Our first visit to Paraguay was also our first trip to South America. During this expedition in spring 2020, besides Paraguay we also visited Ecuador and briefly Panama. The main reason we chose Paraguay, however, was not typical tourism but arranging my residency in the country.
I handled the entire process through the well-known company Liberation Travel (https://liberation.travel/), which specializes in helping foreigners obtain residency in Paraguay and other countries.
Honestly – we knew very little about the country beforehand. Paraguay was one of those countries that simply escape most people’s attention. And we were no exception.
Everything changed shortly before departure. A quick dive into maps, articles and blogs online gave us at least a basic idea of where we were actually going. We learned much from the Liberation Travel team as well, but even so we traveled to Paraguay with a big question mark and minimal expectations.
Arrival in Asunción and a quick start
We arrived in the country extremely early in the morning after a rather complicated flight from Ecuador’s capital – Quito, with a layover in Panama City, Panama. The tiredness was noticeable, but the schedule was packed from the very start. We only had a few days in Paraguay and, despite it being a relatively small country, our plans were big.
If you’re interested in the airport in Asunción, we cover it in more detail in a separate article.
From the airport we called a taxi, a regular Uber, and without major problems we reached the city center and our accommodation. The relatively low taxi fare was a shock. After checking in, I had only a very short sleep. Around eight in the morning, after a hearty breakfast, Clara, Liberation Travel’s representative in Paraguay, picked me up at the hotel reception. While Iva slept off the long journey at the hotel, I set off with Clara to take care of all the necessary arrangements.
Residency in one morning
The program was surprisingly efficient. We went to the immigration office, a notary, a bank, the police, back to the immigration office – and it was done. No stress, no unnecessary waiting. Clara handled most of the procedures for me anyway – unfamiliarity with the process and the language barrier wouldn’t have allowed for any other scenario.
Before I knew it, Clara stated that we had all the essentials sorted. It was lunchtime and I couldn’t help thinking how incredibly quickly the whole process had been completed. Even better – this left us several extra hours in Paraguay than we’d originally expected.
First culinary experience
Despite the morning’s success, the rest of the day was marked by tiredness from the previous flight. We still didn’t skip sampling the local cuisine. Based on Clara’s recommendation, we chose a nearby restaurant. Given the relatively warm weather and our fatigue, we again took a taxi. Once again we were surprised by the almost laughable price we paid for the ride.
It was supposed to be a late lunch, but the meal turned into an experience that lasted several hours. Due to not knowing the local language we struggled a bit when communicating with the waiter, but he had a very friendly approach and almost divine patience. In the end we ordered a bit more than we’d originally intended, but the experience and the flavors were definitely worth it.
Completely knocked out, we took a taxi back to the hotel and this time went straight to bed. Full of food and wine and exhausted from the trip, we couldn’t manage anything else that day.
First impressions of the city
The next day we took things at a calmer pace and devoted it to exploring Asunción’s nooks and crannies. We were staying in the Las Lomas neighborhood, close to several shopping centers but also in a relatively quiet part of town. We were not far from one of the city’s most beautiful districts – Villa Mora.
Asunción combines the typical South American bustle and mild chaos with a strong Spanish influence. The architecture, especially in the city center, feels distinctly European, but unlike large European metropolises modern buildings are not yet as widespread here.
What surprised us most was the very green character of the neighborhoods around us. Villa Mora in particular feels peaceful and is full of trees and greenery. The overall impression is enhanced by a number of small and larger parks. Residential houses combined with greenery created a new, previously unknown character of the city for us.
This character was best discovered from above. A drone quickly revealed how green Asunción actually is. Occasionally a taller modern building appears, but overall the city feels very natural.
The city itself offers everything you might need. You’ll find restaurants of every kind – from cheap street food, through fancy cafés to expensive restaurants. The facilities are also at a very good level.
We visited a few shopping centers, coworking spaces and grocery stores – basically everything is here, including numerous car rental agencies, pharmacies and veterinary clinics.
Time for a trip
We’re not really city people, so on the third day of our stay we left Asunción, rented a car and set off to explore the country. Clara tipped us off that although you officially can’t leave Paraguay with a rented car, Brazil has an exception for trips aimed at visiting the Iguazú waterfalls. So we decided to try it.
