Simon.Speaks.Paraguay

I have transfered my blog over to my new website. Please head there for all my latest news and on going up dates simonsparaguay.com I look forward to seeing you there Simon

Once I had done the teaching of English in Paraguay, returned to England and then decided I could make a life for myself in Paraguay the next thing I needed was somewhere to live. You cannot spend you whole life in other peoples spare rooms. Having spend 18 months living outside Piribebuy teaching English it made sense to find somewhere in the area that I had got to know and amongst people who had become friends. After many local enquiries it became clear that the best option was that of buying land and then having the house I wanted built upon it. To this end I discovered that a small sugar cane plantation no more than half a mile from the English school was bringing it's owner nothing but losses and that as such he was keen to sell. The plot of land was rather more than I wanted but the price was very affordable. I will leave for another day how the excess land was eventualy dealt with. The main draw of the plot was not its size but the view it offered. The land decende...

Paraguay is home to a great variety of wildlife much of which appeals to everyone. However it is probably fair to say that it might not be a comfortable place for those with concerns about eight legged creatures. Almost everywhere one looks in Paraguay spiders are to be seen. These range from the very smallest right up to large tarantulas, and from the harmless to the deadly. There are web building orb spiders, spiders that string lines between trees like fishing lines, funnel spiders with their dense webs leading down into their lairs and many others that build no webs at all. Orb spiders build their large webs amongst the trees and vegetation and then settle down to await the arrival of their prey. As with all orb spiders these are intricate pieces of art which glisten in the morning dew and are replaced and rebuilt as often as necessary. The sticky stands of silk produced by those spiders who use it cast a line and move from place to place is also quickly rebuilt. The silk...

Like everywhere else Paraguay does have it's day when the rains fall for hours or hours or when a cold wind blows unceasingly chilling everything to the bone. However these days are in the minority for most of the year it is warmed with bright sunlight. On the whole the weather is quite settled. What it is doing this morning is what it will be doing this afternoon is what it will be doing tommorow and probably the day after that. The normal state of affairs is a clear blue sky from which the sun shines down without interuption. Seemingly endless cloudless days are far from uncommon. With this being a land full of open spaces and tree filled countryside there is away from Asunción very little in the way of pollution. Without the haze that puts up in the air the blues of the sky are deeper and bluer than those in many other parts of the world. With the Tropic of Capricorn passing through northern Paraguay the suns rays have more strength than those arriving at higher latitu...

These times of global lockdown are times for seeing and enjoying what is near to hand rather than what is far away out of sight. I am fortunate in having open space and fine views extending away in every direction from my house. The house itself is towards the top of a gently sloping hillside which in front runs down to the dirt track at the bottom of the valley, and behind up to a plateau that runs away behind the house. Looking out from the back of the house the first objects are tree immediatly behind the house beyond which grassland extend. These run off into the distance before about half a mile from the house meeting a steep rugged rocky outcrop, after which the land drops away into the next valley. This lush grass is fine cattle pasture and cows are often to be seen working their way across it. In addition to the grass the view is filled with dozens of palm trees which mostly form rows between areas which have from time to time been planted with crops. To one side of...

Juan de Salazar y Espinosa could never have suspected that the sheltered bay he was about to turn his ship into on 15th August 1537 would become the site of one of the oldest continuely occupied cites in South America and the future capital of a nation as yet unborn. Asunción bay is a large bay off the River Paraguay and has always formed the heart of the city of Asunción. Despite being 1000km from the open ocean it is little more than 40 metres above sea level. The river is still large enough at this point to accomodate ocean going vessels and so within the bay a port grew up giving Asunción it's vital link with the outside world. The large bay is heavily indented along it's north shore but to the south the shoreline is much smoother. It is here that the settlement that became the city of Asunción grew up. With the port being of such importance to the growing settlement it is not surprising that around it are to be found the oldest and most historic streets of Asunci...

Paraguay may appear at first glance to be a land of cattle, but look a little closer and you will see there is another far more abundant creature filling every nook and cranny of the land, ants. If there is one thing in which Paraguay can claim to lead the world it is in the production of varieties of ants. There is something about the Paraná basin in which Paraguay sits that causes it to have a greater collection of ant species than almost anywhere else in the world. Many of which are still undocumented. It is not however the case that Paraguay keeps all those ants to itself. Many of the worlds worst pest species including both the fire ant and the Argentine ant are native to the area. Ants in Paraguay come in a myriad of colours and sizes. Many are black but there are to golden, red and even multicoloured ants also. Their sizes are equally varied from no bigger than grains of dust up to the size of a small beetle. One thing many of these ants do have in common is their aggr...

