Parque Nacional Cerro Corá
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ADDRESS
5, Paraguay
A place of natural beauty and painful history, the 54,340-acre Cerro Corá National Park was where former Paraguayan leader Francisco Solano López fought and died in the last battle of the War of the Triple Alliance. The park is full of forests, streams, buttes, and limestone walls etched with 5,000-year-old petroglyphs, and you can see the cross marking the spot where López died by the Aquidabán River. Armadillos, giant anteaters, tortoises, and pájaro campana (the national bird) all reside here. The park has rangers that act as guides as well as free campsites. Reach it by taking the 45-minute bus from Concepción.
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Parque Nacional Defensores del Chaco
Thomas Vinke / Getty Images
ADDRESS
Paraguay
One of the largest national parks in Paraguay, Parque Nacional Defensores del Chaco contains big cats, tapirs, and 6-foot-tall storks in a dry, rocky land of palo santo and carob trees. Ocelots, jaguars, pumas, and Geoffroy’s cats roam its forests, and the Cerro León rises 1,968 feet above the park. In this landscape of cacti and samuù (drunken stick plants), camping is available but the infrastructure is poor; that said, the entrance road can only be accessed by 4WD vehicles. Though it's possible to drive yourself, it’s highly recommended to go with a travel agency specializing in Chaco travel, like DTP Travel Group in Asunción. Be warned: It’s only for intense lovers of nature.