Exploring Pilar by car

Getting a car here has been quite an adventure with the seemingly endless bureaucracy involved.  We finally got the car and are legal to drive it, so we decided to take off to the south of the country for an adventure.  Our destination was Pilar, a small town on the Paraguay river about 4.5 hours from Asuncion.  Matt had been to the area before to fish, but I never had.  The town itself is nothing super special, but does have a nice river boardwalk and some restaurants with great traditional food like chupin, a fish stew.  Although there was "nothing to do" in this small town, the experience of driving country dirt roads was fun for us.  We saw amazing wildlife and had the chance to see small time ranching in the country side.  The whole department (like a county) was flooded badly, which is not good for ranchers and farmers, but made for some incredible bird watching.

Our car! It's a 2001 Toyota Vitz.

The fields were so flooded that many of the animals were living in the deep water.

"Chupin" or "Cazuela" a catfish stew with tomatoes and cheese.

A Jabiru stork; the largest stork on the planet.  They are fairly rare here.

Our camera is not great for wildlife, but this is a Roseate Spoonbill.  They are pink like flamingos and related to the ibis.

Matt drinking terere by the river

If you go: Hotel Monumental I and II are nice options, but the breakfast is just bread and coffee.  The price was 100 mil/night for a double room with cable and AC.  Eat at Jasy I and II right around the corner-great food!  Be sure to walk along the river boardwalk and check out the Catholic Church.