Americas

[Visited: January 2023]

After arriving in Filadelfia, I find a hotel and drop my bag. I ask the lady at the reception for options to find a taxi, because I want to go to Boquerón. She gives me three numbers. When I call them, not one of them is ready to take me, or the number is out of service. I decide to walk around Filadelfia, and perhaps find a car somewhere. When I get out, there still is no one outside on the streets. I walk to Avenida Hindenburg, the main street. At the corner, I find an old red car parked outside a shop. It doesn't look like a taxi, but who knows? The shop at the corner turns out to be open. Inside, a young girl shows up and smiles at me. I ask her if she knows who the car outside belongs to, and she replies with a bright smile, and says: "My daddy!" She calls him, and I ask him politely if there is a possibility for him to take me to Boquerón. He takes me to the car outside, gives me a very fair price, and asks me to give him a few minutes to prepare. I cross the street to take money from an ATM so I can pay him. And then, without further ado, we are on our way.
Of course, he needs to take fuel before leaving the town. We engage in a lively conversation on our way south. I call the caretaker of Boquerón, who says that we can visit, but he won't be there to open the museum for us, because he is on leave. We cross the highway linking Asunción with the Chaco, and continue south. The driver knows the way, and we end up driving unpaved and dusty roads. We drive past Hohenau and Blumental, and I am reminded once more about the German presence here. The last stretch of the road is straight, and as empty as all the other roads we see. We find the gate to Boquerón closed, so we park the car and climb over the boom gate. My new friend has been here before, obviously. Boquerón is a famous site, and school excursions from all over the country come here to educate their students about national history.
He points out trenches used by the Paraguayans. When the Chaco war started in 1932, the Bolivians soon conquered the fort of Boquerón. The Paraguayans besieged the fort for three weeks. According to all accounts, it was a brutal battle, in which so many soldiers died that the Paraguayans used the corpses to hide behind in their advance towards the fort. Water was in short supply, a serious problem in the hot Chaco region. The Paraguayans ultimately won the battle - and three years later, also the war. My driver says that the war was instigated by foreign oil companies who were vying for control over oil fields in the region. We see monuments, crosses, statues, the small museum and an old rusty car on an open space where the fortress once stood. We cruise through the terrain, see more trench lines, see hollowed out bottle trees used to hide soldiers. We come across a cemetery for Bolivian soldiers, and another for Paraguayans. The most touching tomb undoubtedly is the one in which a Bolivian and a Paraguayan soldier have been buried together, as was their wish. It only serves to remind us of the madness of war, and the humanity and brotherhood that are ultimately stronger.

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Boquerón (Paraguay)

Boquerón > Paraguay > Americas

[Visited: January 2023]

Around the World in 80 Clicks

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