PARAGUAY

August 2009

Entering Paraguay for the first time was a delight.  We had very few expectations for the country as there was little travel information to be found on the internet.  Our guidebook provided us with only a 20 page introduction, most of which was out of date or inaccurate.  When all you hear about a place is that it is dirty, mosquito-infested, hugely corrupt and intensely hot, your expectations can’t be very high.   To our surprise we found the country to be one of the cleanest (except near urban areas), and the roads were some of the best we had traveled on.  The cops never bothered us, even turning their backs as we would pass them on the highway.  Bothering tourists for a bribe was not a priority for them.  It was cool and moist in the south east and hot, but tolerable closer to the capital.  We even had a few nights that were close freezing.   We recommend traveling during the winter months as there are a lot less biting insects (dengue can be a problem) around and the summer heat (in the 40s) can be extremely intense.     Once we crossed the border, we stopped for groceries at a large supermarket in Encarnacion.  We found a huge variety or products and stocked up on cheap, dried food items as well as some great fresh gnocchi and ravioli.  Our tires were heavily worn from over 30,000kms we have driven to get to this point in the trip, so our priority was to find new ones.  One positive thing that we had heard from other overlanders was that Paraguay is a good place to get deals on tires.  Tire companies in Brazil benefit from subsidies on tires that are exported, so it is possible to buy a Brazilian tire for much less in Paraguay than in Brazil.  We ended up buying a set of 4 excellent replacements for our westy.   While in the south east we visited the missions of Jesus and Trinidad located in the Itapua Department.  Both missions were declared a UNESCO world heritage site and are considered some of the most impressive remains of the Jesuit reducciones.   The first Jesuits arrived in 1587.   They wasted no time forming towns that were self-sufficient in the areas inhabited by the native Guarani people.   Because the natives were used to living a nomadic life, the structured rules and education system that the missionaries pushed on to them must have been a shock.  However; they adapted well and became highly efficient and prosperous.   The church of Reducción de Jesús (Jesus Mission) was in the process of building when the Jesuits relocated it to Paraguay.  It would have been one of the biggest churches of that time, with a central structure 70 meters long and 25 meters wide.  The massive stone structures are truly outstanding in their architecture. The Santísima Trinidad del Paraná Mission is considered the biggest of all the missions. Jesuits that came from the missions of San Carlos (present day Argentina) were its founders in 1712.  The ruins are in a slow but, thorough and constant state of reconstruction.  For more on the Jesuits see our Argentina page.  We drove to the town of Hohenau which is approximately 8 kms away from the missions.  It is also home to Parque Manantial.  Other travelers had recommended it as a great camping area.   In the summer Manantial explodes with tourists and locals, and can get crowded with 400 people a day.   Visiting the resort/campsite in the busy season would probably not have been our cup of tea.  We prefer our sleep areas to be tranquil and relaxing not pumping with loud music.   We did have a good time though, and made good use of the exceptionally clean facilities which did come at a higher than we were used to price.   After a few days of staying in the park, Ruben the friendly German owner invited us to go on a jeep with him around his immense property.  We jumped into the back of the rugged vehicle, joined by his youngest son and dog.    We had a great time riding through rough, muddy 4x4 tracks into the forest that surrounded his property.  Later in the evening we went with Ruben into town.  He had a brief work meeting to attend but we happily waited in the restaurant lounge and enjoyed a great meal of local beef and tried some Paraguayan beer.  During our stay at the park it stayed relatively quiet.  Towards the end of our stay another couple arrived in a large Mercedes camper.  Piet and Lydia had been to Paraguay before, and had actually spent quite some time at this particular park, 5 months to be exact. They took a liking to the friendly owners Ruben and his wife Karla, so they decided to work at the resort as lifeguards.  This time around they were only spending a few weeks in Paraguay as they would be flying to Russia for a work assignment.  They would be leaving their overland vehicle in the safe hands of Ruben, who was in the first stages of constructing a garage to store other overland vehicles of future travelers.  If you are interested in driving to Paraguay please let us know as we can give you the contact information for Ruben.       We left Hohenau at a later date than expected but we needed the down time to connect with family and get some much needed rest in.  Our next destination was Parque Nacional Ybycui.  The park is only about a half days drive away, but we left late and soon it was dark.  We didn’t find many opportunities to camp on the route so we pulled over to spend night at a gas station.   The gas station attendant was very welcoming and showed us to a private garage where we could sleep for the night.  He informed us that we were in a very tranquil town and there would be no problems.  After getting comfortable in bed, we were woken by the sound of pounding bass.  We ignored it at first thinking that it must be coming from a vehicle having its gas pumped at the station and it would soon leave.  20 minutes went by and to no avail, the music was still going.  Now it was even louder.  Now the unsuspecting quiet gas station was about as loud as an urban night club.  No fewer than three cars, each with would be its accompanying DJ, were competing for who had the loudest stereo.  We poked our heads out of our van and saw that someone had parked a vehicle with a very large sound kit directly behind us.  It was blocking our only exit out of the garage.   We laughed at the situation for a while, as we were still perplexed to what was going on.  Was the attendant aware that there would be an all night party at the gas station?  It sure looked like he was out there having a blast with his buddies.  Why tell us that this would be a quiet place to sleep?  We were totally confused, but refused to believe that the attendant had deliberately made this an awful situation for us.  After too much time waiting patiently for the music to dwindle, we made the decision to leave.  We ended up driving to the park after all, but it was late and dark so we had some trouble finding an ideal campsite.    