In nature there are many things which have learnt to improve their chances of survival by pretending to be something they are not. This deception may take the form of camouflage. An insect disguised as a leaf or a caterpillar that looks like a bird dropping. This may be enough to keep predators at bay, but such a passive deception can only be effective as long as the creature remains motionless. A hungry bird will soon spot a leaf that appears to be walking across a tree. Others have taken to mimicing the appearence of larger or more dangerous creatures in order to keep would be predators at bay. Black and yellow stripes announce that the insect in question has no need for concealment for it is armed with a sting painful enough to see off any would be attacker. The significance of this colouring has not gone unnoticed by other insects that lack the armoury of bees and wasps. Hoverflies for example use the same colouration so that they may go about their daily lives unmolested...

Rufous Hornero, or as he is more usually know is not much to look at. Just another nondescript small brown bird. However his habits make him one of the most conspicuous in Paraguay. Firstly the hornero is not a shy retiring woodland bird, but instead one that actively seeks man. Few gardens can be without a pair going about their business all day long. This boldness and habit of choosing habitated places to live have earned the hornero a human name. In England the wren which lives equally close to man has aquired the name Jenny and here it is the hornero that is accepted as part of society under the name Alonso. The hornero being a bird of South America is know by it's Spanish name Hornero rather than the English translation Ovenbird. This also helps distinguish from the North American bird also named Ovenbird. What really makes this small brown bird noticable is not how common it is in the garden but rather the nest it builds for itself. This is not a collection of twi...

Once June arrives and the shortest day approaches autumn slowly gives way to winter. Darkness descends late afternoon at this time of year and children head home from school after the sun has fallen from the sky. Winter is a time without evenings as day gives way to night too swiftly to allow for there to be one. The long dark nights find the population huddled up indoors away from the darkness and away from the chill of the night time winds. This is the time for the land to sleep. Leaves fall in great numbers from the trees carpeting the ground and in that ground most growth grinds to a halt. The grass that grew so lushly during the summer gets no higher and even the weeds and wild flowers cease to multiply. Winter is also the time of dryness. The sky remains blue most days, but a paler, more watery blue than that of summer and without the heat there is no evaporation from the land to drive thunder storms. As a result it may be several weeks between downpours and the groun...

Looking from outside it is easy to think that Paraguay does not really have seasons but it instead varying degrees of hot all year round. That though is not quite the case as the year is broken down into four quite distinct seasons. The truly hot part of the year, summer has just come to an end. Summer which starts building in mid November and then runs though until mid February is almost from start to finish very hot. The temperature hovers in the high 30s centigrade with spells in excess of 40 far from uncommon. It is not time of year for rushing around. A time when shade and ice cold drinks are necessities. Schools take their long summer break and the pace of life slows as the land adjusts to the heat. It is not all blue skies and buring sun however. For summer is also the time of intense tropical downpours as the weight of water evaporated from the land becomes too much for the sky to bare and great electrical storms tear across the land bringing with them damaging winds ...

One afternoon across Paraguay the bright blue sky fades into the gathering gloom and the sun concealed as black clouds build. A hot and sunny land is Paraguay for most of the year but to retain it's lush green covering rain must come and when it does it arrives with force washing all away before it for hours on end flooding streets and overflowing streams. Some of this much needed rain will fall upon higher ground. There following the contours of the ground as the droplets flow together over rock and earth into streams and then torrents until they fall into the headwaters of a high land stream. This stream now filled with water cascading down from all across the hillside swells to fill a channel that for most of the year seems far to grand for the small stream of water winding it's way down it's center. The swollen stream rips at it's banks as it rushes away from it's hilltop spring but no sooner has momentum built than the storm passes and the clouds melt...

For all but it's northern border waterways shape the Paraguayan frontiers. These great rivers are all part of the Paraná system and mark the size and shape of Paraguay as clearly as the seas do an island. The Paraná river system is second only in South America to the Amazon draining a great part of the continent to the south of the Amazon basin. The rivers that hold Paraguay within themselves are the River Pilcomayo, the River Paraguay and the River Paraná itself. Within their grasp the frontiers of Paraguay are as natural and clear as any in the world. The first of these great rivers is the Pilcomayo which rises far away in the foothills of the Bolivian Andes. From there it flows south east meeting with Paraguay at the point in the county of Boquerón where the border turns to the north to cross the dry Chaco. From there on the river snakes it way down Western Paraguay marking the border between it and Argentina. In doing so it marks the edges of the counties of Boquerón ...

