in 1973, which honors the arrival of the 60 couples of Azoreans in Porto Alegre in 1752.

Today we explored the historic part of Porto Alegre. We visited the market hall where we saw interesting products of Brazil. Then we visited some buildings and monuments. In the evening we searched a restaurant for dinner. There are many restaurants around but most of them close around 6 pm. Like this the restaurant we wanted to go was already closed. But in the end we found a good pizza place. On the search for the restaurant we passed this building which was illuminated in green as my picture shows. The building it is the City Hall. The name of the fountain in front is «Fonte Talavera de la Reina».

Today the bus arrived in Porto Alegre at midday. We have another 15 hours bus ride behind us. We took a taxi to our hotel. Here we relaxed for a while. Then we went to explore the region around the hotel. We are in the historic part of the town. We saw some nice and interesting buildings like the one in my picture. The weather looked like it would start to rain any moment. But we walked around until 5 pm. Then we went to the hotel. And then it started to rain. When we later went out for dinner we had to use the umbrellas.

Today we started our trip to Porto Alegre. We took a taxi from the hotel to the bus terminal. The bus for the first lap to Cascavel (141 km) left Foz do Iguaçu at 3 pm and arrived at Cascavel at 6 pm. Here we had 2.5 hours time to have dinner. At the bus terminal were only small restaurants but we found some food we liked. At 8.35 pm the bus to Porto Alegre (799 km) should have left. But it had some delay. It left at about 9 pm. For the first lap of the journey we had very comfortable seats in the first class compartment. Unfortunately the bus for the second lap had not such a compartment. It was a bit tight. But in the middle of the night some passengers left the bus and each one of us could take two seats. Like this the rest of the night was quite comfortable. The bus made two stops during the night. There were restaurants were we could eat something and have coffee. The picture shows the bus terminal at Cascavel. We were not the only passengers that night.

Today we stayed in Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil. We took a bus to the Bird Park (Parques des Aves) (15 km). Here we saw a lot of birds and some other animals and had time to take many pictures of them. The weather was very sunny and warm (28℃).

Today we changed the city and the country. We took the taxi from our hotel in Puerto Iguazú in Argentina to our hotel in Foz do Iguaçu in Brasil (13 km). The border controls were a charm. Then we took a bus to the Brazilian side of the Iguazu Waterfalls (15 km). In the Brasilian National Park, a bus brought us to the walking trail. In about one and a half hour we made it. The views were spectacular. In the end, there is a boardwalk into the falls. We get wet there. The view into the Devils Gorge is not as good at the time since the falls have a lot of water what produces a huge cloud from the falling waters. And these clouds produce rainbows. Then we took the buses back to the hotel. In the evening we were in meat heaven. We found a place where we got a lot of good meat at a good price.

Today we visited the Argentinian side of the Iguazu Waterfalls again. Today we went to the Devils Gorge. That is at the end of the National Park. They operate a little train which brings the people near there. But then you have to walk for 1 kilometer on a pedestrian bridge to the gorge. It is amazing to be this close to the fall (see picture). On the way we saw different animals like coatis, monkeys, capybaras, butterflies and birds. The birds came to peoples hands to get some food. They looked very nice.

Today we visited the Argentinian side of the Iguazu Waterfalls. Today was a wonderful day with sun but it was not hot. To get to the entrance of the Iguazu National Park we took a taxi (19 km). Everybody recommended us to do it like this even it cost a lot. We walked two trails for about 10 kilometers and had wonderful views to these many waterfalls (see picture). And since everybody was doing selfies, we did some too. In the evening the taxi picked us up and brought us back to the hotel.

Today we had to get up early since we had to reach the bus to Ciudad del Este which left at 7.30 am. We went to the bus terminal with a taxi. The bus ride last for 6 hours. Ciudad del Este lays at the three country corner where the three countries Paraguay, Brasil and Argentina come together. The city in Brasil is Foz do Iguaçu and the city in Argentina is Puerto Iguazú. From the bus terminal in Ciudad del Este we wanted to go to Puerto Iguazú. We didn't know how do this. But luckily there was a bus there which went directly to Puerto Iguazú. The bus went through Brasil since there is no bridge from Ciudad del Este over the Paraná River to Puerto Iguazú. There was a lot of traffic at the border control to Foz do Iguaçu. As soon as the traffic is slow in South America there a street dealer selling different stuff. This was the same here (see picture). We didn't have to do border control at the Brasilien border. The bus just drove through. But then at the Argentinian border we had to leave the bus to go through the border control. Since we needed more time at the border control as the people from Argentina which go to shop to Ciudad del Este since there things are cheaper, the bus was no more there when we came out of the border control. But this was not a problem. We would have anyway to take a taxi from the bus terminal. Now we took the taxi from the border. For the first time we choose a hotel without a rating since there were no other ones in our price range. And everything went wrong. The hotel didn't have our reservation and was not prepared to have us. But the boss made everything working. We have now an apartment with two rooms and hope to have a nice stay here.

