Archive

Asuncion, Paraguay If the countries of South America were humans, then poor Paraguay might have a complex. It would be hard being ignored while your bigger neighbours – Brazil, Argentina and even Bolivia – get all the attention from the foreign tourists. But that’s the way things have been for Paraguay for a long time ...

Tips for travel in Paraguay As the bus drives along the bumpy dirt road, I look desperately out the window. Through the haze of the red dust being thrown into the air, I look for a sign. Not a mystical symbol of guidance or anything that ethereal – I’m talking about an actual sign. You ...

The Paraguay Jesuit missions at Trinidad With my writings of Paraguay, there seems to have been a bit of a theme to many of the stories. Quite often it’s been about people coming to the country as an escape from the sufferings of home or with aspirations to create a better world. The communist colonialists ...

Encarnacion, Paraguay I’m not normally one to use guidebooks. I’m certainly not normally one to use the maps in guidebooks. In Paraguay, though, the options for planning ahead are limited. So, I had dutifully studied the map in the <insert famous brand here> guidebook for the city I was heading to, Encarnacion. I’d been looking ...

Escaping to Paraguay The year was 1989 and as The Berlin Wall was torn down from around him, Peter Gärtner saw an opportunity. He was a biologist – for work and for love. Within East Berlin, though, the concrete jungle offered little connection with nature. It was not a city where his passion could flourish, ...

Itaipu Hydroelectric Dam Paraguay When you think of Paraguay (which, admittedly, doesn’t happen often), you don’t necessarily think of engineering wonders of the twentieth century. But there, tucked away in the east of the country, is a marvel to rival some of the most famous constructions in the world. It is, though, as controversial as ...

In Paraguay, the long struggle for the indigenous people to get back their land continues. In Part 1 of this tale, we visited small communities waiting for a resolution on their land claims. Often camped by the side of a highway, they hope desperately for good news. There is reason for hope, though. In this ...

Paraguay’s indigenous tribes Dozens of members of the community – mostly children – stand around listening. In the middle of the circle, the Paraguayan village leader is speaking. Slowly, through a translator, he makes his message clear. “We need more land,” he says. Looking around, as I do at that moment, there seems to be ...

Paraguay’s Atlantic Forest So, to my right, there’s a rustle in the undergrowth. I turn quickly, scanning the mottled green of the Atlantic Forest, hoping to see where the sound’s coming from… but it doesn’t look like there’s anything there. I hesitate, just briefly in case something emerges from the bushes, and then turn back ...

Nueva Australia Paraguay It had taken me two days, countless bus trips (ok, about 3), a night in a strange unknown city, a bribe to a taxi driver, and many awkward conversations in bad Spanish – but I had finally made it to the tiny place in the middle of Paraguay that isn’t even on ...