Peruibe and a change of plans

The sleepy, small beach town of Peruibe is perfect for us. Not too many people during the week and a little busier on the weekends with mostly people coming from Sao Paulo to their beach homes. Within a few days we had met several of the locals and were becoming fast friends with Tony and his wife Ingrid and Luis and his wife Franklina. Tony had lived in the US for 30 years and immediately offered us the use of their home for showers, internet, laundry and anything else that was needed. Luis is a geo physicist who works for a US company and travels mostly to the middle- east for oil exploration and Franklina stays Brazil at their home in town. We are also very aware that we are woefully behind schedule and winter (southern hemisphere) is fast approaching. Our original goal had been to be in Patagonia no later than March and here it is April and we are still in Brazil. In addition we need to go back to the United States at the end of July for about three weeks for Tom’s mom’s 90th birthday. The family has scheduled a Mexican Riviera cruise for the party and it is a good opportunity to catch up with family and friends. However, leaving Winston and our motor home had been a dilemma. This was solved when Tony and Ingrid kindly offered to take care of both whilst we were gone. Being retired does have benefits and having a flexible schedule is one of those. We study our maps and timetable and revise our plans. We will still go to Foz do Iguaçu but from there will go to Paraguay (not originally on our list) and will come back to Brazil either via Argentina in the south or go to northern Paraguay and head into the Pantanal region of Brazil before coming back to Peruibe. With the help of Franklina and Elena (a realtor friend) we rented a house for June and July. After our trip back to the States, we will continue going south in Brazil down the coast to Uruguay, also not on our original itinerary before travelling from Montevideo to Buenos Aires by ferry. We will miss some of central Argentina but we will see more countries and will be back on schedule to be in Patagonia in December. As we plan our visit for Foz do Iguaçu and beyond, we are visited by a lady from the local TV company. When we return, she wants to do an interview with me regarding our travels. What fun. On the day of our departure, we sign the rental agreement; get a farewell gift from Franklina – a bag filled with local goodies and a last lunch with Tony and Ingrid. Early afternoon finds us on the road. We hope to be in Foz do Iguaçu in 3 days.