Well, we made it! We have just arrived in Paraguay, so now it’s all about finding our feet and sorting the basics like supermarkets, transport, money and phones.
After our brief stopover in Miami we are pretty excited to be in Paraguay, and after nearly a year of travelling & living in Central America we are hoping and praying that Paraguay will be our new home. We have a strong vision of the life we want to create, building an aircrete dome, growing our own food and becoming part of the community in Paraguay. We have a good feeling about Paraguay, so now we are here, there are boxes that need to be ticked!
Finding Our Feet
Asuncion – Villa Morra
We arrived in Paraguay in the early hours of the morning from Panama and managed to squish our luggage and bodies into a very small Uber. Most rideshare cars in Paraguay are small! To make our landing easier we decided we would stay in the Villa Ricca area of Asuncion for a couple of nights.
Villa Ricca is one of the upmarket suburbs in Asuncion and is beautiful. Gorgeous houses and streets, cute boutiques & expensive cars. More importantly, it has numerous shopping malls, either within walking distance or a quick Bolt/Uber ride away. It was a great place for a soft landing. We were amazed by the range of goods/food available in comparison to Guatemala & Nicaragua. Even gluten free products are readily available in the supermarkets.
Where We Stayed
We stayed at the Aparthotel Maison Suisse. An aparthotel is a cross between an apartment and a hotel (of course!) so we had lots of space, a basic kitchenette and a balcony. The facilities were a little retro (we love that) but spotlessly clean and well maintained. The breakfast was an amazing spread, and the coffee was great. This was included in the price.
We would definitely recommend Aparthotel Maison Suisse as a great landing pad. It was walkable to Villa Morra Shopping and Shopping Mariscal. Shopping Mariscal is actually two buildings next to each other (they are just in the process of building a walkway to join them) one of them is mainly retail shopping and the other is a combination of food & retail shopping. On the ground floor there are cafes/food and if you travel to the top floor, you will find a large food court with a roof top deck. There are also food options outside in the courtyard on the ground level.
If you are up for a serious ‘international brand’ shopping excursion, then jump in an Uber/Bolt and head to Paseo La Galeria and Shopping Del Sol. International designer brands, cafes & fine dining restaurants abound in these massive shopping malls.
Most shopping malls in Asuncion are open from 9am to 9pm, 7 days a week.
Where We Ate
Superseis – We discovered to our surprise that numerous supermarkets have a dining area! They have buffet style hot & cold food to purchase that you then eat it in the dining area. We stumbled across this concept when we first arrived in Villa Morra. We had dinner at Superseis – which has become our favourite Paraguayan supermarket. It’s a great way to choose what you eat and it’s very cost effective.
Bar Leo – This cafe/restaurant was recommended by some friends. It’s a relaxing spot with an outdoor courtyard. The staff are friendly, and the service is good. They do a great burger and an awesome chicken caesar salad. Reasonable pricing as well.
San Lorenzo
After spending four nights in Villa Morra we headed to San Lorenzo. We chose San Lorenzo as it was still a short ride back into Asuncion but much more cost effective for a month’s stay in an AirBNB. San Lorenzo is essentially still a suburb of Asuncion and is known as the university city. It’s a busy place traffic wise as it is the junction of Route 1 & 2, the main access roads out of central Asuncion. We were within walking distance of San Lorenzo Shopping which pretty much had everything we needed including a Salemma supermarket.
Where We Stayed
We booked a month in San Lorenzo at Ramona’s Place. Ramona & Maura live next door and they are amazing hosts. It’s a Paraguayan style three level house which is very rustic and full of Ramona’s artisanal creations. We had plenty of room and each bedroom had a bathroom. It was safe & secure and in a good neighborhood. It was also only a short walk from Route 2, which meant you could easily catch a bus into Asuncion or further down the line to Caacupe. San Lorenzo is also a hub for the larger double decker international buses and coaches heading to Encarnacion and beyond.
Where We Ate
We were pleasantly surprised by the high standard of the food in shopping malls in Paraguay. Good coffee is a bit harder to find here but if you are hungry you can’t go past an empanada as a great snack. An empanada is a baked or fried pastry that is generally stuffed with either chicken (pollo) or beef (carne) and may also contain cheese (queso) They are everywhere in Paraguay and are available from street vendors, supermarkets and cafe’s, the empanada is an everyday staple food in Paraguay.
In San Lorenzo we had easy access to a well-stocked supermarket, so we got back into the groove of cooking our meals. On the odd occasion we went out for dinner. San Lorenzo doesn’t have the high-end choices of Villa Morra/Asuncion, but we still found some fav haunts!
Mostaza
Mostaza is a Paraguayan burger chain. Many shopping malls have a Mostaza in the foodcourt. The Mostaza in San Lorenzo is delicious and the service is fast. It’s an outdoor dining truck in the carpark of Parque 14 y Medio on Route 2.
Bacon
Bacon is another Paraguayan burger chain. Our family is split on which is better. Bacon does have yummy crinkle cut fries though! They are in the San Lorenzo Shopping mall and like Mostaza you will find them in most malls in Asuncion.
Pelado’s
Pelado’s is an indoor/outdoor dining truck on the roadside on Route 1 and is a favorite of Ramona & Maura’s. They have amazing burgers & lomito’s (more like a sandwich) and many more food options. The food was delicious and there was a huge array of sauces and salsa’s to choose from.
Reading this post, it sounds like all we ate was burgers! If we wanted something quick, we would head to the local food court or grab a burger, otherwise we would grab a Bolt and head into Villa Morra.
We actually ended up staying two months in San Lorenzo, it gave us time to settle in, get our blog up and running and do some homework on ‘where to next”.
So, we have decided we are keen to check out the Caacupe/Piribebuy area as an option to buy land & build. Check out our post on Caacupe, we went there for the weekend and loved the feel of it.
So, it’s Caacupe here we come!
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