Danny Tour’s arrive in Paraguay

We’ve been in Paraguay's capital of Asuncion for the last few days, and it’s been very hot. We’ve had temperatures in the high 30’s, which has been tough to deal with. But with a little air con and some shade, we managed to venture around this small city on a Danny Tour.

While I have been travelling over the last year, I’ve used a website called GPSmyCity to give me inspiration on what sights to see in each city. It gives you a list of about ten main sights per route and a map of how to get to them. It also includes a description of each sight. It’s a really easy way of getting around when you don’t know anything about a city. 

I have continued to use this website in South America, and as I’m now with a group, I have invited some of them along on the routes I’ve followed. With each city we’ve been to, the number of people in the group following me has got bigger. It’s got to a point where everyone now refers to these as “Danny Tours”.

Asuncion in Paraguay is probably our last opportunity to do a Danny Tour given we’re near the end of our South American adventure. As I advertised it as the last one, 25 of the group attended, a new record! Here’s what we saw, including some lovely group shots.

Some of the group posted footage of the Danny Tour on Instagram, which our tour company then posted as their Instagram story. Maybe a career as a tour guide is where I should be heading next!

As part of the tour, I gave out some fun facts about Paraguay, and I thought I’d share them:

• Known as the heart of South America
• Jaguars are found here
• Guarani is the official language, with Spanish second. Also the name of the currency
• Worlds largest water reserve
• Largest navy of any landlocked country
• It has a larger male population
• The rails were built by the British
• Paraguay is the least visited country in South America
• You can’t fly into Asuncion from outside of South America 
• You can duel with someone, but you need to be a registered blood donor in Paraguay. You also need a medic on hand
• Second biggest hydroelectric dam in the world, shared with Brazil
• Hydropower electricity makes up about 100% of the country’s electricity requirements. In fact, 90% of the generated electricity is also exported to the neighbouring countries of Brazil and Argentina
• Most homes do not have doorbells, people clap their hands instead
• The second biggest river in South America is in Paraguay
• The first railway line in South America was in Asuncion
• The highest point in the country is 842m, still higher than the Netherlands 
• The population is just over 7 million
• First country in South America to become independent 
• 80 percent of land is owned by 2.5 percent of the population
• 161 people control 90 percent of the countries wealth

Embarrassingly, I had left out the Asuncion sign on the tour, so I had to go back the next day to tick that off.

Afternoon’s in Asuncion means retreating to the hotel room for air conditioning, but we headed back out in the evening to a rooftop bar to watch the beautiful sunset. 

We’re now off to the Iguazu Falls which is accessed from both Argentina and Brazil. We will be going to it from both sides, so there’s plenty of country hopping over the next few days.