Thursday, July 13, 2006
Why I love Paraguay...
...and one reason I don't
The reason most people miss out Paraguay on their trips around South America is that, unlike it's neighbours, it doesn't have one stand-out "must see" attraction, like an Iguazu falls, chunk of Panatal or gigantic salt flat. But I love the place for it relaxed pace, genuinely lovely people, and it's simply very beautiful. So I was glad to be back in the country, this time coming in from the north to Conception, then travelling the Chaco route to Asuncion.
There are a load of reasons why I love Paraguay but here are a few random ones...
Being a foreigner is easy
...and good entertainment value for the locals. As well as being a cheap country to visit, you're made to feel welcome. I was greeted constantly by people in the street, was as much a point of interest in some places as the place was to me, and often consulted on who I thought would win the World Cup (me???). The Paraguayans are great hand-shakers and everyone from the man in the tourist office, to the guy waiting for a bus with me had a go. I only went to send a parcel home, but the (3) people in charge of special edition stamps diverted Norwegian Chris and me into a side-office first just to see their latest first day covers...they all found it hillarious that I wanted the Paraguayan World Cup Team issue (Alex, their on a postcard to you and the boys as I type).
Great cows
...like parts of Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia, Paraguayan cows are an ancient, skinny, Indian breed imported because their suitability to the conditions. They´re strangely beautiful with long horns and a hump, but I like the way the Paraguan army lets them graze on the parade ground.
And horses too... There are horses everywhere other than in the heart of Asuncion, and the horse and cart is still a popular means of transport. I just liked turning a corner and finding a horse parked in front of a house.
Asuncion...
I love this city. It's a complete mix of old and modern, poor and rich. It's beautiful has great restaurants with great food. And this visit I made it to the Mercardo 4, street after street of covered market selling anything from cow guts to Hello Kitty radios.
They have a navy...
Which on the surface may seem a bit odd for a land locked country, but I suspect it spends it's time patrolling the Rio Paraguay for contraband from Bolivia rather than defending it's borders.
The people...
...just lovely
...and the one thing that isn't so wonderful...
is the everpresent heavily armed police. Aparently there is a high proportion of private gun ownership amoung Paraguayans but it just doesn't seem that unsafe a country, and I suspect that the powers that be just like to make sure the people know who has the biggest guns. In Asuncion there was a demostration of about 15 people accompanied by an armoured police van complete with water canon...need I say more?
Twenty days and five countries...
Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Argenina (including an unscheduled stop in Jujuy) and now back to Chile... but tomorrow it's back to Bolivia...more soon.
Overheard on bus...
"Sorry, I bashed you in the Andesmar toilet"
Andesmar are a pan-Argentine bus company, all I wondered was whether to be "bashed in the Andesmar toilet" was code for something..?
Current SP´s:
To be kicked in the bollox - 5:1
An attempt to join "the meter high club" - evens
The reason most people miss out Paraguay on their trips around South America is that, unlike it's neighbours, it doesn't have one stand-out "must see" attraction, like an Iguazu falls, chunk of Panatal or gigantic salt flat. But I love the place for it relaxed pace, genuinely lovely people, and it's simply very beautiful. So I was glad to be back in the country, this time coming in from the north to Conception, then travelling the Chaco route to Asuncion.There are a load of reasons why I love Paraguay but here are a few random ones...
Being a foreigner is easy
...and good entertainment value for the locals. As well as being a cheap country to visit, you're made to feel welcome. I was greeted constantly by people in the street, was as much a point of interest in some places as the place was to me, and often consulted on who I thought would win the World Cup (me???). The Paraguayans are great hand-shakers and everyone from the man in the tourist office, to the guy waiting for a bus with me had a go. I only went to send a parcel home, but the (3) people in charge of special edition stamps diverted Norwegian Chris and me into a side-office first just to see their latest first day covers...they all found it hillarious that I wanted the Paraguayan World Cup Team issue (Alex, their on a postcard to you and the boys as I type).
Great cows
...like parts of Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia, Paraguayan cows are an ancient, skinny, Indian breed imported because their suitability to the conditions. They´re strangely beautiful with long horns and a hump, but I like the way the Paraguan army lets them graze on the parade ground.
And horses too... There are horses everywhere other than in the heart of Asuncion, and the horse and cart is still a popular means of transport. I just liked turning a corner and finding a horse parked in front of a house.
Asuncion...
I love this city. It's a complete mix of old and modern, poor and rich. It's beautiful has great restaurants with great food. And this visit I made it to the Mercardo 4, street after street of covered market selling anything from cow guts to Hello Kitty radios.
