Roaming South America

Asunción, Paraguay

May 1, 2023

Nuestra Señora Santa María de la Asunción, Paraguay, (Asunción), population: about a half million people. In the metropolitan area are more than 3 million. The city was founded in August 1537, so it is one of the oldest cities in South America. It is considered to be the third safest city in South America, after Buenos Aires and Santiago. Though, and this is interesting, I have been warned several times by people who live in Paraguay that I should avoid Buenos Aires because of the crime. It is also considered to be one of the cheapest capital cities in the world to live in. Asunción has many museums, a riverside beach, and a soccer stadium that seats a bit more than 46,000 people.

The big problem for me here is the language. Yes, it's Spanish, but no, it isn't pure Spanish. More than half the population speak both Spanish and Guaraní and the people typically mix the two.

Asunción has a warm and temperate climate. The average daytime high of 28° C (83° F), and the nightly average low of 19° C (66° F). The city's elevation averages 89 meters (291 feet).

So, my impressions: I am not impressed with anything here. The city center has some old buildings, maybe turn of the 20th century, some from the 19th century, but few are in good condition. Man of the city center streets have too much litter, the sidewalks are crumbling, and there are too many homeless people just about everywhere. There is a nice riverside boardwalk and park that appeared to be quite popular with cyclists and runners. I found a few roads in suburban neighborhoods that had some really nice homes, but mostly, there is nothing much here of any real interest.

My goal is to find a new place to live. So to reach that goal, I am traveling most of South America, visiting the countries of Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, and Chile, passing through Argentina, visiting Paraguay, passing through a bit of Brazil, and finally visiting Uruguay. I have a list of towns, about 70 that meet these qualifications: Cities with average day temperatures of 22-28° C (72-83° F) and night temps of 14° C (57° F) and higher; and a population between 28,000-300,000. I analyzed climate and population data of around 700 towns in the countries mentioned above and then pulled out the ones that meet the previously mentioned criteria, which leaves about 70. My preference leans towards towns of less than 100,000 people.  And, now that I have visited more than 30 towns/cities, I've decided I will probably want an inland town. I love the beach and walking in the warm water, but getting sunburned is just too easy, even on a cloudy day. At least here in Ecuador. I've also decided that any town with more than 100,000 population will be too big. I've decided that any small town/city (less than around 80,000 population) that meets the temp specifications and has a supermarket and ATM is one worth considering to live in.

My goal is to visit the towns and discover which one calls out to me - "Chip, Chip, make your new home here, this is your new home town". That hasn't happened yet, but the seven towns listed below are very close to giving me that feeling. At any rate, I am not visiting tourist attractions or archeological sites, etc, those will have to wait for another trip through South America.

At this point in my journey, I have five towns on my Top 10 list - Tingo Maria, Moyobamba, La Merced, Perú, and Catamayo and Puyo, Ecuador. In my travels in Ecuador, I visited 32 towns/cities. In Perú, I visited 26 towns/cities; in Chile, only five towns; and in Argentina, I visited 13 towns.

Next up: San Bernardino, Paraguay.