The ox cart is a familiar sight throughout the Paraguayan countryside. It exsists not as a tradition preserved by enthusiats or as cultural heritage for tourists to enjoy but as working part of farm and countryside life. A basic description of an ox cart is a wooden box with a large wooden wheel attached to either side. These large wheels can be as high as the cart itself. In front of the cart there is a long wooden plank to which at it's far end the yoke is attached. With the yoke the cart is tied up to the two oxen who will draw it. These oxen are large beasts and also very calm ones. Long before they are placed with a cart they receive an extended training, walking up and down attached just to reigns learning their drivers commands and what is expected of them. Once fully trained an oxen can be hooked up to a cart and controled by the words of the driver and a few pulls on the reigns alone. An ox cart is not the quickest way to get from place to place but it is one of ...

In Paraguay as with much of the world an uneasy quite has fallen across the land. Here at my home in the Paraguayan countryside that silence has been even more noticable than the lack of people. For the past few days now traffic has all but ceased along my road as people have avoided going out more than necessary. Along with the absense of vehicle noise has been the silencing of the radios which are normally playing for the whole world to hear but now have no guests to entertain. There is now little reason to go out as if the constant offical proclamations for all to say at home all but the essencials such as supermarkets and chemists are closed so there is little to do if one does head out. The incentives to stay at home and away from everyone else were increased still further yesterday with the announcment of a nationwide curfew from 8pm until 4am everyday, with heavy penalties for anyone who should break it. Not everything though is suffering from this enforced reduction i...

As with much of the world Paraguay is all but closed for business as the out break of Coronavirus continues to spread. Last week after a second case was reported the government declared that all schools were to shut for 14 days and that all sports, concerts, meetings and other gatherings were to be suspended. Whilst this may sound a little extreme for just a couple of cases the fact is that all but the smallest of out breaks might be too much for the countries healthcare system to cope with. In addition to these measures the countries airports have been virtually shut down and quite possibly restrictions on the land borders are being considered. The current government advice is to stay at home unless you really have to go out and that if you do to keep your distance from everyone else. That distancing runs contrary to the Paraguayan nature where people don't have concerns about personal space, and so always stand close together and are constantly shaking hands and touchin...

Firstly before going any further it must be said that there is nothing particularly Paraguayan about an empanada. These little pasties are in truth a Latin American snack. However in Paraguay at least they are the street food per excellence. In Paraguay they are ubiquitous. For sale freshly cooked in every bar, café and on every street stall in the country. They are simple tasty snacks. A half moon of flaky pastry with an one of several different fillings inside. The traditional cooking method was deep frying which did make the empanada rather greasy and unhealthy. Fortunatly though these days they tend to be cooked with slighly less oil of baked in the oven. Three fillings are always available. These are beef, chicken or cheese and ham. Beef with this being a land of cattle is the most tradicional filling and is mixed with onion and a little egg. Of the other two options I personally find chicken to be a little dry. Cheese and ham however is what I usually opt for, the mel...

Like most cities in the world Asunción has it's problems with traffic. Far too much of it moving far too slowly. However once beyond it's suburbs spaces soon open up and with that a chance to enjoy the view and the ride. I myself living in the countryside that surrounds Piribebuy am far beyond the reach of an congestion with the only things liable to hinder uninterupted passage being a slow moving lorry or a herd of cattle.  Once I have negotiated the dirt track from the house I arrive at empty tarmac stretching off into the distance to both the left and the right.  Turning left I find myself heading towards Piribebuy. First the road dips down passing on one side a school and on the other a couple country parks. Crossing a bridge over a small river just before the second of these there is then a long sweeping climb to the crest of a hill.  From here on the road takes a more purposeful direct route towards Piribebuy. Straight down to a valley bottom and t...

Every year in Paraguay the 15th August is one of the countries largest and most important national holidays. It marks the anniversary of the founding of Asunción. On the 15th August 1537 Juan de Salazar y Espinosa would have been quite unaware that the settlement he was about to found after turning his ship off the River Paraguay and into the Bay of Asunción would grow into the capital of an independent nation and survive as one of the oldest permanent cities in the whole of South America.  The expedition had not left Buenos Aires as a mission of conquest seeking to expand Spanish control further up river, but instead as a search party to find the ship of previous adventurer who had failed to return.  This was Juan de Ayolas who had headed up river to chart and explore the land. He may have been the first Spaniard to see the Bay of Asunción, but his ship was never found, so what he had seen was lost with him.  It was after heading far up stream on his se...

The flag of Paraguay as any school child in the land will tell you is red, white and blue. Beyond that though it is also unique in the world in that it is different on both sides and is also one of the oldest. The design of the flag with it's three horizontal stripes is believed to be based on either the French or Dutch flags and has been in continuous use since November 1842. The flag itself was designed during the rule of Paraguay's first post colonial leader Jose Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia. He was head of state from 1814 until 1840. However it was not until a couple of years after his death that the flag as seen today became that of Paraguay.  The three stripes as with all flags are not merely decoration but each hold their own meaning.  The red stripe at along the top of the flag stands for courage, equality and patriotism.  Next the white stripe across the middle of the flag stands for unity, purity and peace.  Then finally the blue st...

