Nature and Culture Tour
Iguazu Falls and Paraguay

Arrive and transfer to hotel in dowtown Asuncion

Lunch

Visit the Centro de Artes Visuales, Museo de Barro, a non-profit museum with an exception display of popular, indigenous and urban art of Paraguay (optional)

Dinner

Visit Itagua the most well-known town for making and selling ñanduti (spiders web lace). At the shops in Itagua you will be able to see the traditional fine thread ñanduti that is exquisite, but extremely labor intensive and becoming a lost art.

Visit the small town of Atyra, a town that claims to be the "Cleanest Town in Paraguay" and is the center for leather crafts: mate cups, leather covered thermos, belts, etc.

Enjoy lunch at Casa del Monte, Sunday brunch includes listening to local harp players while enjoying a typical Paraguayan barbeque.

Weather permitting, we will travel by dirt road, past ox carts and people engaged in brick making, on our way to Altos. Here we will visit a wood carver that carves birds, mythological characters, masks out of a soft lightweight wood. He will give us a demonstration and you may even have the chance to try carving the wood with a machete.

From Altos (meaning high lands), we will descend to the popular resort town of San Bernardino where we can go on a short boat ride on Ypacari Lake

Return to hotel in Asuncion

Visit the Abuela Roga Living History Museum

The grandmother will warmly welcome you to her home, a typical one-room adobe hut with a straw roof. She will invite you inside to see her furniture and will explain how she lives and how she uses the items in and around her hut in her daily life. You will be offered seats made from tree trunks and will sit beneath the shade of the large mango trees to enjoy her tales. Taste home-made chipa, hot and freshly baked in the tatakua (the round dome-shaped oven you see outside of nearly every country home), and sip on hot mate cocido while you enjoy her stories and the rustic tropical environment.

Enter the basilica in Caacupe to view the Virgin of Caacupe, the patron saint of Paraguay. Learn about the annual pilgrimage to Caacupe and the virgin's significance to the people of Paraguay.

Have lunch at prepared by our friend Ana Maria at the Hotel Uruguayo.

Visit ladies in Pirayu that make traditional ñanduti (spiders web lace), crochet clothing and table decorations, and beautiful hammocks, all hand-made with natural fibers.

Visit the historical museum and the Franciscan style church in Yaguaron that was built in the 1600s and has been restored to make it one of the finest period churches in the country.

Visit the ceramists in Ita that handcraft clay into sculptures, bowls and other items.

Travel to Ciudad del Este.

Visit Itaipu Dam, the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. Itaipu has been declared one of the Seven Wonders of the modern world. The volume of iron and steel utilized in the Dam structure would be enough to build 380 Eiffel Towers and the volume of concrete used in Itaipú represents 15 times the volume utilized to build the Channel Tunnel between France and England. Watch a short video about the construction of the dam and take a tour.

Arrive at Hotel in Foz, Brazil

Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s throat) is a 70-meter waterfall where several branches of the Iguazu river converge causing a violent water fall. A balcony set up at the border allows tourists to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The Upper Circuit is a half-hour walk along a 1200 mts trail – with low degree of difficulty and no stairs – that goes deep into the jungle. All of a sudden, you run into breathtaking views of the Falls. You will get lots of closer views at the different observation points, and more panoramic sights toward the end of the trail.

The Lower Circuit goes all the way down to the river, where the boat crosses over to San Martin Island.  On the way down, there are balconies with marvelous bottom-up views of the falls (the same falls that you see from above in the Upper Circuit).

The Great Adventure takes you by boat right to the base of the waterfalls – a truly amazing experience. See the waterfalls from every angle – even from beneath the falls!

Return to hotel for dinner.

Optional: there are dinner/shows with local musicians and dancers (not included).

Visit the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls side to see grandiose panoramic views of the falls.

Visit Parque das Aves (bird park santuary) featuring more than 900 birds of 150 species, various reptiles and 25 species of butterflies. See toucans, parrots, and a variety of other birds up close as the birds fly freely through the park and trees around you. Considered one of the world’s best bird parks by bird enthusiasts.

Visit a Selecta Yerba Mate packaging plant and learn how this traditional and popular Paraguayan tea is dried, seasoned and packaged.

Visit the Jesuit Ruins of Trinidad and Jesus

Trinidad, the last of the reducciones built by the Jesuits,  was declared part of Humanity's Heritage program in 1993 and offers some of the most complete remains.

The Jesuit Ruins of Paraguay are a remnant of a period of missionary activity that lasted from 1609 to 1767.  The Jesuits' mission in the Americas was twofold - to bring Christianity to the native inhabitants and to provide for their education and welfare.  The Jesuits protected the Guarani from the Brazilian-based slave traders and kept the culture of the Guarani people alive.  Under the Jesuits, the Guarani learned to build churches and cathedrals, to carve images of the saints, to paint murals, and to play the guitar and harp.  The harp has now become the national folk instrument of Paraguay.  (We recommend that you watch the movie "The Mission" before the trip!)  

Visit Santa Maria de Fe to visit a Jesuit Museum.  Visit a medicinal garden and meet the women who grow and package medicinal plants.  See the women's workshop where they meet and create applique crafts cooperatively. Enjoy live harp and guitar music, and a traditional Paraguayan dance performance.

Santa María is a delightful, unspoilt jewel in the heart of the Paraguayan countryside - probably the prettiest of all the former Guaraní Reductions - though a very poor place with massive unemployment, where the villagers struggle to make a living. Its wonderful museum is an original casa de indios (“house of Indians”), beautifully restored with international aid: the hotel faces it directly, right across the square. It houses some 50 carved wooden statues of saints and holy figures: entering the final room, devoted to the Passion of Christ, is a mystical experience.

Stay at a small hotel or in family homes in Santa Maria.

Depart for Asuncion.

En route, Jesuit Museum in San Ignacio, shops that feature local wool crafts in San Miguel.

Return to Asuncion

Optional activities in Asuncion.

Complete any shopping activities.

Transfer to airport for flight home.