Roaming South America

Atyrá, Paraguay

June 30, 2023

Atyrá, Paraguay, has a population of about 17,000. The town was founded in October, 1538 by Domingo Martínez de Irala. The original name of the town was Atyhá. Before it was founded it was a Guaraní village. Guaraní are indigenous people in this part of the world. The founding of the town took place in the shade of seven Yvapovó plants. The location was a meeting place for the people living in the area, hence the name Atyhá.

Atyrá is considered the "Cleanest City in Paraguay," the seventh cleanest in the Americas and the eighth healthiest community worldwide, as certified by WHO/PAHO. It was also declared "Ecological Capital of Paraguay," by a Decree of the National Government. Franciscan missionaries did the religious foundation of the town, as well as nearby Altos, Atyrá, Tobatí, and Yaguarón, in 1580.

The church one sees today was built in 1928. It replaced the church that had been built in 1852, and three of the four original walls of that church were used in the current church building. And, prior to the 1852 church, was the original town church built in 1782. I wasn't able to go into the church as it is currently being renovated, but it has the original 18th century alter as well as many historic statues of the saints.

The economy of Atyrá depends mostly on agriculture and cattle ranching, but they also have coconut oil factories and sawmills. There is also a strong artisan culture, especially in leather and saddles.

Atyrá has a warm temperate climate. The average daytime high of 27° C (81° F), and the nightly average low of 19° C (66° F). The city's elevation averages 95 meters (312 feet). The average yearly rainfall amounts to 1633 mm (64 inches) of rain.

So, my impressions: Atyrá is a pleasant town. The central business district, well, it's spread out throughout the town, there is not one central business district. There are small businesses everywhere. They do have a couple of decent supermarkets and everything else you might need. The parks are nice and generally well kept. The town is clean and pretty, and quiet, of course there are the occasional motorcyclists that have to make as much noise as possible to get attention, but that happens everywhere. I like this town, but, one negative point - there is no proper coffee shop.

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 23 cities in Paraguay.

Next up: probably Concepción, Paraguay.