Today we walked in the direction of the new part of Asuncion. We didn't find any interesting buildings or places. We then found a modern supermarket which was as assorted as they are in the USA or Europe. But not far away from this supermarket, we walked through a market which was like a bazaar. But in the end, we found a nice bakery and cafe with nice cookies and pastries. We had to go in to have a coffee and try some cookies and pastries (see picture). The temperature here in Asuncion is about the double to Montevideo. We had 28 ℃ for the last two days. But today the sky was covered with clouds. The sun didn't come out and it was cooler. In the evening we went for dinner in the old part of the town. There was a demonstration of farmers. They blocked the main crossroad in the town and demand from the government that they overtake some depts of the farmers. The government told them they don't overtake depts because farmers bought motorcycles or kitchen equipment. We will see how this conflict will end.

Today we visited again the old part of the city. We wanted to walk along the Rio Paraguay. But there were a lot of shacks made out of cheap wood. We couldn't believe that there are slums like this. Later on, we learned that these people lost their houses when the river had high tide and flooded their houses away. When we finally reached the river we saw a lot of garbage on the shore of the river. It was not a nice experience. But we passed the Palace of the President of Paraguay (see picture). Today all businesses were still closed. We learned that today is a holiday. It's Father's day!. They have a law here in Paraguay that all holidays which fall on the weekend are celebrated on Monday! They must have a lot of days off here. We went back to the hotel early to relax and later on had dinner in the restaurant of the hotel. By the way, the meat they served us at both dinners was excellent.

Today in the morning we crossed the border to Paraguay at Posada. We didn't have to leave the bus. The stewardess brought the passports to the border control and brought them back with the visas for Paraguay. We reached Asuncion at 10am after 1472 km. We sat for 21 hours in the bus. At the bus terminal, we had to change some money and then we took a taxi to the hotel. Since we were too early to check in we let our luggage there and walked into the old part of the city. Since it was Sunday all businesses were closed and only a few people were in the streets. We saw new and old buildings and nice and bad ones. The picture shows such a mixture of styles. In the afternoon we went back to the hotel to check in and to relax. In the evening we went back to the old city for dinner.

Today we took a bus from Montevideo in Uruguay to Asuncion In Paraguay. We had no intention to go to Asuncion first. We wanted to go to the Iguazu waterfalls. But there is no direct bus connection from Montevideo to Iguazu. There were two possibilities. Either to go back to Buenos Aires or go to Asuncion. Since we weren't in Asuncion already we chose to go there. We took the bus at 1 pm at the bus terminal in Montevideo (see picture). We crossed the border to Argentina at the Salto Grande Dam. Here we had to leave the bus to get the Argentine visas. The seats on the bus were quite comfortable. We got blankets and cushions to sleep. But before that, we got some drinks and food.

Today we visited another day Montevideo. This time we walked in the newer part of the town. Here we found nice architecture which is about one hundred years old. The weather was grey and very humid. The sun didn't come through the fog today. We walked about 10 km to a lighthouse (Faro de Punta Carretas) which is the southernmost point of Montevideo.

Today we walked to the old town. It isn't an intact old town anymore but it has some very nice old buildings. One is the Teatro Solis (see picture). It is the second largest theater in South America. Yesterday the weather was gray, rainy and stormy. Today there was sometimes some sunshine.

Today we planed out travel for the next two weeks. It doesn't work out as we thought it will. But we will find a solution. Then we met Bruno and Anita a Swiss couple in the lobby of our hotel. They travel the world with bicycles. They biked from Switzerland to China, through Southeast Asia, Australia, South Africa and now in South America. We had to tell us a lot of things. We even went for dinner together. And we got the confirmation from the shipping agent that our RV is loaded on the ship. Since we stayed in the hotel the whole day I didn't do pictures. The attached picture is from yesterday. It shows a nice building. Montevideo is full of such nice buildings, which are all about 100 years old.

