After Estancia Santa Inés, we switched gears and became (for the most) part budget travelers. Having a rental car was a major exception. It was expensive but gave us a lot of flexibility to move around the region. Almost all of our accommodations were much simpler and much less expensive. We always stayed at places with access to swimming facilities (river or swimming pool) - practically a necessity in my opinion given the extreme heat and lack of planned activities for the boys - and I made sure that every place had cooking facilities but otherwise our accommodations were pretty basic. I couldn't justify paying lots of money for a place to spend the night given that we would be traveling for 6 weeks. In many respects, I'd describe our accommodations to be on the level of a backpacker hotel except that we didn't really encounter backpackers during our travels. In fact, the only Americans that we saw during the entire 6 weeks were the Peace Corps volunteers in Encarnación, Paraguay. I don't think that we saw any foreigners, except maybe one or two couples when we visited the Guaraní mission, San Ignacio. Of course, we did encounter Argentine tourists, mostly as other guests at our hotels.
In Posadas, we stayed at ApartHotel Desiderata. It is a great place and I highly recommend it for budget travelers. The staff members are very friendly and helpful; it is conveniently located for walking to the center and the costañera; and it has nice views and a refreshing swimming pool. Still, initially, I was taken aback by the small size of the 2-room "apartment". But It ended up working out just fine. We cooked, slept, and used the bathroom in our apartment but otherwise we spent most of our time outside in the common areas.
We spent a little over a week in Posadas at ApartHotel Desiderata. John accompanied us for the weekend and then he left on Tuesday to return to the United States. Instead, my father (Gramps) took his place for 5 weeks of budget travel adventure in Misiones/Corrientes.
Late Wednesday, my father (Gramps) joined us. Months prior, he had expressed interest in joining us for our Misiones/Corrientes adventure and had purchased an airline ticket. Still, I wasn't sure he would arrive. His itinerary to get to Posadas was just too insane: 1) he drove from Cottage Grove, Oregon to Eugene, Oregon; 2) he took Amtrak from Eugene, Oregon to Portland, Oregon; 3) he took public transportation to the Portland airport; 4) he took an overnight flight from Portland to JFK airport; 5) he took an overnight flight from JFK to São Paulo; 6) he took a flight from São Paulo to Asunción, Paraguay; 7) he got a ride from the Asunción airport to the Asunción bus terminal; 8) he took a bus from Asunción to Encarnación; and, finally 9) he somehow crossed from Encarnación, Paraguay to Posadas, Argentina and made it to ApartHotel Desiderata. I wasn't sure it would all work out. We had been waiting all afternoon/evening for Gramps to arrive when finally around 8:00pm a staff-woman of ApartHotel Desiderata told me that I had a phone call. A customs official from Argentine immigration was calling me. She said that they had my dad but they couldn't let him enter the country because he hadn't paid the US-Argentine reciprocity fee beforehand. I was quite disappointed that Gramps hadn't paid the US-Argentine reciprocity fee in advance - I'd written him various email messages reminding him how important it was to do so. Not doing so had created problems but amazingly, rather than refuse my father entry, the customs officials had tracked down the phone number of my hotel and called me to tell me that I could pay Gramps's US-Argentine reciprocity fee over the Internet and bring it to them and then they would release him. Since I didn't have a printer, they even let me bring my computer and show them the payment receipt on my computer screen. I quickly made the payment, piled the kids into the car, and drove to the border. I quickly found Gramps...tired and grumpy. I thanked the Argentine customs officials profusely (I don't think US customs agents would likely be so lenient) and we promptly returned to the hotel for Gramps to take a shower, eat, and sleep.
From 9:00-12:00 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings for one week the boys attended the Itapuá Tennis Club summer camp (colonia de verano) where they swam and learned to do flip turns. I used this time for interviews related to my work. When Gramps arrived, he watched the boys during the afternoons and evenings while I worked.
The kids and I were sad to leave ApartHotel Desiderata. The boys had made friends with the son of one of the hotel owners and a bunch of neighborhood kids. They spent all afternoon and evening, each day, playing with their new friends. I was really proud of the boys for playing with all of the neighborhood kids, even the poor kids whose families were squatters. They didn't seem to differentiate between who was rich and who was poor. I hope they remember and continue to do the same as they get older.