Chaco Road Warrior

By Kelley Coyner

Some trips yield their pleasures like penny candy. You step aboard, look through a window, or walk through a museum, and beauty, intrigue and history overwhelm you. Paraguay’s Gran Chaco however, the Mount Everest of road trips, makes you sweat for its rewards as you push forward attempting to conquer South America’s last frontier. The 15 hour road trip across El Chaco from Asunción, Paraguay to Villa Montes, Bolivia boasts extreme conditions, both hot and desolate. It is a tough journey which is completely unforgettable.

Crossing the Río Paraguay, the road warrior leaves behind the muggy, overgrown landscape of eastern Paraguay and enters a browner scene that can be dry and dusty. Along the road is also the low slung dwelling of the Guaraní-–an indigenous people displaced from other parts of Paraguay. During the rainy season, you may encounter shallow lakes populated with pink flamingos along the roadway. Pozo Colorado, an hour or so further down the road, is the last stop for gas or water for hours. From here there are several options.

Containing 60 percent of the country’s landmass but less than 10 percent of its population, there is a lot of diverse territory to cover here. Chaco Bajo or Low Chaco offers palm trees and marshes. In the Middle Chaco, Mennonites inhabit a hub in Filadelfia—one of the alleged post-World War II retreats of Josef Mengele, the infamous death doctor of Auschwitz. In the Alto Chaco, there is the huge Parque Nacional Defensores. These three areas form the Paraguayan section of the Chaco, which also spans Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil.

Taking a right at the Paraguayan military installation we fill up on gas and water before heading down a sandy road. It is five hours to the border of Bolivia and on a busy day, a solitary bus may pass showering anything and anyone in its way with fine sand. Tarps tightly pulled and gear double wrapped fail to keep the dust from penetrating duffels, backpacks and plastic-encased food stores.

There is no one out here. There are a few signs for ranches but no sign of ranchers. Even the ubiquitous road equipment has disappeared.

A few minutes before reaching the border there is a sign for Canada El Carmen and truck repairs. Destination reached. Workers at the truck stop will show you to the small metal cross honoring casualties of war. (Notably the trucks seem to enjoy better shelter than the humans here.) They will also hop aboard to help you find the reserve at Canada El Carmen as it is easy to miss.

A site of more than 40 battles during the Chaco War between 1932-1935, the area is valuable for a number of reasons; it is also the only place in the Gran Chaco where there is fresh water all year long. The Palo Barrocho—a water gorging tree whose trunk serves as its reservoir—is a further attraction. (The best specimen is just on the other side of the border in a neighboring park run by a Bolivian conservation organization.) Even during a daylight walk or drive you are likely to encounter trees filled with dozens of birds including parrots and some snakes. Mammals are trickier however, and you will most likely encounter only small rodents or, if you are lucky, a giant pig. Jaguars typically keep a night schedule, rendering only their footprints a reminder of their ethereal presence.

For the lucky few who manage to spot a rare daytime jaguar, it is hard to see how the see how the site could be “improved.”