Roaming South America

San Ignacio Guazú, Paraguay

June 23, 2023

San Ignacio Guazú (San Ignacio), Paraguay, has a population of about 48,000. San Ignacio is known as the "Heart of the South" because it is located in the center of the three southernmost departments (provinces) of Paraguay. It is also known as "Capital of the Hispano-Guaraní Baroque."

San Ignacio was founded in 1609 by Marcial de Lorenzana and Francisco de San Martín, both Jesuit priests. The town was founded as a mission with the name San Ignacio Guazú to diferentiate it from a town in Argentina named San Ignacio Mini. In 1610, San Ignacio was the center of the Jesuit reductions of the many Missions in Paraguay. From here they founded many other cities including Santa Rosa (I visited yesterday), Santiago, Santa Maria, San Cosme y Damiá (I visited a few days ago), Encarnación, and others. The present town of Santa Rita was the original and first location for San Ignacio but it was moved to the location that is now the town of Santiago, then it was moved again to its present location. About 11 kilometers southeast of downtown San Ignacio is Reinfeld Colony, a community of German Mennonites. They came from Canada in 1966 and there are more than 100 families living in the colony.

The economy of San Ignacio depends on agriculture and livestock, and services/trade. The town has at least half a dozen different banks, several supermarkets, and everything you could need to live here. The city still has a few houses and buildings that date back to the Colonial times. And a couple of museums of local history.

San Ignacio has a warm temperate climate. The average daytime high of 26° C (79° F), and the nightly average low of 18° C (64° F). The city's elevation averages 124 meters (407 feet). The average yearly rainfall amounts to 1769 mm (69.6 inches) of rain.

So, my impressions: San Ignacio is a pleasant town. I like this town. I met a very nice couple, Tim and Margaret, from Montana, who live here. They are missionaries and are helping in the building of a church in the nearby town of Santa Rosa. We had lunch together and it was really nice to be able to sit and talk with other North Americans. Outside of Colombia/Ecuador/Perú I have come across very few gringos. As for the town, it's a typical Paraguayan town - clean and quiet, lots of green space and parks, and an easily walkable downtown.

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 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 had ten towns on my Top 10 list, but I narrowed it down to four:

• Tingo Maria, Perú
• Moyobamba, Perú
• Catamayo, Ecuador
• Puyo, Ecuador

During 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 15 towns. In Uruguay, I visited five towns, and in Brazil, three. So far, I have visited 19 cities in Paraguay.

Next up: Pilar, Paraguay.