One of the many joys of living where I do is the knowledge that unless there is cloud and rain the sunset will be glorious. With rains coming just occasionally that means most days. My home is in the countryside in one of the outlying districts of the little town of Piribebuy. As such I am surrounded by unbroken green countryside. In three directions the view extends to the horizon and on the fourth, the north, it is interupted not by buildings but by a range of tree covered hills. All this open space brings with it clean clear air through which the colours of nature can shine without obstruction. Each evening as the sun slowly sinks below the palm trees to the east the sky is a festival of colours. Throughout the year the sun slowly moves to the north and south but never behind anything artificial or man made on the horizon. The quality, colour and duration of the show vary according to the clearness of the air and the clouds in the sky. The very best sunsets are produced wh...

I was recently treated to a sight unlike I had ever seen before. A rare atmospheric phenomenon called a solar halo. My first inlination that something was going on was when I stepped outside to find a huge black disc just hanging in the air above the house. Anyone who has seen the film Independence Day and remembers the mother ship hanging silently over the White House should be able to picture the sight that greeted me. And large it certainly was. The more accurate name for this type of solar halo is a 22 degree halo, after the portion of the sky it covers. The halo takes the form of a circular ring of bright light some distance from the sun. Then between this ring and the sun is a dark disc, almost as dark as the night sky. Inside everything at the very center is the brightly glowing sky. The halo was made even more distinct by the rest of the sky remaining a brilliant cloudless blue. And in addition although the dark disc covered a large portion of the sky it cast no shado...

Manihot Esculenta as it is known amongst scientists is a central part of every Paraguayan meal. Here it is known as mandioca or manioc and a dish without a side plate filled with it would be incomplete. In English mandioca is know as cassava and it is a New World root tuber related to the yam and potato. Like them is has a very high starch content and is a mayor source of carbohydrates. Mandioca was one of the first crops to be domesicated. This was initially occured in the Amazon basin at some point before 5000BC. From there it's cultivation spread across the tropical and sub tropical Americas before travelling over the past few hundred years through trade and conquest across Africa and Asia where it has also become an important source of carbohydrates. The plant itself with the addition of heat is very easily grown and being drought resistant tolerates the most marginal of conditions. Sewing of mandioca requires nothing more tossing a small fragment of it's woody stem...

Most of the roads between towns and across the country in Paraguay have now been paved. The same is true of the principal roads around the towns and cities, however it does not take long, even in Asunción to find an alternative road surface. Firstly on those roads concidered not quite important or pricipal enough to receive a coating of black tarmac the suface is often cobbles. These rough uneven stones must be one of the worst surfaces for driving upon. Unless approached slowly and with great caution travelling across them is a truely bone shaking experience. Fortunatly they are on the whole used only as a coating for roads around towns and can normally be exited within a block or two. The laying of cobbles does though make sense for councils as uncomfortable as they may be they are as permanemt as tarmac so not requiring regular repairs. Also these tend to be the roads earmarked for tarmacing as the fully paved network slowly expands. Once beyond the cobbles though things q...

When I first arrived in Paraguay supermarkets were a common sight in Asunción but few and far between in the rest of the country. This has changed completely in the years that I have lived here. As I mentioned, years ago when I first came to Paraguay supermarkets were very much an Asunción thing. Apart from a few independent stores the trade was very much controlled by as small number of brands such as Stock and España. Beyond the reach of Asunción trade was still in the hands of independent businesses which operated on every high street in the form they had always done. Each with it's own range of produce and opening hours. This was also a time before self service stores when inefficiency and over staffing were the order of the day as each member of the extended household had to be given something to do. On the whole these were old fashioned stores with a shop counter and behind that, where the customer could never tread the stock. To buy something could be a complicat...

After the long, long summer holiday it is finally time for the schools to open their doors once more. Locally they actually reopened last Friday, but Monday is a far more sensible day for the children to begin their new school year. As always in Paraguay due to the high temperatures during the summer the school holidays are always several months long. The last school year ended mid November and this new one is beginning three months later in late February. During the holidays the schools all became overgrown and untidy. So over the past couple of weeks have slowly been brought back to life with buildings being cleaned and swept and grass being cut to ensure they were ready for the arrival of the children. After the long break the children are all looking forwards to catching up with their friends and seeing once more their teachers. No doubt also more than a few households are glad that the children have once more got something to do to fill their days. However the classes wi...