Sights and Activities
Below are the places we saw and activities completed while visiting Paraguay:
Filadelfia
Colonists Museum: this museum is located in a wooden building that dates to the time the first German Protestants arrived to the city. There were many artifacts of the first settlers and we got a tour where they explained to us the history of the Mennonites.
Jakob Unger Museum: this museum is named after a Mennonite naturalist and contained an exhibit on the fauna, flora, and indigenous artifacts that were found in the area. They also had a display of the history of the Mennonites from their religious beliefs, pacifist style of life, and how they have immigrated to other countries in pursuit of religious freedom. They arrived to Filadelfia in 1927 after World War I and now, Paraguay with a community of 32,214 has the biggest population of Mennonites in Latin America. The last exhibit we saw went through the life of the indigenous in the area prior to their arrival and how it has changed with the Mennonite settlement. In their eyes, they believe they have helped to improve the indigenous people’s quality of living and they may have helped lessen baby mortality rates, educated children, and increased indigenous population, but all this comes at a price of converting them into evangelists and eliminating their spiritual beliefs.
Cooperativa Mennonita: a giant supermarket unlike any we have seen in Latin America. The market was well stocked and very organized. It reminded us of the supermarkets in Germany!
Concepcion
Casa de la Cultura Museum: this small museum contained a lot of historic artifacts about the city.
Estigarribia Street: this street is lined with many colonial mansions that now serve as municipal buidlings.
Museo del Cuartel de la Villa Real: this museum is located in the restored barracks and exhibits several artifacts of different wars Paraguay has faced, ex: Triple Alliance War and The Chaco War.
Maria Auxiliadora: this enormous Virgin Mary statue towers over one of the main avenues.
Santa Rosa del Aguaray
We were suppose to just change buses in this small town, but ended up staying two nights here. The day we arrived there had been about 24 hours of continuous rain and since the roads to our next destination, Reserva Natural Laguna Blanca, are not paved, all the buses had been cancelled. We had to wait until the weather cleared up to catch our bus. In the meantime, we saw the time go by in this small village by watching the locals drink terere, ate at a local barbeque, and hung out in our room. In general, Latin America is fairly relaxed, but Paraguay is even more nonchalant and you can only imagine life in this small village on a rainy day. It was good to slow down for a couple days.
Reserva Natural Laguna Blanca
The wait to arrive to this pristine, crystal-clear lake was well worth it. The bus dropped us off about three kilometers from the lake where we walked and then we set up our tent to enjoy a couple days of swimming, hiking, and relaxing. The Reserve has several walking trails and is home to rare birds and mammals. But by far, the main attraction is the white sand beach and turquoise waters of the lake. At times it felt we were in the Carribean!!
Asuncion
Cementerio de la Recoleta: this cemetery is a maze of incredible mausoleums of the city’s wealthy.
Museo del Barro: this modern, well-organized museum displayed everything from modern paintings to pre-Columbian and indigenous ceramics to photography and religious artwork.
Jardin Botanico: the former estate of the ruling Lopez dynasty has been turned into the city zoo, a small nature reserve and a couple of museums. We roamed around the beautiful tree-filled grounds and viewed the large former mansions of the dictators.
Supermercado Ykua Bolanos: we saw the former supermarket where, in 2006, almost 1000 people burnt to death inside when the owner elected to ‘lock-down’ after a small fire broke out in the kitchen. The building is now abandoned and a sanctuary to the deceased has been placed in front.
Manzana de la Rivera: a complex of nine colorful colonial houses has been beautifully restored. One of them, Casa Viola, is the oldest that dates back to 1750 and houses the Museo Memoria de la Ciudad (City Memory Museum) that exhibits the history of the city and its urban development.
Palacio Lopez: this palace serves as the workplace for the president and is also the seat of the government of Paraguay. The building was built by order of Carlos Antonio López, the first President of Paraguay as a republic, to serve as residence for his son, the General Francisco Solano López.
Casa de la Independencia: this colonial house dates back to 1772 and is where Paraguay became the first country in South America to declare its indepence in 1811. We received a guided tour of the museum and learned more about the Paraguayan independence.
Panteon de los Heroes: the Hero’s Pantheon was closed for renovation but we were able to take a peek from the outside the remains of Mariscal Francisco Solano López and other key figures from Paraguay’s wars are housed.
Cabildo: once the center of government, it is now home to the Museo del Congreso Nacional (National Congress Museum) with a small exhibit of indigenous artwork and several rooms of abstract art.
Catedral Metropolitana: this cathedral was built by order of Carlos Antonio López, the first President of Paraguay as a republic. It was inauguarated in 1845.
Itaugua: we took a day to visit some friends and this small town known for their traditional and unique weaving of multicolored spiderweb called ñanduti. In Guarani, nandu means spider.
Encarnacion
Santisima Trinidad de Parana: we toured Paraguay’s best-preserved Jesuit mission where the Jesuit priests lived with many indigenous guaranis that built the complex and were converted to Christians. The construction of the mission started in 1706.
Jesus de Tavarangue: another Jesuit mission we visited that was never finished because the Jesuits were expelled from Latin America by the Spanish in 1768. This complex was started in 1758.
Former House of Stroessner: this city is the birthplace of dictator Alfredo Stroessner. We walked by his former house that is now a private university.
Costanera: the day we walked along the riverwalk was cloudy and therefore the beaches empty, but the fairly new beach looked very inviting and the adjacent bars and restaurants made sure there is action day and night.
Sambadromo: the parade ground is home to Paraguay’s largest carnival party.
Ciudad del Este
Itaipu Dam: we took a free guided tour of the world’s second-largest dam. The generators supply 80% of Paraguay’s electricity and 20% of Brazil’s demand. We stopped at a viewpoint and then drove over the dam to see the lake that was formed.
