Five hours south of Iguazu, in them midst of a tropical forest, the Jesuit ruins still stand since the time they were constructed in the 17th century by Spanish priests and the Guaranis, the local people that inhabited the area prior to colonization. It's described as a rare occasion where colonizer and colonized lived alongside respectfully and incorporated each others cultures and languages to create a functioning and productive community. In the 18th century the king of Spain, weary of their allegiance, ordered the Jesuits home and the community slowly disintegrated.
Nowadays San Ignacio is a sleepy, traditional place where the heat of the day causes the closure of almost everything. We stayed in a small cabana owned by a painter who spoke a bit of french, Posada Los Lagartos. It was a welcome stop in our travels, a place to relax and to see a site often overlooked by many travelers on the gringo trail.
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