Travel Guide Curuguaty

You may have to sleep in Curuguaty if you arrive a little late to reach the Mbaracayú Nature Reserve. The Villa de San Isidro Labrador de los Reyes Católicos de Curuguaty was founded in 1716. It is one of the oldest cities in the country, and was even the fourth and last capital of Paraguay, at the end of the Triple Alliance War, from August 31, 1869. The city was destroyed in 1870 and no old buildings remain today. It has about 40,000 inhabitants (80,000 including rural areas), who are engaged in agriculture (soya, sesame, wheat, cotton, etc.), timber exploitation and cattle breeding. Curuguá (Sicana odorifera), a climbing plant of the Cucurbitaceae family, is also grown here. Curuguá produces a rare but delicious fruit (in juice or confectionery), which resembles an eggplant, with its oblong shape. He named the town after himself. There are several modern hotels without much charm, but with a welcoming and curious staff, tourists being rare in these regions (it is mostly agricultural merchants who pass through here). You should know that the so-called "Curuguaty massacre" (a clash between landless peasants and the police that killed 17 people on 15 June 2012) did not take place here, but about 40 kilometres away, in the middle of the countryside, on Ruta 10, towards Salto del Guairá.It takes 3-4 hours by car from Asunción (245 km) by asphalted road, and 5 hours by bus with the company Canindeyú (5 buses per day, around 50 000 Gs). Count 1 hour to Villa Ygatimí, 40 km away, with San Jorge, twice a day.