We, however, had much more adventurous plans and headed south into more desolate country. By noon we reached the town of La Paragua. This outpost sits on the Rio Paragua and is a jumping off point into the jungle. The paved road literally ends at the riverbank where we boarded a ferry to take us to the next phase of our adventure. Being mid October, we were at the height of the wet season. The riverbanks and the low-lying grasslands across the river were well flooded from the seasonal rains, and held back by a large dam down river. Just driving onto the ferry required fording 18 inches of swollen river to reach the ramps. Once across, we drove off the boat into the pantano (mud) and literally began a whole different trip.
Within a mile of leaving the ferry we were in water up to our headlights. Chris and I scrambled for photos while Felipe and Enzo gunned their rigs through the slop, searching for traction and hoping they were still following the submerged track. Felipe flicked a toggle on the dash that diverted air from the ARB air pump (that was busy supplying air to the Air Lockers) to the distributor cap. By pressurizing the distributor, water was unable to enter it and spark went uninhibited to the plugs. Meanwhile, I watched water lap at the base of the ARB snorkel where it fitted to theJeep’s body. I immediately gained a new respect for these striking-cobra-looking extensions that look rather silly protruding from fenders of rigs around my desert homeland. Eventually the track reappeared and we motored across soggy grasslands to the next waterhole. After 45 minutes of this we reached a large body of water that appeared to be a lake with islands. But, it was just more flooded ground, this time too far and too deep to ford.
