Nov 23, 2011 - Ciudad del Este - La Frontera

Hi - One gets used to traveler’s tales; and to take them with a grain of salt. I suspect that would apply to the current tale as well, eh? Recall the Cretan Paradox But since no one else is likely to report on the current state of Paraguay, here goes. The rumors and innuendo are true. Also false. There is clearly a lot of corruption in the country. The rich, if their grand houses with guard post, steel fences, and barbed wire I glimpsed on the way of Asuncion are any indication, are doing quite well, thank you. I don’t know about you, but...

Oct 23, 2010 - Ciudade del Este - Pics Need Captions

Sunny today, well partly! Bus lvs at noon:15 for 9 hr ride. Again flat...lots of cattle/cow ranches, brahma variety like India. Brahman Cattle Info Some of these appear to be really huge! Brazil buses had no vendors come aboard, one of few countries where we had to leave bus to buy anything. Paraguay is more typical again, vendors get on along the way not just bus stations, selling food/drink and sometimes stuff like toothbrushes, books, even preaching & selling God. So far Paraguay has had central long distance bus terminals where all the...

Nov 20, 2009 - Itaipu Dam & Paraguay

Quite a few people haven’t made it up for our breakfast run as planned this morning, and I think some others are maybe wishing they hadn’t since they’re still half drunk from last night. It really was a blast though. We asked to go back to our breakfast spot from the prior day before heading to the dam, and then headed off to see the Itaipu Dam, which it a cooperation between the governments of Brazil & Paraguay, and it built across the Parana river along the 2 countries’ borders. Of the 20 generators, 10 provide something like 30% of...

Apr 17, 2009 - Gad Camp Slide Show

This was a power point presentation we made after GAD camp this year. One purpose is to help us to share the experience better with our friends and family, but more so it is to share with our communities and entities here in Paraguay. We relay on donations from municipalities and other institution for food and other supplies we need to make the camp a sucess. Also we invite paraguayan NGOs to speak and join us for the workshops. This presentation is meant to give Paraguayans a better unserstanding of what a "camp" in general and how GAD...

Mar 31, 2009 - GAD Camp Article

GAD Camp is a collaborative effort between PeaceCorps Paraguay and PREALPA, a Paraguayan non-profit organization, to develop youth leadership and promote gender equality. In February, 41 Paraguayan youth between the ages of 15-25 participated in a three night, four day camp at the Biological Reserve Tati Yupi of Itapúa. This year’s camp was organized by Gariety Pruitt (G-23), Nathan Antonio (G-26), Melissa Salamon (G-26), David Schmitz (G-26), Alissa Hannah (G-26), Rosana Chavez (G-23), and Chantelle Doerksen (G-23), Thursday...

Mar 17, 2009 - Iguassu falls

Today we arrived in the town around iguassu falls at about 8am after our night bus from bonito. At half nine we set off to visit the brazilian side of the waterfalls. Here you could see the whole area of waterfalls and great panoramic views as well as walk down to the base of the waterfalls and get covered in a lot of spray. In the afternoon we went to the bird park near the waterfalls and saw lots of crazy exotic birds, the toucans are a bit crazy and they kept flying at us and one of the group even got pecked by one. I held a parrot but...

Feb 15, 2009 - Paraguay

Today I had a really interesting experience... instead of just waiting for our bus to leave in the afternoon, I decided to go for a little trip into Paraguay... wow!! the moment you cross the border you are in a totally different world... the people there are really poor compared to the places in Brazil I've been to... there are people sitting around in the streets just about everywhere, trying to sell all kinds of things (mostly fakes of brand cloths...) and they have some of the most ugly mannequins EVER!! just look at the pictures...

Feb 13, 2009 - Foz do Iguaçu

by 9 am we arrived in Foz do Iguaçu... very tired but REALLY excited about what I was going to see today (o: after a quick breakfast (chocolate cake!!!) we got on the bus to go to the Iguaçu national park... and after a couple of minutes of driving past the entrance gate I saw the most awesome thing of this entire trip so far... the IGUAÇU FALLS... simply wow!! I mean just look at those pictures... and they don't even show nearly how amazing it feels to be standing in front of something THAT beautiful and powerful... so we walked along the...

Jan 22, 2009 - IGUASSU FALLS: wow!

FOZ IGUASSU: Iguassu Falls ... fantastic...wow! What an experience! The rivers from three countries, Paraguay, Argentina and Brasil converge and form the Falls which spread across the border between Argentina and Brasil. Viewing from either side was spectacular. The Argentine side presented a wider aspect with more walking trails and perhaps a little more touristy with a small train and large restaurant. Brasil provided simpler, more immediate access especially right into the 'Devil's Throat', a particularly aggressive section. There's no...

Dec 11, 2008 - Iguassu Falls - prepare to be drenched!!!

I loved this place. It was fantastic. Iguassu falls has something like 275 waterfalls and it is just stunning. Just as beautiful if not more so than Victoria falls in South Africa. We had so much fun on the Argentinian side of the falls. The boat was swishing in and out of the falls and EVERYONE got drenched!!!! Was fabulous, particularly because we had stunning weather and it had been a warm day walking through the national park. Couldn´t believe just how beautiful all of the butterflies were. Something like 450 species of butterfly. I had...

Dec 11, 2008 - Iguassu Falls

I loved this place. It was fantastic. Iguassu falls has something like 275 waterfalls and it is just stunning. Just as beautiful if not more so than Victoria falls in South Africa. We had so much fun on the Argentinian side of the falls. The boat was swishing in and out of the falls and EVERYONE got drenched!!!! Was fabulous, particularly because we had stunning weather and it had been a warm day walking through the national park. Couldn´t believe just how beautiful all of the butterflies were. Something like 450 species of butterfly. I had...

Nov 24, 2008 - Ciudad del Este, Paraguay

Ravi -- Although it took us 7 hours to get here by bus from Ybycui, the roads, unlike SW Bolivia, were paved (most of the time). We arrived at Ciudad del Este in the afternoon tired and hungry (couldn´t find much vegetarian food at the bus stalls along the way). Luckily, the town is home to a suprisingly large East Asian community, and we ate REAL Chinese food that night for dinner, full of tofu (something no one at Chinese restaurants in Peru had heard of) and vegetables and a bottle of spicey red chili sauce on the side. Ciudad del Este...