They have a navy...
Which on the surface may seem a bit odd for a land locked country, but I suspect it spends it's time patrolling the Rio Paraguay for contraband from Bolivia rather than defending it's borders.
The people...
...just lovely
...and the one thing that isn't so wonderful...
is the everpresent heavily armed police. Aparently there is a high proportion of private gun ownership amoung Paraguayans but it just doesn't seem that unsafe a country, and I suspect that the powers that be just like to make sure the people know who has the biggest guns. In Asuncion there was a demostration of about 15 people accompanied by an armoured police van complete with water canon...need I say more?
Twenty days and five countries...
Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Argenina (including an unscheduled stop in Jujuy) and now back to Chile... but tomorrow it's back to Bolivia...more soon.
Overheard on bus...
"Sorry, I bashed you in the Andesmar toilet"
Andesmar are a pan-Argentine bus company, all I wondered was whether to be "bashed in the Andesmar toilet" was code for something..?
Current SP´s:
To be kicked in the bollox - 5:1
An attempt to join "the meter high club" - evens
Monday, July 03, 2006
The Brazilian Pantanal
Swimming with Pirahnas
The last hour of my time in Bolivia was spent beating off Brazlian husslers from Pantanal tour agencies. They used nasty little methods, (from deliberately false advice about crossing the border, constantly bombarding us with useless information and just obvious lies). And once over the border at Corumba, the hussling continued with the same guys turning up constantly, and sadly it started to become a crash course in how to despise a nation.
One of the ever present characters in Corumba is an old Greek fella who seems to be everywhere, and attaches himself to the tourists. He's one of those people who makes everything his business, thinks he's expert in everything and in reality know absolutely nothing about anything... a good example of this was when he asked if I had any foreign coins, all I had was a 5 Boliviano. Bear in mind that Bolivia is about 8kms away from Corumba and I know I've not been to Peru, our conversation continued when I handed him the 5 Boli's: "Ah Peruvian" he said. "No, Bolivian" I said. "No Peruvian" he assured me. I took the coin back.
Things weren't greatly helped by the Lonely Planet being woefully out of date, which reminds me, I'm now translating the LP as follows: if it ever says "...resembling a town from the old wild west" read "sh*thole" and if it ever says it's worth a stopover it probabably isn't. If you´re travelling in this area, see the recommendations below.
Into the depths of the Pantanal
However, having teamed up with a couple we met on the train we finally settled on a company, Quatros Cantos, that have a farm right out in the middle of the Pantanal. About twice as expensive as other agencies and apparently run by a guy called Wesley who I'm sure had ADD, I wasn't 100% convinced, but I went with Norwegian Chris' instinct and it paid off fantastically. We had an amazing guide, and great accommodation on the farm that was far further into the Panantal than the other companies went. Travelling up we saw so much I felt we'd already got our money's worth, seeing an array of birds and animals including endangered species such as red and blue macaws, giant anteaters and a black armadillo, as well as a huge amount of the more numerous wildlife like rheas, deer and caymen (crocodiles)... and yes, after a morning fishing for them, and having checked for cuts, I went swimming in a river infested with parahna.
The madness continued after the Pantanal: Moving south to Bonito we swam in crystal clear rivers, with spectactualar, huge fish, but not before we'd been treated to more of the same shambolic confusing missinformation when trying to book transport to the river. I'm really not sure if the guy was trying to be difficult or just a bit mad. The convesation went like this:
Agent: "How many of you are there?"
Us: "4"
Agent: "Fantastic! 4 is the perfect number. 3 is best because you can get 3 in a car, and 6 is the right number for a van, but 4 is good because you only need to find 2 more people. I think there are some Canadians who want to go, I'll ask my daughter. Pamela!Paamellllla!"
(Noises off)
Agent: "Fantastic! No they're going on another tour. So come here tomorrow at 8, OK?"
Us: Stunned silence
In the end we went in a van with one other guy call Eric.
It saddens me that I left Brazil (I'm not even going to describe the merry dance we were led getting across the border) with such a bad experience of the people. What was also dissappointing to listen to the Brazilians themselves bitching and moaning about each other, while they vyed for our attention and wallets, so in some way I don't feel unfair in saying, to the next Brazilians I meet: if I treat you as idiotic or with distrust blame your countrymen in the Matto Grosso Do Sul.
Although I was dissappointed that a rainy day partially obscured the amazing scenery as we tore through Paraguay's Parque Nacional Cerro Cora, I was just pleased to be leaving Brazil...
