Paraguarí, Paraguay

Dec. 12, 2024

Paraguarí, Paraguay, with a population around 23,000, was founded in 1775. Paraguarí is called "Cradle of National Independence", since in the Cerro Mba'e fight, of January 19, 1811, the Paraguayan army defeated the Spanish army from Buenos Aires. That win lead to the independence of Paraguay. In the early-to-mid 17th century the Jesuits were expelled from Paraguay by order of the King of Spain, then soon after, the town of Paraguarí was founded.

Paraguarí sits in an important agricultural area, providing many products to Asunción. Several main roads pass through here allowing for easy transportation of agricultural products. There is also a granite quarry and a kaolin mine. Kaolin is an important raw material with many uses, from paper to being used in medicines and cosmetics, and many other uses.

Paraguarí is known as the national center for extreme sports, including some I've never heard of: downhill and freeride longboard, street sled (a Brasilian sport), classic and street luge, drift trike, hang gliding, paragliding, mountain biking, and more. The town also has an artillery museum and the town train station is on of the oldest in the Americas.

When I arrived in town I got off the bus on the main road and stopped for a bite to eat then on my way to the hostel I passed through the Plaza Mcal Lopez. It's not much to speak of, there's no grass, just dirt and paths and the usual things for children to play on. There is another plaza and park a couple of blocks away that is quite nice and the town church is next to those, but oddly enough, the ugly park had many people in and the nice park had just about none. Might be because the ugly park is directly in front of the mercado, which is quite busy.

At the edge of this tiny town is a single stand-alone hill called Cerro Perõ, a hill that suddenly pokes up from the earth, and is about 499 meters (1,637 feet) above sea level, and about 409-412 meters (1,341-1,351 feet) above the town. There is another mountain just a couple of kilometers away, it's called Cerro Hũ. That one is about 400 meters (1,312 feet) above sea level and about 310-313 meters (1,017-1,027 feet) above the town. I didn't take the time to hike it because the weather turned to thunder and lightning in the afternoon. The various websites that talk about it say the trail is steep, rocky, and difficult. Not a good place to hike with such a turn of the weather. At any rate, from the top of Cerro Perõ, you can see the entire valley, and it is quite a sight. There are pics in the photo album, or will be as soon as I get caught up with compressing and uploading photos.

In the afternoon of my first full day here the weather turned almost immediately. All day had been cool and just a bit drippy occasionally, thunder could be heard far out in the distance, but then all hell broke loose. The wind came on like a hurricane, the rain pelted, lightning and thunder coincided. Branches of trees were floating across streets that were turned into streams. And where was I? Out looking for a restaurant for dinner. And what else happened? The electricity for the whole town went off. I gave up on the idea of getting dinner and started my way back to the hostel. About two blocks from the hostel I came across a roadside food-truck with a woman in it, she was nursing her baby. I gave a quick glance to the little kitchen and asked if it would be possible to get something to eat. She said 'Of course' and gave me a list of hamburgers (I don't eat those) and sandwiches. I asked for a chicken sandwich. Another woman entered the the trailer holding some plastic over her head and she make me the best chicken sandwich I've anywhere in South America.

This town is pleasant, generally quiet except for the few noisy, um, persons on motorcycles who feel the need to rev them to their maximum and ride as fast as possible through town. But, thankfully, I've heard that happen only two times. It's incredibly annoying, even if it's only two times. Or, I'm just getting old. At any rate, this isn't a town to go out of your way to visit. If you happen to pass through on your way from Encarnación to Asunción stop for lunch. The food-truck I mentioned is on the street General (Gral) Bruguez near street Fulgencio Yegros. That's about 4 1/2 blocks northeast of Highway 1 and a few blocks north of the plaza. That little place is definitely serving up some good food.