By Ferry

As the saying goes, we learned our lesson the hard way.

On Saturday, January 20, 2024, we were returning from Argentina in our vehicle. Our final overnight stop had been in Formosa. Thinking it would be a picturesque alternative, we decided to take the river ferry across the border.

The quick verdict: it is not worth it.

“Sometimes the route chosen for its charm turns into an unexpected exercise in patience at the river’s edge.”

The full story… While the immigration and customs process on the Argentine side is relatively swift, the real bottleneck is waiting for the ferry to arrive. While we were waiting at the dock, a ferry pulled in and unloaded the vehicles it had brought over from Paraguay.

For reasons unexplained, we were not allowed to board. Priority was given to three fuel tanker trucks which, despite not filling the vessel’s capacity, set sail immediately—leaving the queue of private vehicles to grow longer under the sun. We were only permitted onto the subsequent ferry. The crossing costs approximately 130,000 Guaraníes.

Map showing the ferry crossing location over the Paraguay River at Puerto Pilcomayo.

It would have been significantly faster and more cost-effective to continue driving to Clorinda and cross into Paraguay via the San Ignacio de Loyola Bridge over the Pilcomayo River.