Recommendations:
If you´re coming up to the Pantanal on the "death train" from Bolivia, the Lonely Planet have the following things wrong:
Despite being described as a "collection of shacks" Quijarro is actually a fully functioning town with banks, restaurants, hotels and tour oporators. You don´t need to haggle with the taxi drivers, they charge a fix Bol$5 perperson to the border. And at the border the official exit duty is Bol$10 (well it´s official as anything is in Bolivia, but you get a sticker in your passport).
The husslers from the tour companies may tell you it´s easier to get off the train at Puerto Suarez or that you can´t go into Brazil if it´s after closing time for the Federal Police at the bus station in Corumba... we ignored all this and were fine (if the Federal Police is closed overnight in Corumba and go up in the morning).
Watch out, Brazilian taxis (in the whole department) are very expensive operating a fix minimum charge of Bra$10-20 per journey however short, so take advantage of the tour guides offers to give you free rides into town from the border. All you need to do is go look at their accomodation and then go somewhere else if you don´t want to stay there - Green Track only have dorms, so if you want a private room they´ll probably give you a lift somewhere else.
Hotel Saylette is a reasonable option with good breakfast, but watch out, our agreed room rate mysteriously went up by Bra$5 overnight, so make absolutely sure that they write the rate on your registration form.
If you´re taking a tour from Corumba you have a couple of options: there seems to be 3 main tour agencies opperating at the moment, Indiana, Green Track and Cuatro Cantos. If you´re on a budget they all offer tours around Bra$285 for 4 days. Indiana has had good reports and probably has the best accomodation, but is only just in the actual Pantanal, Green Track has only hammock accomodation but is a bit further in, and Cuatro Cantos has a very basic hammock only accomodation at their camp, but it´s much further in (take a mosquito net if you have one). And in the wet season the Pantanal road is impassable, so you have to go down the highway, meaning that with the first two options you don´t even travel across much of the Pantanal, and they actually send you the first bit on the bus. But if you can afford it, take the Bra$600-700 Quatro Cantos 5 day tour to the farm: you only spend a bit of one night in the "camp" before a dust ride to the farm but your chances of seeing more varied wildlife is much better and the accomodation is among the best I´ve had in LatAm so far.
If you go to Bonito you can book tours through Muito Bonito Hotel, but the guy that runs it is mad. There is a much better place for the same price round the corner, Caromancioa, which has an amazing breakfast.
If you´re crossing the border into Paraguay, go via Ponta Pora: Although you can (in theory) get an entry stamp to Paraguay, at Bela Vista and elsewhere, they wont give it unless you have a valid exit stamp from Brasil which you can only get in Ponta Pora or back in Corumba. In Ponta Pora you´ll never find the Paraguayan Migration office (open every day including Sundays) on your own, it´s way out of town, so get a cab... and if you arrive on a Saturday or Sunday the Brazilian Federal Police Migration office in town is theoretically closed, but there is someone at the main reception who will stamp you out (or in) if you ask nicely.
The last hour of my time in Bolivia was spent beating off Brazlian husslers from Pantanal tour agencies. They used nasty little methods, (from deliberately false advice about crossing the border, constantly bombarding us with useless information and just obvious lies). And once over the border at Corumba, the hussling continued with the same guys turning up constantly, and sadly it started to become a crash course in how to despise a nation.One of the ever present characters in Corumba is an old Greek fella who seems to be everywhere, and attaches himself to the tourists. He's one of those people who makes everything his business, thinks he's expert in everything and in reality know absolutely nothing about anything... a good example of this was when he asked if I had any foreign coins, all I had was a 5 Boliviano. Bear in mind that Bolivia is about 8kms away from Corumba and I know I've not been to Peru, our conversation continued when I handed him the 5 Boli's: "Ah Peruvian" he said. "No, Bolivian" I said. "No Peruvian" he assured me. I took the coin back.
Things weren't greatly helped by the Lonely Planet being woefully out of date, which reminds me, I'm now translating the LP as follows: if it ever says "...resembling a town from the old wild west" read "sh*thole" and if it ever says it's worth a stopover it probabably isn't. If you´re travelling in this area, see the recommendations below.
Into the depths of the Pantanal
However, having teamed up with a couple we met on the train we finally settled on a company, Quatros Cantos, that have a farm right out in the middle of the Pantanal. About twice as expensive as other agencies and apparently run by a guy called Wesley who I'm sure had ADD, I wasn't 100% convinced, but I went with Norwegian Chris' instinct and it paid off fantastically. We had an amazing guide, and great accommodation on the farm that was far further into the Panantal than the other companies went. Travelling up we saw so much I felt we'd already got our money's worth, seeing an array of birds and animals including endangered species such as red and blue macaws, giant anteaters and a black armadillo, as well as a huge amount of the more numerous wildlife like rheas, deer and caymen (crocodiles)... and yes, after a morning fishing for them, and having checked for cuts, I went swimming in a river infested with parahna.
