On the Road Again

Determined to see as much of this country as possible, we packed a lunch and an overnight bag and headed out early trying to beat the morning traffic, a real contender here!  The city is a tangled mess each morning from seven to ten and evenings from four to seven.  And in between it is not a lot better. 

Once out of the city, the 4-hour road trip to Cerro Akati (Akati Hill) was great.  The toll road was modern and nice; like any in the USA.  Divided much of the way, the trip was smooth sailing until we reached the turn-off to the mountain.   

Once upon a time, hiking was the only way to reach the Mirador del Cerro Akati at the hill’s top, but these days, in dry weather, an ordinary vehicle, more recent blogs say, can maneuver the nine-mile dirt road trail. Even though we were driving a 4-wheel drive vehicle, we rocked, rolled, bounced and went right and left down the rutted farm road compressing our spines and jostling our kidneys and liver. 

Research said we’d need to park and hike the last mile, but on this day, we drove right up to the gate. We paid our 40,000 Guaranies each and walked through the old-fashioned resort park right to the edge of the lookout.  On weekends, this privately owned place is filled with campers and folks on an outing, but we had it all to ourselves that day.  Even with smoke in the air, the view was spectacular. This is such a beautiful planet. 

We sat on a park bench overlooking the vast valley below and thanked God for the moment.    

Our hotel that night in Villarrica was a real find.  Once the residence of a wealthy Villarrican family, it is now the fancy boutique Mburucuya Hotel.  Surrounded by lovely garden grounds it features open-air spaces, only seven enchanting ensuite rooms and dining alfresco.  It hinted as to what the grand old casas we find here must be like. 

I have yet to mention that most people here speak Spanish but they prefer Guarani, the language of the indigenous Guarani people of Paraguay.  Ninety percent of the population here from all social strata use Guarani.  They say it is easier, less formal than Spanish and more to the point.  The language includes many words spelled in strange ways, like, the name of our hotel, Mburucuya, for example, which translates to maracuja in Spanish, and passion fruit in English.  The endearing English phrase, I love you, is “Rojhauhu” in Guarani.  Say it fast. It almost sounds like “I love you.”

We had a gourmet donner kebab that evening prepared by a young German man and his wife. Imagine, if you will, our amazement in finding a Turkish doner kebab restaurant just down the street from us in small town Paraguay.  It was one of the best Kebab plates we’ve ever had and there was enough for a satisfying supper and a filling lunch the next day.  The best part was chatting with the couple who own the place. The young man came to this country as a baby with his family from Frankfurt, Germany thirty years ago; he met this pretty, vivacious Paraguayan lady and married her. Ohhh, young love! 

The next morning we set out for Cerro Tres Kandu.  It is the highest point in Paraguay with an elevation of 2,762 feet in the Ybytyruzu hill range—yes, another Guarani name.  Our plan was to merely see the mountain range.    Lots of people, very young people, and very energetic people I might add, hike the steep and rugged trail to the top of the hill for what is said to be an extraordinary view.  Inspired, we two people in our 70’s struck out!  We were standing at the trail head, other couples were heading out, so why not try to conquer the hill ourselves?  We grabbed our water and some snacks and hit the trail.

After two hours of arduous uphill trekking, we threw in the towel.  Even though we didn’t reach the top, we congratulated each other for making it to the ninth of the fourteen trail marker points.  After all, our original plan was to merely see the hill, not hike it. Rated as high difficulty by AllTrails, it was, without doubt, difficult indeed.  At one point, the trail was so steep, a heavy rope had been knotted between trees to assist folks in pulling up the almost vertical, root-bound, rocky path.   I don’t have many photos of the really steep parts . . . we were to busy just trying to stay on our feet!

Stan and I love a challenge.  We sometimes think we can do pretty much anything.  But as we tugged and gasped and trudged along the path seeing nothing but more straight-up climbing ahead of us, we began imagining our family and friends questioning us in that embarrassing, disarming way. . . “Now, just how old you are you?????  And you set out to do what?????  And the trail was like what?????” 

We also began to imagine what might happen if one of us slipped on the loose rock and broke a bone or what might happen if one became sick?  Who would come to rescue us?  Thankfully our better sense kicked in and we ended the uphill climb at well over the halfway point, reaching over 1,000 feet up and a distance of two miles.  We felt it too! 

Since that hike, my calves feel like frog legs.  They are so tight; they want to jump!  I now walk with a little bounce. 

Part of the fun that day was arriving at the trail head.  The highway drive toward the cerro was only about one and a half hours from Villarrica.  It took us through the heart of sugar cane country.  Paraguay is the world’s largest producer of organic sugar.  Organic sugar?  Is that an oxymoron???    

Like the road to Cerro Akati, the road to the trail head was dirt, rutted and wound through cattle farms.  Again, our organs were jostled around, and we bumped our heads on the roof of the car as we bounced along the rough rutted road.  There were plenty of photo ops though . . . some farm animals grazed so close to the road, I could almost reach out and scratch their furry heads.    

Although the landscapes were green and beautiful, the sky grew hazier and filled with smoke.  Cattle farmers here still do things the old way.  Even though scientists have shown that burning a field destroys organic matter and creates tremendous air pollution, ranchers still burn pastures in August to encourage new pasture growth for their herds.  It is cheap and quick, but the practice burns the eye and ruins the view.  Even in the city, hours away, the sky is filled with haze from the burning fields. 

Oh but, we are not done yet!  With only three weeks left in our Paraguayan adventure and not fully relinquishing the hope of seeing the Chaco region of Paraguay, we made another rental car reservation and will head out next week for a few days for road trip number 3.  Maybe it is Karma, but we had almost given up on a trip through Chaco as it is a miminum a six-hour drive in the least inhabited area of Paraguay to get to the heart of region.  Our main purpose in seeing Chaco, the most primitive part of the country, is to visit Guarani villages but mostly to have a chance to see large native animals in the wild, like caman, puma, jaguar and tapir.  Without a guide, though, it is virtually impossible to catch sight of the wild animals.    Since arriving here two months ago, we searched tour after tour.  The offers we saw involved four or five days, a grand amount of money, and a lot of stops we do not care about seeing.  Yet, in our unique and possibly impulsive fashion, we decided to do a DIY trip.  “We will see what we see,” we thought.  Then Stan found an outback hotel on a German cattle ranch near Filadelfia.  The hotel has rave reviews, looks inviting and is reminiscent of one of our favorite stays in Tasmania on a sheep farm.  We booked it and learned the owner conducts daytime birding and animal watching excursions and nighttime big animal drives too!   We are doing this! 

Sometimes things just fall into place.