Bradt Guides Reisgids Paraguay 4

Bradt's Paraguay was the first standalone guidebook to the country published internationally, and this new fourth edition remains the most detailed guide available. Covering the whole of this little-explored South American nation, it complements the best-known sights with off-the-beaten track attractions well beyond the tourist trail, and throws in a cross-border excursion to adjacent Iguazú/Iguaçu Falls (one of the 'New 7 Wonders of Nature'). Sitting in the heart of South America, Paraguay takes the shape of a lopsided butterfly, its wings divided by the River Paraguay. Its western part is the Chaco - a wildlife-rich area of wetlands and arid woodland that reaches north to enter the famous Pantanal region. The eastern region is characterised by craft, music and campesino country life, with landscapes including savannahs and vestiges of Atlantic Forest. The country is good for the adventurous traveller who likes to be immersed in local culture and natural landscapes. Nature and ecclestiastical tourism are both rewarding, travelling is inexpensive, music and dance are widely enjoyed (including during Encarnación's month-long carnival), and history centres on old Jesuit mission settlements. Then there are elements of intrigue: football is believed to have been invented in Paraguay's Jesuit missions during 1793; the Paraguayan harp is a world-renowned beautiful instrument; drinking tereré (an ice-cold infusion of yerba maté leaves and medicinal herbs) is a communal event; and Chaco salt lakes were actually open sea 60 million years ago.