A visit from my parents 2: Paraguayan Pantanal, Piribebuy

Upon returning from our little road trip we planned to take a military transport flight to Northern Paraguay and visit the Pantanal.  However, there was not space for us on the plane and that part of our trip was delayed for a couple days.

  

With our extra time we spent one day in the city.  We visited Mercado 4, the main municipal market and went downtown to watch the US lose to Belgium.  Kristi ordered a Stella (originally from Belgium), which explains why we lost.  I tried to rectify things with a liter of Budweiser, but some mistakes once made...

The next day we took a trip to do some bird watching in the countryside North of the city and drove around on some back roads near the town of Cerrito.  My parents saw some birds they were excited about.  "Bird watching" is something Kristi and I do often when we are in the rural areas.  Usually it consists of driving slowly on random dirt roads and stopping occasionally to investigate anything of interest.  Paraguay has very interesting bird life, but we often spend an equal amount of time discussing the cows and chickens that roam freely everywhere through the country.  They are oddly intriguing and easier to take pictures of than birds are.  

On the way back to town we stopped at the fish shacks, a great area to visit, buy local fish, or eat a delicious fish based meal. We had not been here in several months.  A restaurant that usually overlooks the river from a high cement bulkhead served us a great meal.  The remaining restaurants and fish market were under 5 meters of water.

The following day we were able to get on the plane to Bahia Negra, a medium sized town in the Northeast corner of Paraguay very close to the border with Brazil and Bolivia.

The plane ride itself was a major part of the adventure.  Until we were seated in the plane, which held about 20 people, none of us were sure if we would really be going.  As far as we could tell, this plane that  flies three times a week,and exists mainly to serve several small communities that are accessible seasonally by a 24 hour bus ride, or year round via a five day up river boat ride.  On the way back we even made an unscheduled stop in Concepcion so one local resident could visit the doctor.

In Bahia Negra we bought some food at a small grocery and had an obligatory millenasa lunch.  We then got in a small boat for our final destination: the Tres Gigantes Biological Station. (click here for more info)

The Pantanal is the world's largest tropical wetland, only a small part of which exists within Paraguay.  Tres Gigantes is managed by Guyra, a non-profit conservation organization.  The biological station was created to facilitate scientific studies but allows tourists to use their facilities or camp for a modest fee.

My mom told me she experienced the best bird watching she has had in thirty years.  Indeed we saw many incredible birds that we had not seen in Paraguay before, as well as many other types of wildlife.  In non protected areas of the country most wild animals get asadoed (cooked), so terrestrial wildlife sightings are rare.  The abundance of animals we saw at Tres Gigantes made the place feel truly wild.  The ranger who hosted us even showed us a picture of a Jaguar a nearby game camera had caught three days prior.

Kristi and I spent much of our time exploring the area by canoe.  The reserve has a system of hiking trails.  Flooding has inundated much of the land in the Pantanal this year, and in fact, the two buildings that comprise the reserve structures are currently on an island; one that has grown increasingly smaller throughout the winter.  We had a great time paddling the trails, occasionally getting out to pull the boat through shallow water.

After returning to Asuncion we had planned to conclude my parents visit by driving to Salta, Argentina.  However, we were expecting  a critical piece of paperwork (required to drive into Argentina) to arrive while we had been in the Pantanal.  Due to unknown mystical and incredibly frustrating factors of all things bureaucratic in Paraguay, our document was still being processed.  We went instead to spend two nights in the countryside two hours east of Asuncion.  The little burrowing owl above was a popular fixture at the place we stayed and posed for us every time we came by.

We did a good amount of relaxing at our place of lodging.  The image to the right is one panel from a mural in the town of Piribebuy near where we were staying.  The town was pleasant and typical of small Paraguayan towns.  Historically, it is famous for a battle that took place in the town during the Triple Alliance War.  The mural above depicts the towns inhabitants, many of them children, trying to fight off alliance forces.  According to Wikipedia (and possibly other sources) it was a gruesome affair during which the towns hospital was burned down with the wounded inside and many prisoners were beheaded. 

We also sought out a totem we had heard about located near the town of Caacupe.  The totem depicts the seven Mitos, mythical monsters from Guarani mythology.  Each one governs some part of life and has an entertaining back story.  Jasy Jatere, for example, governs the yerba plant as well as the siesta.  He is commonly known to go after children who will not take a nap when they are told to.

After our impromptu trip to the campo we returned once again to the city and my parents boarded their overnight bus to Buenos Aries

It was fantastic to have my parents spend some time with us in Paraguay and we genuinely appreciate their visit.  Paraguay is not a popular tourism destination.  However, with a good attitude and sense of humor it is definitely possible to have a great time traveling here, and we did just that.