South America 2007

Whilst in Iguacu I met an Israeli guy who spent some time in Paraguay and recommended to go to El parque nacional de San Rafael. No-body knew how to get there and the bus conductors in the main bus station said that there was no bus that went there. I was determined to see this park as the Israeli guy said their were wild Indians, so we still jumped on a bus in that direction and after about 3 hours got dropped off in the middle of no-where on a dirt track...

We found a roadside shop called el gordo and the owner was really hospitable (he even offered to sell his shop to us!) We explained where we were trying to reach, the kind old man made a few phone calls for us and got the environmental secretary to come and pick us up!

We waited 5 hours for our pick-up truck to arrive, playing cards and chilling out on the roadside. Again we had an audience, the word had obviously spread that we were in town, as more and more locals gathered around to watch the tourists play cards. When our lift arrived, we all piled on to the back of the truck, hanging of the edge we waved goodbye as we headed to the national park...

On arrival to the Park, we were welcomed by a Swiss couple who had lived there for 28 years. They asked us if we had bought supplies, namely food and camping gear. No was the answer to that one. They found us some tents and said that they could whip us up some food.

The only other tourists there were a gay German couple who were trying to find somewhere else to live as they believed Europe (especially ireland) was just about to hit an economic crises and so came to Paraguay?! What planet are they on?! And secondly an English guy who had lived in Paraguay for the last 3 years, and get this, hes the travel writer for Rough Guide, the author of the paraguay chapter!!!

On arrival it was dark so Paul (The author of Rough Guide) asked us if we wanted to go down to the lake and try to find giant guinea pigs. We saw three, they must be the biggest rodents on earth, they were the size of a large pig! After I Sat ouside alone for a bit and relaxed in my hammock under the stars before getting into my tent. I slept like a log.

When we woke up we had the lushest breakfast and then headed into the forest for a trek, accompanied by a couple of the park guards, their rifles and a machete. Great day, trekking through the forest and the day ended by watching the sunset by the lake with fin.

San Rafael was a great experience, but unfortunately didnt see those wild indians I was looking for. Paul said that I would find them in a place called Mbaracayu, so time to hit the road again, first to Asuncion the capital to try and get a park permit to enter Mbaracayu...