The rain stopped threatening and became an actuality early in the night. Thereafter we had bouts of heavy rain on and off all night, it also made for a wet breakfast.
The road out of the campground was really wet and muddy and we needed 4x4 and some momentum to get up a couple of the small rises.
We had the rain with us most of the day, as we travelled through gentle but lush countryside.
San Cosmo y San Damien, now a small out of the way town 20 km off the main highway, was once a large Jesuit town and astronomical observatory. We took a tour of the ruins and visited the modern planetarium. On our way to Cosmo we crossed a very impressive canal. We discovered from some guards that it is 12 km long.
Around 3:30 we took a detour to the town of Santiago to see a church and museum. This side track was 20 km through open grain farms, the sun was finally out and the light on the wide fields really spectacular. Along the way we passed through a very large heard of cattle and their accompanying cowboys in traditional clothing, right down to the the knives in their belts.
The museum was a bit of a disappointment and the church was closed, but the township was nice, quaint and really well maintained. In fact we had noted earlier in the day that all the small towns we have seen had been well looked after, clean, manicured, and no sign of dropped trash.
About 5:00 - with night closing in - we found Gustavos country club and settled in for the night.
Camping
Ignacio Guazu Country Club, also called a Rural Hotel. This place is on the left hand side of the highway as one enters Ignacio Guazu from the Encarnation direction. Has everything, electricity, water, pool, hot showers, fabulous cooking and barbeque area, tennis court, bar and wifi. The host, Gustavo, will eagerly show you the animals and walking trails. We have so far been very surprised by the quality of the two campgrounds we have found in Paraguay.