The madness continued after the Pantanal: Moving south to Bonito we swam in crystal clear rivers, with spectactualar, huge fish, but not before we'd been treated to more of the same shambolic confusing missinformation when trying to book transport to the river. I'm really not sure if the guy was trying to be difficult or just a bit mad. The convesation went like this:
Agent: "How many of you are there?"
Us: "4"
Agent: "Fantastic! 4 is the perfect number. 3 is best because you can get 3 in a car, and 6 is the right number for a van, but 4 is good because you only need to find 2 more people. I think there are some Canadians who want to go, I'll ask my daughter. Pamela!Paamellllla!"
(Noises off)
Agent: "Fantastic! No they're going on another tour. So come here tomorrow at 8, OK?"
Us: Stunned silence
In the end we went in a van with one other guy call Eric.
It saddens me that I left Brazil (I'm not even going to describe the merry dance we were led getting across the border) with such a bad experience of the people. What was also dissappointing to listen to the Brazilians themselves bitching and moaning about each other, while they vyed for our attention and wallets, so in some way I don't feel unfair in saying, to the next Brazilians I meet: if I treat you as idiotic or with distrust blame your countrymen in the Matto Grosso Do Sul.
Although I was dissappointed that a rainy day partially obscured the amazing scenery as we tore through Paraguay's Parque Nacional Cerro Cora, I was just pleased to be leaving Brazil...
Recommendations:
If you´re coming up to the Pantanal on the "death train" from Bolivia, the Lonely Planet have the following things wrong:
Despite being described as a "collection of shacks" Quijarro is actually a fully functioning town with banks, restaurants, hotels and tour oporators. You don´t need to haggle with the taxi drivers, they charge a fix Bol$5 perperson to the border. And at the border the official exit duty is Bol$10 (well it´s official as anything is in Bolivia, but you get a sticker in your passport).
The husslers from the tour companies may tell you it´s easier to get off the train at Puerto Suarez or that you can´t go into Brazil if it´s after closing time for the Federal Police at the bus station in Corumba... we ignored all this and were fine (if the Federal Police is closed overnight in Corumba and go up in the morning).
Watch out, Brazilian taxis (in the whole department) are very expensive operating a fix minimum charge of Bra$10-20 per journey however short, so take advantage of the tour guides offers to give you free rides into town from the border. All you need to do is go look at their accomodation and then go somewhere else if you don´t want to stay there - Green Track only have dorms, so if you want a private room they´ll probably give you a lift somewhere else.
Hotel Saylette is a reasonable option with good breakfast, but watch out, our agreed room rate mysteriously went up by Bra$5 overnight, so make absolutely sure that they write the rate on your registration form.
If you´re taking a tour from Corumba you have a couple of options: there seems to be 3 main tour agencies opperating at the moment, Indiana, Green Track and Cuatro Cantos. If you´re on a budget they all offer tours around Bra$285 for 4 days. Indiana has had good reports and probably has the best accomodation, but is only just in the actual Pantanal, Green Track has only hammock accomodation but is a bit further in, and Cuatro Cantos has a very basic hammock only accomodation at their camp, but it´s much further in (take a mosquito net if you have one). And in the wet season the Pantanal road is impassable, so you have to go down the highway, meaning that with the first two options you don´t even travel across much of the Pantanal, and they actually send you the first bit on the bus. But if you can afford it, take the Bra$600-700 Quatro Cantos 5 day tour to the farm: you only spend a bit of one night in the "camp" before a dust ride to the farm but your chances of seeing more varied wildlife is much better and the accomodation is among the best I´ve had in LatAm so far.
If you go to Bonito you can book tours through Muito Bonito Hotel, but the guy that runs it is mad. There is a much better place for the same price round the corner, Caromancioa, which has an amazing breakfast.
If you´re crossing the border into Paraguay, go via Ponta Pora: Although you can (in theory) get an entry stamp to Paraguay, at Bela Vista and elsewhere, they wont give it unless you have a valid exit stamp from Brasil which you can only get in Ponta Pora or back in Corumba. In Ponta Pora you´ll never find the Paraguayan Migration office (open every day including Sundays) on your own, it´s way out of town, so get a cab... and if you arrive on a Saturday or Sunday the Brazilian Federal Police Migration office in town is theoretically closed, but there is someone at the main reception who will stamp you out (or in) if you ask nicely.
