Our next stop was the Ybycuí National Park that is 175km west of Independencia. We have had this on our list of places to see in Paraguay but haven't managed to get there yet. It is listed as a "jewel" amongst the parks in the country because of the three waterfalls linked by footpaths.
We didn't know whether we would be able to get there that night because we hadn't left Claudia and Uwe until just before 2pm. Then we stopped to say goodbye to Sylvia, who lives next door, and also stopped at a few places for shopping. We topped up our Claro SIM card and also hunted around for a Tigo SIM card. We knew in advance that the national park doesn't have any WiFi connection so we wanted to get a second sim card from a different company in the hope that we could get a connection.
The Tigo company wanted us to fill out a contract and made it too complicated. Kirsten had been to three different shops. We just wanted the pay as you go version. We wasted an hour trying to get it but had to give up. It was already nearly 6pm and we still had 130km to drive. It turned out that we wouldn't have been able to get a connection anyway, even with Tigo! So maybe it was a good job we hadn't spent our money on a second SIM card.
We just made it to the entrance to the national park as it was getting dark. It had been tarmac all the way to the entrance but now we had to drive on a bumpy sand road to get into the park. There was no one at the gate but we knew we could probably pay on the way out. We drove 2.7 km in the dark to get to a camping area with a shower and toilet block.
We couldn't drive in there because it's just for tents so we parked in a sloping parking area, next to a lamp post that had a plug where we could get electricity. It was too dark to take a look around but we were going to stay for a few days so we had time.
The next morning a park ranger came to see us and told us it would cost 50,000 Guaranís entrance for a vehicle plus 20,000 for two people. So 70,000 Guaranís payment ($12 US) regardless how long we stayed. But that wasn't correct. Two days later another man came along who works for the administration department. Apparently, they are the ones responsible for collecting fees, not the rangers. Anyway, he told us that the entrance fee costs 15,000 Guaranís per vehicle plus 10,000 per person. That's a one off fee that is valid for 12 months. On top we have to pay for camping and that costs 20,000 Guaranís per night for two people. That meant entrance fee of $6 US plus $3 per night camping.
Great price considering what we are getting - electricity to run our fridge and the fans, there is a cold shower and toilets, really well laid out walking paths to three waterfalls, and you could go into the pools or take a super cold shower under the waterfalls!!
The park is a really quiet and peaceful place to stay during the week but at weekends it gets a lot busier. At least the park prohibits alcohol and excessive noise and without any internet or phone connection here, people tend not to stay very long!! Of course, in the main summer holidays – January and February – that could change. It probably gets very busy for the entire two months.
We were there mid November so we took advantage of the pre-season quiet and went for walks every afternoon. It was very hot during the day (up to 36°C) but we had rain once a week and that cooled the temperature down by 10° for a day or so before getting back up into the 30s again.
We waited until it got cooler after 4pm and then went for 3 hour walks. Sometimes we used the trails and other times we walked further along the sand road to explore. There are a huge number of butterflies in the park which is a sign of a healthy environment. There were too many different types to count but they came in all shapes, sizes and colours.
We really enjoyed our time there, kept ourselves fit with all the walking, wrote our website and even managed to watch a few of the downloaded films and documentaries Uwe had given us. Normally we don't have time for that!
After a week we were running out of supplies and so we drove out to the nearest village to do some shopping. On the way we paid for our entrance and camping so far. There were no supermarkets in the village which meant having to go to seven different shops to get what we needed. We managed to find fruit but the veggies were a bit of a catastrophe. We also tried some of the local food called Chipas and Sopa. We tried a meat and veg version each and Kirsten had a Sopa which is mainly corn. I had a bite but I'm not too keen on corn. Kirsten had a bout of diarrhoea the next day so it was probably from the corn because I didn't have a problem!
Back in the park we chose a different spot to park. It was somewhat flatter and under a tree. We still had an electric connection but we got shade all day from the tree and we didn't slope so much. Far better – we should have moved there before! We stayed for another week and drove out before the next storm came through. We were heading for the capital, Asuncion, where there is a garage that deals with rust. Our motor home has developed a lot of rust since we stored it in Ciudad Del Este this summer from all the high humidity. It probably didn't help that we went to a car wash to get him completely clean the day we put him in storage! Now we have a lot of rust and we need to get it dealt with. But that will be in the next report.
Parque Nacional Ybycuí
