Fuerte Olimpo

Fuerte Olimpo sits on the west bank of the Río Paraguay in the far north, the capital of Alto Paraguay department, a town of a couple of thousand people below three isolated hills, the Tres Hermanos, which rise from the flat Chaco and are visible for a long way up and down the river. The Spanish built the fort of Borbón here in 1792 to hold the river route, and its walls survive on the hill above the town with a view over the water and the Pantanal beyond. The town is a stop on the riverboat run between Concepcion and Bahía Negra, and a small ferry crosses to Brazil. There is very little in the way of services.

History

The Spanish founded the town in 1792 as Fuerte Borbón: Governor Joaquín Alós y Bru sent Commandant José Antonio de Zavala y Delgadillo to guard the frontier against the bandeirantes from Brazil, and Mbayá chiefs were invited to the founding. Under José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia it was renamed Fuerte Olimpo, perhaps because its main hill was said to resemble Mount Olympus, and it became a free port for Brazilian trade (Wikipedia, Fuerte Olimpo).

The main sights

• The 1792 fort - the Spanish walls on the hill above the town.
• The Tres Hermanos - the three hills rising from the Chaco plain.
• The Rio Paraguay - the river and the boat traffic on it.
• The Pantanal - the wetland spreading east across the river.

When to go

May to September in the dry season, when the riverboats run most reliably and the heat is bearable; summer temperatures in the northern Chaco are severe. Boat schedules are irregular.

Practical notes

Access is by irregular riverboat over several days or by charter flight. Accommodation is very basic. There are almost no services in the town. Heat and mosquitoes are heavy outside the coolest months.

Nearby

Bahia Negra lies north up the river; Concepcion is south.

Key facts