How to have a unique vacation to Paraguay. Start with these good books.

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Yes. Paraguay is unique.

It is often called the “Heart of South America,” because it is. located in the center of South America.

It has the largest navy of any of the 30 landlocked nations.

It is the home to the world’s largest rodent called the Capybara, a giant guinea pig.

 

Its literacy rate is higher than that of the United States. Paraguay’s citizens age 15 and older read and write at a 94 percent literacy rate, compared to 86 percent for the U.S.

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Before you pack your bags for your Paraguay vacation you’ll like to read these good novels set in Paraguay.

The News from Paraguay: A Novel by Lily Tuck

The year is l854. In Paris, Francisco Solano — the future dictator of Paraguay — begins his courtship of the young, beautiful Irish courtesan Ella Lynch with a poncho, a Paraguayan band, and a horse named Mathilde. Ella follows Franco to Asunción and reigns there as his mistress. Isolated and estranged in this new world, she embraces her lover’s ill-fated imperial dream — one fueled by a heedless arrogance that will devastate all of Paraguay.

 

 

 

 

I the Supreme by Augusto Roa Bastos 

Latin America has seen, time and again, the rise of dictators, Supreme Leaders possessed of the dream of absolute power, who sought to impose their mad visions of Perfect Order on their own peoples. Latin American writers, in turn, have responded with fictional portraits of such figures, and no novel of this genre is as universally esteemed as Augusto Roa Bastos’s I the Supreme, a book that draws on and reimagines the career of the man who was “elected” Supreme Dictator for Life in Paraguay in 1814.

 

 

 

 

At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig: Travels Through Paraguay by John Gimlette

John Gimlette takes readers from genteel drawing rooms in Asuncion–where ladies still gossip about the nineteenth-century Irish adventuress who became Paraguay’s Empress to the “Green Hell” of the Chaco, a vast, inhospitable tract populated by aging Mennonites and discouraged Indians. Replete with eccentrics and scoundrels, ecologically minded cannibals and utopians from every corner of the earth, At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pigis a madly entertaining book.

 

 

 

 

Letters from the Battlefields of Paraguay by Richard Francis Burton

Burton’s travels through war-torn Paraguay in 1864, during the war between Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. Something of a war correspondent, Burton showed familiarity with the war scene, and the introductory essay is a penetrating analysis. Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) dropped out of Oxford to join the Indian army and travel the world. 

 

 

 

 

 

Forgotten Fatherland by Ben Macintyre

This is a true story of Paraguay’s’ history. In 1886 Elisabeth Nietzsche, Friedrich’s bigoted, imperious sister, founded a “racially pure” colony in Paraguay together with a band of blonde-haired fellow Germans. Over a century later Ben Macintyre sought out the survivors of this “Nueva Germania” to discover the remains of this bizarre colony.

 

 

 

 

 

Paraguay (Other Places Travel Guides) by Romy Natalia Goldberg  

Of Paraguayan descent, the author spent four years exploring Paraguay’s hidden gems and popular tourist attractions. This is an invaluable guide to experiencing everything Paraguay has to Paraguay_offer with cultural insights and practical recommendations. Included is the only available guide to traveling along the Paraguay River to the Pantanal, a little-visited region where remote indigenous communities coexist with endangered wildlife. No matter your budget or appetite for adventure, this book is a must for discovering the real Paraguay.

 

 

 

 

Suggestion for a vision of this unique country:

VIDEO

For a tourist feel of Paraguay check this video.[youtube]https://youtu.be/rqHlMiHDKkk[/youtube]

Or check this video  for 15 places to visit in Paraguay.[youtube]https://youtu.be/Ue1uOv0RgLY[/youtube]

And, if you’re a gourmet, you may like A Unique Dining experience in Paraguay with Anthony Boudain.[youtube]https://youtu.be/1N0A-ikdcXg[/youtube]

And remember.

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Judy Kundert

Judy Kundert, a recipient of the Marquis Who’s Who Excellence in Authorship award, loves storytelling, from folk and fairy tales to classics for elementary school children. She authors award-winning middle-grade novels designed to inspire and intrigue children. After she left her career as a United Airlines stewardess, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola University, Chicago and a Master of Arts from DePaul University, Chicago. Most recently, she completed a master’s Certificate in Public Relations and Marketing from the University of Denver. For fun, she likes reading (usually three or four books at a time), watching movies from the oldies to the current films, traveling, biking, and hiking in vast Colorado outdoors with her husband. Learn more at www.judykundert.com.You can find me at the foot of the Colorado Rocky Mountains hiking, biking

1 Comment

  1. PatK on July 16, 2016 at 8:46 pm

    Good blog

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