Paraguay Tours & Vacation packages | Guided trips to Paraguay with Ada Tours

Highlights

- Trinidad, a picturesque Jesuit place which is on the world heritage list
- Parque Nacional Defensores del Chaco, watch the amazing wildlife, such as jaguars

Geography

Paraguay is located in the central part of South America, and called the ‘heart of south america’. It is an inland republic, bounded by Bolivia, Brazil, and Argentina.
The Paraguay River divides the country into two contrasting regions. The oriental region is covered by dense forests with tropical grasses, palms, exotic flowers and many rivers and waterfalls. In the west, the Chaco, a plain which extends into Boliva and Argentina until the Andes, is covered by coarse tropical reeds, grasses, and stunted trees.

Language

Paraguay is a bilingual country. Spanish and Guaraní are both official languages. About 75% of all Paraguayans can speak Spanish. Small groups of Ethnic Italians, Germans, Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, Arabs, Brazilians, and Argentines settled in Paraguay and they have to an extent retained their respective languages and culture, particularly the Brazilians.

Money

The currency used in Paraguay is the Paraguay Guarani, 1 USD is about 46.09 Paraguay Guarani (March 2019)

Climate

Climate of Paraguay is subtropical, as it is crossed by the Tropic of Capricorn. Temperatures range from about 15° C in July to about 35° C in January.

Gastronomy

Paraguay's culinary heritage is also deeply influenced by the cultural fusion, which you should really taste. Several popular dishes contain mandioc, a local staple crop, and other indigenous ingredients. A popular dish is sopa paraguaya, similar to a thick corn bread. It consists of many cheeses, onions, bell peppers, cottage cheese, yellow cornmeal, milk, seasonings, butter, eggs and fresh corn kernels.

You should also try the "mate", this is a traditional drink of the Gauchos which consists of an infusion of mate herbs which can be drunk hot or cold.

History

Europeans first arrived in the area in the early sixteenth century and the settlement of Asunción was founded on August 15, 1537 by the Spanish explorer Juan de Salazar. Paraguay's history has been characterized by long periods of authoritarian governments, political instability and infighting, and devastating wars with its neighbors.

Religion

Ethnically, culturally, and socially, Paraguay has one of the most homogeneous populations in Latin America. About 65% of the people are mestizos of mixed Spanish and Guaraní Indian descent. The country is predominantly Roman Catholic

Culture

Paraguayans' amazing cultural ancestry can be traced back to mixture of the original male Spanish settlers and female indigenous, Guarani, brides. Paraguayan culture therefore is a fusion of two cultures and traditions: one European, the other Guarani. A characteristic of this cultural fusion is the extensive bilingualism present to this day: more than 80% of Paraguayans speak both Spanish and the indigenous language, Guarani. This cultural fusion is expressed in arts such as embroidery and lace making.

Music

In contrast to most of its neighbors, the national music of Paraguay is overwhelmingly European in character. Peculiar is that despite the music being overwhelmingly European, the language of choice for the lyrics is also most often Guaraní.

Wildlife

The eastern forests abound in hardwoods, including indigenous varieties such as urunday, cedron, curupay, and lapacho. In the northern Chaco, along the Paraguay River, there are scattered stands of quebracho and many large, spreading trees, such as the ceiba. Medicinal herbs, shrubs, and trees, as well as some dyewoods. Yerba maté, a holly popularly used in tea, grows wild in the northeast.

Animals found in Paraguay include the jaguar, especially numerous in the Chaco, wild boar, capybara, deer, armadillo, anteater, fox, brown wolf, carpincho, and tapir. Paraguay has many crocodiles along its watercourses, and the boa constrictor thrives in the west. The carnivorous piranha is also common.