After breakfast we were met in the lobby by Jose Luis and our driver for the day. Our transfer to the airport in Paraguay was to be about two hours. We gave ourselves four hours just to be safe...don´t want to miss that plane. We left promptly at 8:30 AM and headed for the first border crossing - Argentina/Brazil. There we sat in the bus for 45 minutes while our guide processed our paperwork and got our passports stamped. Next it was off to the Brazil side of the border. There we waiting another 30 minutes before being asked to appear before the immigration officer, one at a time, to view our passports and match our photos, answer a few questions, and get passed. We are beginning to understand that the rules change from one day to the next.
Now two hours into our commute we headed for the Brazilian/Paraquay border. The Brazilians this time simply waived us through. However when we got the Paraquay side it was another story. Everyone immediately appreciated the was had gone to the extra effort to get that Paraguayan visa. The lines were long, they wanted each of us to do a face-to-face appearance. An hour later we were back on the bus and into the city of Cuidad de Este in Paraguay and facing a 40 minute drive to the airport on the outskirts of town. We´d have twenty minutes to check-in and get on the plane.
We arrived at the airport at 11:15 AM for our 11:45 AM flight. The new airport was modern, clean, and oddly empty. There were only a handful of passengers in the terminal and no planes! At the desk we were informed that our flight has been canceled. Not good news. However, TAM airlines would send us on to Ascencion, Paraguay for the night, put us up in a hotel with included transfers and dinner, and in the morning we could fly to Sao Paolo and get a connecting flight to Manuas...unfortunately well past the time our Amazon cruise had set sail....bummer.
And thus began the game....
12:30 PM - Tom met with the TAM official and was informed that there were no options. The TAM flight to Sao Paolo that had been purchased one year ago was canceled as only 18 seats had been sold. There had been no advance notice. Tom informed them of our Amazon committment and this was the fifth time TAM had changed or canceled flights. He demanded some resolution that would save our cruise. We are confirmed for the 2:30 PM flight to Ascencion. At least we are in movement.
1:30 PM - We are informed that there are no seats avaiable on the Ascencion flight. Suddenly noone in the TAM office is availabel to talk so we wait.
2:00 PM - We are infomred that we are confirmed with seats to Ascencion on the 5:00 PM flight but will still have to stay overnight as the flight from Ascencion to Sao Paolo is oversold and there are no seats to get us that far. Tom asks to speak with the American Embassy. The TAM officials tell him to wait. He makes a call to the Amazon to inform the cruise company of the problem. They inform him that we have a private cruise with no other pasengers (good news) and that the boat will sail whenever we arrive. He asks them to cancel our hotel in Mauaus for the night and that we will arrive sometime tomorrow evening hopefully.
4:00 PM - The Paraguay airport is filling up with lots of locals and tourists. Bags are being checked and boarding passes are being issued to everyone except us. We are told to wait - no word from the US Embassy. Tom´s language skills in both Spanish and Portuguese are improving by the minute...smile.
4:45 PM - We are informed that they are ready to check us onto our flight to Ascencion. We get in line and decide to check bags. They start putting on tags to Manaus. We inform them that we will need our bags for the night stay in Ascension. They inform us that we are flying through with a connection to Sao Paolo today and then on to Manaus. When Tom asks them what changed and how a flight that had been canceled is now suddenly available they simply smile and tell hime that ´´things have changed.´´
5:30 PM - We arrive in Ascencion and proceed to our Sao Paolo gate. There Tom is informed that 14 Brazilians were somehow bumped off of the sold out flight to make seats for us. They will now say why or how. We don´t ask and decide to keep a low profile in case some of them are in the airport...smile.
9:15 PM - We land in Sao Paolo and once again go through Brazilian immigration. It´t getting easier. They seem to remember our faces...smile. Tom calls the Amazon and reestablishes our hotel and transfer reservations.
10:45 PM - We are in the disembarkation lounge. It is unbelievable crowded and hot. The chaos is amazing yet somehow people are getting to the busses and to their flights. We wait. Sara is tired and asks for a chair. They bring here a wheelchair to sit on.
11:00 PM - Tom walks up to an official and informs them that we are group of 14 with a lady in a wheelchair and that we will need some extra time to get to the Manaus plane. A few minutes later an official appears and directs all of us past the rest of the waiting passengers and on to a private van that takes us to our plane. The only problem is that it is the wrong plane. So there we are in the middle of the tarmac at and the wrong plane. A few ground crew conversations and we are then taken to the correct plane. We board.
2:00 AM - We land in Manaus - heart of the Amazon - tired, happy, and with an air-conditioned coach waiting to take us the hotel.
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