SANTA ROSA DEL AGUARAY - Laguna Blanca and a Mennonite

Accommodation

We stayed at Hotel Santa Ana 2, 270 meters away from the bus terminal. For 120,000 Guaraní (= 15 Euros), we got a room with air conditioning and breakfast. We had a huge basket of snacks on the table (that has probably been there for a while and hasn't been replaced...), butter, jam, Dulce de Leche, oranges (that weren't freshly picked), eggs, overly sweet orange juice, Mate Cocido with milk and a bunch of sugar, milk, filtered water, and coffee. There was also toast and marble cake.

Attractions

Of course, Laguna Blanca and then the newly built Mennonite Church in Colonia Rio Verde. Unfortunately, I don't know its name. At the lagoon, there are various floating, artificially built islands, a beautiful beach with butterflies and owls, and a delicious restaurant.

Transportation

Everything within the city was walkable, to get to Laguna Blanca we took the "Padre Fidel Maiz" bus. It seems to leave whenever it wants and costs 15,000 Guaranís per person (1.90 Euros). We should have gotten off in Santa Barbara - if we hadn't been forgotten. Pascal was also partly to blame at this point. In addition to the 3.2 km that we had to walk from Santa Barbara to Laguna, there were another 2 - 3 km. Fun in the heat. For the last little bit (500 meters or so), we were able to hitchhike. On our way, we saw many butterflies and birds, and even a small sunflower field. Very pretty! The road wasn't paved, but was red earth, as is typical for Paraguay and a part of Argentina. We hitchhiked again on the way back - we had missed the bus due to its wrongly mentioned departure times by 20 minutes, thank you very much ;) Our driver was an agricultural worker from Lima (a small village near Santa Rosa). The second time to Laguna Blanca the day after, we had to wait 25 minutes for the delayed bus. Then we had to walk for a bit and hitchhike again. Our driver was an estancia owner, who invited us to several beers and made us an offer: If we want, he can take us to a friend of his in an hour (he had to take care of something), who was a Mennonite. Hm, after some consideration, yes, okay, we'll do it. After a short swim in the lagoon, we were picked up and went to the Colonie Rio Verde. At a construction business, we were dropped off and we could chat with Pedro, who drove us home after a very interesting conversation. More on this below!

Eating and Drinking

We dined a few times at the restaurant: At "Doña Arsenia Empanadas“ we ate delicious empanadas: Pascal with Carne, Chilena, Salchica, Villarroel de huevo (a fried egg), and a beef croquette. I opted for the corn empanadas and Tarta Cesina Katupiry (with spinach and egg). Delicious. For dessert, we had corn mini-alfajor, chocolate mini-alfajor, chocolate biscuit, and cocoa engelsauge costing a staggering 4,500 Guaranís (0.57 Euros). Unfortunately, I got a bit of heartburn… Too bad. We also ate at "Mr. Rapidito". A Paraguayita burger with Pan Casero, Mayonesa de la casa, Carne, Choclo, Caramelized onion, Cheddar cheese, Egg, Tomato y Lettuce, Super delicious and only 22,000 Guaranís. On another day, we had Lomito Arabe: Pan Arabe, Cabbage, Tomato, Egg, Cheese, Lomito, Special garlic sauce, and extra salad. A delight! Mmhm. The price was 24,000 Guaranís. We also visited "Pizza House Santa Rosa". So disgusting. The caipirinha was undrinkable and the corn pizza was on the edge. Additionally, we had to wait forever. Very disappointing! There's a restaurant at Laguna Blanca where we had very affordable Mbeju, Sopa Paraguaya, Fried Mandioca, and a Vegetable sandwich. Highly recommended! We paid a total of 44,000 Guaranís (5.55 Euros).

Cafes and Restaurants

• Doña Arsenia Empanadas
• Mr. Rapidito
• Pizza House Santa Rosa

Plants and Animals

We saw so many butterflies, including this large blue one that you can sometimes spot in the Schmetterlingshaus Jonsdorf. Additionally, there are very many birds. At Laguna Blanca, we also saw an owl and were ecstatic.

Number of Germans in the City

We're not certain, but the nearby Mennonite Colonie is certainly a possibility. Here's the Wikipedia entry.

Contact with Locals

We communicated with our two hitchhiking participants: the farm worker and with Joan, the estancia owner plus his girlfriend Maria. Additionally, we got in contact with the Mennonite Pedro.

People We Met

Pedro was able to tell us an immense amount. Communicating with him was not completely straightforward, as he spoke Low German, and made an effort to speak High German for us. We, of course, tried just as hard not to slip back into our "Frankish" way of speaking ;) Pedro told us a lot about everyday life as a Mennonite, the relationship between the different colonies, about the children in the community, and about marriage. Almost all Mennonites are in farming and export their produce. Many Paraguayos are employed by them and, among other things, agricultural machinery is also manufactured. Nearly all Mennonites of the colony feel comfortable in the community and do not want to leave, nor do they want to go away for study. It was a very engaging conversation where we were able to discuss the various topics in detail. Afterwards, Pedro showed us the church (which has German hymn books) and the current construction status of the school. Thank you, Pedro! We thoroughly enjoyed the conversation.

Expenses

In Santa Rosa, I finally bought a folder for all my entry tickets etc. I bought two; the first one cost 70,000 Guaranís (8.80 Euros) and the second one, for some inexplicable reason, cost only 38,000 Guaranís (4.80 Euros). I'm excited! Strangely enough, some fragrance has been incorporated into the Brazilian plastic; honestly, I could have done without it ;) But otherwise, the folder is exactly what I have been looking for the past two months. I am very happy! The second time at the Laguna, we paid an entrance fee of 25,000 Guaranís per person (= 3.15 Euros).

Typical Market Offer

You can buy empanadas and herbs for your Tereré.

Laundry

We did not do laundry.

Currency

Still Guaraní. We withdrew money without fees at the BNF Santa Rosa del Aguaray ATM.

Bus to Asunción

Fortunately, the bus departs every hour. With "La Santaniana“, we returned to the capital at 8:30 AM for 160,000 Guaranís (= 20.10 Euros). At the terminal, we were picked up by Valentina and Daniel, friends of Helmut. In the meantime, we got information at the counters about the different travel options to Bolivia. The only possibility is Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Sucre is not served. We actually wanted to go to the Mennonite city of Filadelfia, as it is exactly on the way. However, to get further from there, we would have to go back to Asunción and then pass through Filadelfia to go to Santa Cruz. No, not interested. A shame, but then again, maybe not.