The Ferry

They say the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Goya and Reconquista are on opposite sides of the Rio Parana. There is no bridge. So, there are two options. Number 1: Drive through Corrientes and Resistencia, cross the bridge there and go from one city to the other for a one way trip of 5.5 hours or, Number 2: Take the Ferry. It travels around an island in the river and gets you there in 3 hours...not exactly a straight line, but definitely worth checking out...






Until you get to the port about 20 kilometers outside of downtown Goya and find out it is not exactly the Queen Mary 2!





Some fellow passengers waiting to board at the dock in the middle of nowhere...they took a Mate break under a tree!





As we boarded we hoped the brakes would not fail us!





My Asistentes were a little wary of what I was getting them into...little did they know!





Up the several flights of stairs there was a passenger area with cushioned benches, windows and an AC unit.






We tucked the HiLux in between some trucks and the railings and headed up the stairs.





Looking down from the stair landing on one of the trucks that came with us.





We headed off to conquer the river while these folks did a little fishing.





The island is thick jungle with birds, monkeys, alligators, you name it. The brown in the picture is the calm muddy river.





I took this photo over a passenger's shoulder who was standing at the railing upstairs to get some perspective of the river at this point.






And that is when the captain invited me into the pilot house...and the real adventure began.





Captain Sanchez and I started visiting...





This is the view from the pilot house...





And it did not take long before El Presidente became El Capitan! That wheel is really what steers the ship! And yes, sometimes they really spin it to turn quickly.





When Captain Sanchez asked me what I was doing in Argentina it started an hour long discussion (I shared with him Lessons 1 y 2 from Predicad Mi Evangelio) that ended with me gifting him one of my hard bound Libros de Mormon. We exchanged email addresses and I made a new friend! Notice he changed shirts for the picture. I wonder who steered the ship while he did that???






My Asistentes looking relaxed and victorious as we eased into port in Reconquista. PS...they were relieved to find out that the reason I was gone so long was that I was visiting with the Captain and not that I had fallen overboard. When they were searching for me I waved to them from the pilot house!





We had to drive off the ferry in specific order so that the ferry would maintain its balance in the water! The big trucks in the center left first.





And that mis amigos is how you get from Goya to Reconquista...and make an adventure out of it!