Despite the inevitable illegal logging and forest fires Paraguay remains a very green and heavily wooded land. Even where the trees have been cleared they are on the whole replaced by pasture rather than concrete.
The picture is a little different in the thorn bush srub of the Chaco in the north west, but the image of a green and fertile land holds true for the rest of the country.
Even Asunción, by far the biggest city in the country has plenty of green spaces. There are large plazas full of mature trees, shady trees lining the sidewalks and several large city parks. The largest of these are the Botanical Gardens a little way from the center and Park Nu Guazu on the road towards the airport.
All this greenery makes Asunción a pleasant place to walk around even in high summer. The parks and plazas are popular places to relax and recharge away from the bustle of the city.
Heading away from Asunción and into the interior the surroundings become still greener. Travelling on Ruta 2 the boundry between town and country is clearly visable beyond Capiata, the last of the suburbs of Asunción, where town is suddenly replaced by countryside. From there onwards the towns and villages seem to have almost as many trees as houses and where the spaces between them are miles and miles of open country.
A good place to see this is Caacupe which lies a little further down the road. From the ground it can be hard to get a picture of just how green a Paraguayan town is, but there you are able to view the scene from above.
In the center of Caacupe is it’s large cathedral and for a small fee a climb can be made up a sprial staircase, pass a mural and out onto the roof. From there high above the town it is at once clear how green the place is. So green in fact that the trees hide the house and it is difficult to pick out the city streets. Any other Paraguayan town would look very similar from above.
From there you would find the level of tree cover to increase still further if you followed any of the dirt tracks away from the tarmac and to the small settlements of the countryside proper.
Here life moves seemlessly back to a time of farm labourers, ox carts and family smallholdings. The Paraguayans treasure the countryside and it’s open spaces and here trees are encouraged to grow as small clumps of woodland or orchards. Not a single house, not even the most basic is without a good number of mature trees to provide shade on a sunny day and focal points for the gardens.
There are often small tracks leading from the main track which wind their way through the terrain to houses placed in small clearings amongst the trees.
As with everywhere that development and modernity arrives there is pressure on nature, but the greenery is so beloved of the populace much seems sure to survive for the enjoyment of the people and the benefit of the land.
Recent Comments