Today we started to visit Montevideo. First, we walked to the Plaza del Independencia. This is the largest square in Montevideo. In the middle of it is the statue and mausoleum of Artigas which is an Uruguayan hero. And at the border of the square stands the Palacio Salvo with the striking tower which is the landmark of Montevideo (see picture). Then we walked a lot more. Unfortunately, the day was gray. In the evening it started to rain. But we didn't get wet. Today the vessel which transports our RV to Antwerp arrived. I hope our RV was loaded on it. Unfortunately, we didn't get any information about it today.

Today we brought our RV to the harbor. We had to be at the office of the shipment agency at 9.30. Since the campground is 80 km outside of Montevideo we had to get up early since we needed 2 hours to drive through the town. At the shipment agency, we had to do some paperwork and to pay for their service. Then we had time for a long breakfast. We did that together with Willi and Christine a German couple who were on the campground together with us for the last week. We even had time for a short walk through the town. At 2 o'clock, we had to be at the harbor. We needed to do a gas certification. Since the shipping company lost a ship some weeks ago after a fire they are now very strict what materials are allowed to stay in the RV. A lot of things are forbidden now. And if someone has inbuilt gas tanks there has to be a gas certification. We were three RVs with inbuilt gas tanks. A guy came to check the gas system and measured if there is still gas around. Everything went good and we got the certificate. At 4 o'clock we could drive into the harbor. Then we took a taxi to our hotel. In the evening we met Willi and Christine again for dinner. The picture shows our RV at the gas certification. I had to empty our storage room since the expert wanted to see our gas tanks and the heating which runs with gas too.

Today ist the last day to prepare the RV for the shipment. And it's the the last day on the Paraiso Suizo campground. And we had enough time to celebrate my birthday. The picture shows some European RV's which are stored on this campground.

Today was another cleaning day of our RV in Montevideo. In the evening there was a nice sunset.

Another day cleaning of our RV in Montevideo. When I stood on our RV's roof I saw the sea as the image shows. And there is another RV from Switzerland here.

Today we drove to a company which produces RVs to see if they are able to repair our damaged rear bumper. This part is made out of plastic. Since our RV has a little clearing (distance between the ground and the body) and a high overhang (distance between the rear wheels and the end of the body) the bumper sat sometimes on the road when there were holes in the road. This started in Mexico, because there they have bumps in the streets to slow down the traffic. Sometimes these bumps were this high, that the bumpers touched them. And last but not least when we had to drive up or down of ferries there is many times such a low angel between the dock and the vessel that we touched the ground with the bumper. I fixed it with duct tape and it holds quite well. Some people told me to let this fix here in Montevideo. The company which we visited today meant that a fix will not be of a good quality and they wanted to produce new plastic parts. But they need a week to do it. The problem is that our ship arrives here in Montevideo a week early as planed. There-fore we don't have enough time to do it. We have to buy new parts in Europe where they are probably much more expensive. The rest of the day we prepared the RV for the shipment.

Today we stayed on the campground and cleaned the RV. The campsite has a storage area for RV's (see picture). Many people let their RV in Uruguay, because the law is not as striked as in other countries. The RV can stay here for 10 years withouit paying tax. The campground switches on the engine evrey week and sometimes they move it a little bit.

Today we stayed at the campground Paraiso Suizo. I had to go to the toilet early in the morning and saw the nice sunrise (see picture). Normally I miss sunrises. Since the Paraiso Suizo has no open restaurant or shop we had to drive to the next city to shop (41 km). And we have to get US Dollars since some businesses here like to get US dollars in cash. We have to pay the agent in US dollars which we need to get our RV on the ship. We fought with all ATMs we could find. They give only 200 dollars out at once. But we need about $1500.-. With all tricks and all our credit cards we got $1200.- out today. Therefore we need to do a second run in the next days. Tonight since long time we took our grill out and grilled hamburgers. We learned how to do this in the USA and did it regularly there.

Today we stayed at the campground. We cleaned and repaired our RV. Two other Swiss couples are here on the campground. One has an old Swiss postal bus which is transformed into a RV. The interior of the postal bus is really well done. But its a large bus to drive around. The picture shows in the forground the Swiss postal bus and in the background our RV. In the evening we all sat together an had a Chinese Fondue.

Today we stayed on the campground in Paraiso Suizo near Montevideo. We started to clean our RV. We will ship our RV from Montevideo back to Europe in about two weeks. And we started to see what is around our campground. As we are close by the sea we went there too. The picture shows the beach next to the campground.

Today we stayed on the campground in Paraiso Suizo near Montevideo. Katharina washed a lot of our clothes and I counted the money and payed bills. The picture shows the brick buring plant we saw yesterday.