Jesuit Ruins in San Ignacio Mini

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Five hours after leaving Puerto Iguazu we arrived in the small dusty town of San Ignacio Mini where we were planning on visiting the ruins of a former Jesuit mission after which the town is named. An uneventful trip through country side which reminded us of North Queensland. We were dropped off on the highway and walked the kilometre or so into the main town, dodging road works which were causing billowing clouds of red dust. It was a quiet little town and after booking into our hotel we went off to investigate the ruins. It was much busier around them - in fact the roads nearby were lined with souvenir stalls, cafes and tour buses. We purchased tickets for the light and sound show later that evening and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in a café - and enjoying ice cream! We found a coconut flavoured one which was delicious and enjoyed a couple more each before we left the town. Unfortunately (or maybe not for our waistlines) we didn’t find the same brand any where else in our travels. Later that day we booked bus tickets onwards to Buenos Aires - we were in shock when we were quoted the price. More than we’ve paid for some plane trips! It was a luxury bus and there seemed to be no others available so we paid the requested fee - actually upgraded for another $10 each - to full lie down seats with meals etc for the 14 hour trip. Hopefully it would be worth the dollars spent!
The show that evening was ok - nothing special, but I loved the baroque music that was played. We were surprised by the large groups of tourists that were waiting for the evening shows when we arrived at the site - I’ve no idea where they were staying as there was no evidence of them in the central area that our hotel was in. The lights on the red sand stone ruins accentuated the bas relief sculptures which covered their walls - though I wasn’t thrilled with the coloured lights they used. The mission was built by the Jesuits in 1696 during the Spanish colonial era and though the main objective of the mission was to convert the local Guarani Indians (the indigenous people of the region) to Catholicism it was also a centre of culture, education and craft for not only the Guarani people but other European settlers. An interesting aspect of the Jesuit religion is though the indigenous people were expected to convert they weren’t encouraged to convert to European culture - their own native cultural practices were actively encouraged, The mission had a population of 4500 people in it’s prime but the missions began collapsing after the Jesuits were expelled from the Americas in 1767. In 1984 UNESCO listed the mission on the World Heritage list.
Later that night I realised that I was missing my Ereader and thought that I had left it at the hotel in Puerto Iguazu. We contacted them via email and phone and had negative responses from the staff there. A couple of days later we realised more items were missing from our bags and realised that we had been robbed. Foolishly we had requested the whereabouts of the bank and left our room with bags unlocked for 20 minutes to go to the bank before checking out. It was all covered with travel insurance but I missed my Ereader for the remainder of our trip.
It poured with rain during the night and next morning we decided not to go back into the ruins but to visit the home of the famous South American author, Horacio Quiroga. It was a really enjoyable visit - his house was a little way from the town, set amidst the jungle and overlooking the Parana River. Unfortunately due to the heavy rain the night before the dirt road was a quagmire of sticky red mud so that made the walk interesting! His life was plagued by violence - his father accidentally shot and killed himself, his two brothers died of typhoid, he accidentally shot his best friend and his first wife and step father committed suicide. He chose his jungle home as a peaceful escape from his tragic life. However he ended his own life in that house by taking cyanide after being left to die alone (his second wife and daughter left to live in the city) of terminal cancer. What a sad life he had…
Anyway his home was full of 1930’s style artefacts, furniture and lots of photos. We waded back through the mud to San Ignacio Mini and wandered the quiet streets admiring the colourful shop fronts and houses. It was a very relaxed little town and we had enjoyed our couple of days there. Late that afternoon we waited at the highway for our bus to the capital city.
And though it was expensive it was a very enjoyable, comfortable ride. The first overnight bus I’ve ever slept well on - maybe the complimentary alcohol beverages helped!

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