Parque Nacional Cerra Cora was our next destination after Ybycui.  It was a long drive so we made some stops along the way for chipa, a delicious Paraguayan snack made from corn flour, and some delicious ice cream.   The park was established in 1990 as a way to combat rapidly increasing deforestation in the area.  It is home to dry tropical forests and grasy savanna.  It also has some pre-Colombian caves and petroglyphs, but we were unable to locate the sites.  Apparently they are somewhere just outside of the park.  The visitor center has a small informative museum displaying information about all the flora\fauna in the park, which is worth checking out before entering the park.  There was a camping section and a day use area, but we found a great spot along what looked like an old dirt landing strip.  We spent some of the quietest nights there in the park, and witnessed some of the clearest star-filled skies that we have ever seen.   The stars of the southern sky are a novelty to us Canadians.  On our second day in the park we hiked along one of the nature trails to a small natural lookout on top of Cerro Muralia.  We saw lots of bright green parrots, and a wide variety of animal tracks during our stay.  We even saw fresh puma tracks not more than 1m from where we slept on two occasions.   We really enjoyed our stay at this park but were a little disappointed that we weren’t able to spot any of the large cats.  Seeing a jaguar or puma or even a smaller cat like the ocelot or Geoffrey’s cat would be great, but we know these cats are shy and elusive.  It will take some luck and patience if we are to see one. 

A couple of days after leaving the park we were in Concepcion, The city is known for its pleasant plazas and bumping nightlife, but we were there to get some errands done.  It would take a full day to drive to the capital city Asuncion from Concepcion, so we took our time.  Once we arrived in the city it was getting late so we drove straight to the Jardim Botanical another recommended camping area.  We found what we thought would be a campsite and began to settle in for the night when a security guard came over and told us we had to leave.  Apparently the area we were attempting to overnight in was very dangerous and if we had stayed there we would most definitely be assaulted (the guards words not ours).   We were taken to a parking area near a large lit of building in the center of the park.  There would be guards, with shotguns, there all night who had guaranteed our safety.   In the morning we got to explore the city.  Asuncion is a bustling, highly congested city with lots of moddern conveniences.  There are some beautiful historical buildings and museums to check out, as well as a nice plaza, and an abundance of restaurants and cafes to satisfy a multitude of culinary appetites.   There are a few very luxurious malls and a lively market that can be a great place to find handicrafts and knick-knacks.   During our time in the city we contacted Marta, the editor of ABC Color magazine.  We had been in contact via email with Marta for about a week.   We had been referred to the magazine by a friendly worker at the Paraguayan consulate.  Marta had been very enthusiastic to do a story about our trip, so we had to arrange a time to meet up for the interview.  We called her from a telecabina and within an hour were sitting in her air-conditioned office.  Marta is a fabulous reporter and very easy to talk to.  It doesn’t hurt that she speaks perfect English.  After spending a few hours chatting with Marta we were whisked away to have our photos taken in front of some of the city’s imposing landmarks. 

Our stay in Paraguay was short, but we met some great people and saw a side of the country that it seems most others overlook or ignore all together.  Paraguay surprised us perhaps more than any other country so far.  We were braced for sweltering heat, rampant corruption at every level, muggings and garbage littering every corner of the land.  In almost every case we found the opposite to be true and we are very satisfied with that.  Despite Paraguay’s limited touristic attractions, it is an intriguing place and we wish to come back for longer some day.    

Drive across the Gran Chaco with us as we enter Argentina yet again