Down on the Farm .. and some culture too.

Today, we took in some sights and history on the way to the farm.

We went to Caacupe, which is a little like a South American version of Lourdes. The legend behind Caacupe is that the native Indian who was fleeing from the Spanish, hid behind a Yerba Mate bush when he was surrounded and prayed to the Virgin to save him. He then became invisible and the Spansih did not capture him. His prayer was that if he was saved, he would build a statue to the Virgin, which he did. He made 2 statues. One was found floating on the lake Ypacarci nearby and was taken to the chapel where it remains today. - see above and note the Indian praying at the statue (and the hand casts of prayer at the bottom). The name Caacupe means behind (cupe) the Yerba bush (Caa), and has given it's name to the City and the Virgin. On 8th December every year, the Virgin of Caacupe is celebrated and people walk for many miles around to visit the Chapel. The statue is dressed with new vestments for the celebrations every year.

As was the case in some parts of Argentina, the Native Indians in Paraguay were the Guarani (pronounced 'Waranii'). In Paraguay however, the tradition and history seems more apparent. Guarani is still an official language of Paraguay and the currency too is called the Guarani (about 5000 to the dollar, so it's quite easy to be a millionaire !).

We had a lovely lunch at a hiltop restaurant overlooking the countryside. The drive to get there was interesting and we definitely needed the 4 x 4 to negotiate some of the roads ! Here we are at lunch near the farm. The restaurant, which is also a hotel, has it's own small zoo, where we saw lots of parrots, monkeys and a pair of tucan ! I was very surprised to see ducks eating mangos. Mangos are so plentiful here that there is no price for them. They grow everywhere and the dogs and ducks eat them ! The local mango is smaller than the one we know in Europe, but wonderful nevertheless.

And so to the farm. The Farm is mainly a Chicken Farm, but also has many wonderful fruit trees, including Mango (of course), pineapple, banannas, oranges, lemons and tangerines, guava. I had a great time tasting and smelling the fruit.

Here's Alberto and Celeste with their first investment, the first chicken house. There are now 3 more as well as a thriving distribution business. The label is K-Zero, which means Home Made.

And of course we met Conor's cousin Sean. Here he is ..

When we left the farm we headed home via Saint Bernadino, which was originally founded by some German visitors. This is a summer resort for the rish and famous and boasts some magnificent homes by the lake. It is only active for about 2 or 3 months of the year and most of it closes down for the winter.

Home again after a a long and fun packed day. Tomorrow, we'll play at the golf club - really looking forward to that.