It should be said straight away that given Asunción’s location (near the border with Argentina), many parts of Paraguay are relatively far. This also applies to the border with Brazil, beyond which these famous waterfalls are located.
Heading to Ciudad del Este
So we decided to drive towards the city of Ciudad del Este, which lies right on the border with Brazil. To make the most of our time, we chose to climb the highest peak of this otherwise very flat country, called Cerro Tres Kandú. The hike caught us slightly unprepared, but we managed it in the end. The full description of this ascent can be found in a separate article.
The ascent took longer than we expected, so we only moved to Ciudad del Este in the evening. As if that wasn’t enough, we arrived in the city just as truck drivers went on strike.
We encountered a highway blocked by trucks, and since we had no idea what was going on, we moved into the open lane in the opposite direction and kept going. After a few kilometers we drove right into a crowd of people armed with sticks and banners.
The situation seemed a bit scary, but I kept a cool head, rolled down the window and with a smile repeated, “Tourists. Please, can we go? Thank you!” To my surprise this approach worked and the crowd of demonstrators let us through. A few more vehicles followed us, who apparently liked our handling of the situation.
We finally arrived in Ciudad del Este late at night and this time saw literally nothing of the city – just the hotel. Only in the morning, when we continued towards Brazil, did we get a view of some local streets and had to conclude that the city seemed rather dirty and chaotic to us. It was a stark contrast compared to Asunción.
To Brazil to the Iguazú Falls
At the time of our visit the city of Ciudad del Este was connected to Brazil by one bridge – the Puente Internacional de la Amistad, also known as the International Friendship Bridge. We couldn’t avoid the usual morning traffic jam here, but after about an hour of waiting we successfully crossed to the Brazilian side into the city of Foz do Iguaçu, which is the gateway to the Iguazú Falls, approximately another 20 minutes’ drive away. Two things surprised us here. We didn’t have to show any documents at the border and the Brazilian side itself felt incredibly clean and organized. In places, compared to Paraguay, it felt a bit like a small Switzerland.
The visit to the falls was also accompanied by perfect organization – from parking to moving around the park. Seeing the Iguazú Falls was a powerful experience for us. We were there in the dry season and even then you can see several larger and smaller waterfalls with incredible water force. We spent about two hours there in total and returned to Ciudad del Este by the same route. Since we still had plenty of time left in the day for travel, we chose Encarnación in southern Paraguay as our next destination. Of course, this time too we encountered hassles with local demonstrators on the road, several times. The first time we were able to bypass them thanks to our off-road vehicle, but the second time we were unlucky and simply had to wait for the road to clear.
Encarnación
In Encarnación we ultimately spent only one night, but we managed to try very tasty street food paired with excellent beer on the local promenade by the Paraná River. At the same time the promenade seemed like the most interesting part of the city to us. I must honestly say that at the time of our visit the city didn’t impress us much and it had to wait a year or two to win us over. During our recent visit we perceived it differently and quite enjoyed our time there. Our dog Ibo approved as well.
Salto Cristal waterfall
The time for our flight out of Paraguay was slowly approaching, so we had no choice but to move from Encarnación back to the airport in Asunción. On the way we treated ourselves to a short stop at the Salto Cristal waterfall. Of course, it’s not as spectacular a natural show as the Iguazú Falls, but it’s still a picturesque place that’s relatively easy to access. Even though we were caught in the rain there, I treated myself to a swim directly under the waterfall. Eventually the weather cleared and the stop turned into a pleasantly spent, relaxing time, ideal before our departure. Our next steps led back to the airport, where we returned the car and boarded a plane to Panama City.
Conclusion
We arrived in Paraguay with minimal information, without great expectations and only for a relatively short time. All the more, the country managed to surprise us. During a few days we managed to arrange residency, get to know the capital Asunción, taste the local cuisine, travel the country by car, climb its highest peak and even visit the legendary Iguazú Falls.
We left full of experiences with the feeling that we had seen and experienced much more than one would expect from such a short visit. Paraguay stopped being an unknown dot on the map for us and became a country we gradually formed a relationship with. And as it later turned out, it definitely wasn’t our last visit.