Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
in national service (Mennonites are
pacifists), are now the largest minority
group here. Despite their early struggles,
today the Mennonites here are some of
the most prosperous people in Paraguay.
They are the major dairy producers in the
country and their three colonies operate
with a clinical efficiency that belies their
isolated location, with beautifully kept
gardens, ruler-straight streets and solidly
made brick houses, interspersed with
parks and pavements. The Mennonites
here are relatively liberal, modern and
open, and have embraced tourism and
relish the opportunity to show off their
achievements to the few visitors who
pass through.
West of the
Paraguay
West of the Río Paraguay lies the area of
the country that accounts for over sixty
percent of the land, but with just two
to three percent of the population,
THE CHACO
. The main route north from
the capital is Ruta 9 - the “Trans-Chaco”
- which takes you straight up through this
“inferno verde”, or “green inferno”, as it is
popularly known, and beyond to Bolivia. It
is split into three departments, Presidente
Hayes, Alto Paraguay and Boquerón, but it
is more helpful to think of it as two climate
zones - the
lower Chaco
being humid, and
the
upper Chaco
being dry. Where they
meet in the central Chaco there is a cluster
of fascinating
Mennonite colonies
which
provide the only real urban tourism in the
whole place.
Vast swathes of the Chaco are
uninhabited and this, along with the
extreme heat, makes it very dangerous to
travel around for even those who live
here; locals always travel in groups.
Guided tours
are the easiest (and safest)
way to see the highlights, which include
stunning birdlife at the
Central Chaco
Lagoons
and isolated, wildlife-packed
national parks (see box, p.691); however,
these can be cripplingly expensive and
difficult to organize unless booked well in
advance. Exploring independently is not
recommended and renting a vehicle and
obtaining all the necessary survival gear
will work out no cheaper. There are,
however, some limited public transport
options. You'll get the most out of a visit
to the Chaco if you plan everything
(including getting in touch with tourist
information offices) in advance.
WHAT TO SEE AND DO
he
three Mennonite colonies
who settled
here each established one of the central
Chaco towns, and the only thing to do
in the towns, other than seeing how the
Mennonites, indigenous peoples, and
mestizo
Paraguayans rub along together,
is to visit the interesting
Mennonite
museums
, symbolic monuments and
cooperative supermarkets in each.
Unless you are a motor-racing fanatic,
the area is best avoided in the last week of
September when it becomes gripped by
Trans-Chaco Rally
fever (
W
transchacorally
.com.py). Billed as one of the toughest
motorized events on earth, it is
accompanied by a considerable hike in
hotel prices and you will have to book
well in advance.
8
Filadelfia
Thanks to its proximity to the Ruta
Trans-Chaco,
FILADELFIA
, home to the
Fernheim Colony, has grown to be the
capital of the Boquerón department and
receives all the long-distance buses, as
well as being the hub for “local” buses,
for the Chaco. Of all the colonies, it also
has the most to do in town, with several
museums and monuments, most on or
around the main Avenida Hindenburg.
In a prim park at the corner of Calle
Unruh sit the
Museo Jakob Unger
, which
houses taxidermied Chaco wildlife, and
the
Museo de la Colonia
(both Mon-Sat
7-11.30am; free;
T
0491 417 380),
THE MENNONITE COLONIES
While indigenous tribes still make up
just over fifty percent of the Chaco's
denizens (some 28,000 people), the
German Mennonites, who first came
to Paraguay in 1927 as a group of just
1700 or so to escape discrimination,
persecution, or enforced participation
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