After a lot of anticipation and preparations, I was ready. Packed for two weeks with just a daypack sized bag. I could not reasonably use a larger bag as my plan was to hitch-hike my way up to Brazil. Larger bags tend to reduce my chances of getting a ride. Besides, I had everything I needed for the two weeks nicely packed into my little bag.
We were heading to
Belo Horizonte, Brazil where there is an International Workshop for
YWAM. Since I am currently part of this organisation it seemed like a great idea to head up there and get to know more about it. Meeting a bunch of people from all around the world and parts of Latin America will be a lot of fun too.
So there were four of us planning on doing this; travelling in pairs and meeting up in certain waypoints along the route. We were all prepared. Most of us did not have enough money for the bus fare, which was our motivation for going by this method. Those of us that did have money still preferred the choice, and wanted to travel with our friends. It sounded like adventure... and that is magic to a man's heart.
But now we are not travelling this way any more...
It is not that the adventure will stop. Just that the friendly base in Paraguay has offerred us space in their old vw van that they are dragging up there. So now we only have to find our way to Ciudad del Este in Paraguay and we then have a ride. It should be an interesting ride too, with a bunch of us squeezed into a little old van. I did that once before with the Missions School where we managed to fit nine of us in a car for a two hour journey to see the
Iguazu Waterfalls and it was a lot of fun even if not completely safe.
So now you are thinking that I will still be hitch-hiking, but only to the Brazilian border... and that would be a lot of fun... but you would be wrong.
Although the issue is currently being debated, there is a strong current pushing for us to all travel by bus. We won't know until the morning if this is the case or not, but I am still hoping for the opportunity to get out on the road and stick a thumb up in the air. There I will stand, waiting for the grace of God and the goodness of man to provide me with a seat onward, one step closer to my goal.