All telephone numbers are expressed as local numbers. You will need to add the international dial code and the country code. Paraguay Getting there Journey Latin America (http://www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk; 020 8747 8315) offers tailor-made trips to Paraguay, which may be combined with trips to the Brazilian Pantanal, and the Iguazu Falls. Their 18-night ‘Jacana’ group tour (Rio to Lima, via Paraguay) starts from around £2,342 (US$3,981.40) pp including flights, accommodation, land transport and excursions. Return flights to Asunción (from London, via Sao Paulo), start from £598 (US$1,016) with Varig. Around and about Double rooms at the Gran Hotel del Paraguay (Tel: 200 051) cost from £50 (US$85) a night. Downtown, you might try the Asunción Palace (Tel: 492 151), which was once the home of Benigno Lopéz. The rooms cost from around £30 (US$50) a night. For cheaper accommodation, I stayed at the Residencial Itapua (Fulgencio R.Moreno 943 and EEUU: tel 445 121). Rooms cost around $5.80 (US$10) a night. Buses are cheap, clean and efficient. A boat passage to Concepción costs around US$5. The cargo boat, MV Guarani, leaves every Saturday from the port. What to See There are many local tour companies in Asunción. I can personally recommend Paula’s Tours (Tel; 446 021); their agent, Dianny Elizeche, speaks good English. No trip is complete without a visit to the Jesuit reductions at Trinidad and Jesús, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Other attractions include the steam railway, Lake Ypacarai, the central highlands and the Mennonite colonies. For wildlife enthusiasts, the Chaco has over 600 species of birds, not to mention some prehistoric lungfish, armoured trees, vampire bats and a wild pig thought to have been extinct since Pleistocene times - until it re-surfaced in 1975. Newfoundland and Labrador Getting there and getting around By air: London to St Johns, Newfoundland; Air Canada from £ …. return. The flight time is around 4½ hours. From St Johns there are flights to Goose Bay or to St Anthony, for connections with the ferry to Blanc Sablon in Labrador. Air Labrador run flights every day except Saturday to each of the fourteen larger outports on the Labrador coast. Contact them on sales@airlabrador.com or 1-800-563-3042. Coastal Boats: Inclusive cruise packages can be arranged through www.vikingtrail.org. Otherwise, fares are government-subsidised and based on the number of nautical miles travelled. Full time-tables can be found on www.gov.nf.ca/FerryServices or phone 1-800-563-6353. At most ports the boat stops for between 15 minutes and 2 hours to unload. Buses; The bus service around Newfoundland offers only limited coverage and is very expensive. The best way to see the island is by hire-car (and there are numerous agencies listed in each the main towns). Where to stay A full list of accommodation in Newfoundland is available from Tourism Newfoundland and Labrador, PO Box 8730, St John’s Newfoundland, Canada A1B 4K2 (http://www.gov.nf.ca/tourism/) Labradoreans are very hospitable and, if no hotel is available, someone will usually provide a room in their house. Expect to pay around C$50 a night for this. Unless otherwise specified, hotels generally cost around C$100 a night. Battle Harbour: A double room, full-board at The Inn costs C$150 a night. The beautifully-restored cottages can be rented from C$100-150 a night, with meals an extra C$30 per head. It costs only C$27.50 a night to doss in the bunkhouse. Reservations can be made through Margaret Pye on (709) 921-6677 or www.battleharbour.com. Cartwright: Spartan ‘motel’ amenities at The Cartwright Hotel; (709) 938 7414. Goose Bay: Several choices, the best is probably Bradley’s Bed & Breakfast (709) 8006. Hopedale; Bright rooms overlooking the harbour at the Amaguk Inn (709) 933 3750. Nain: Industrial in appearance and solid in its comforts, the Atsanik Inn (709) 922 2910 is the only hotel. Where to eat Again a full list of restaurants and eateries is available from the tourist authorities. There are no culinary adventures in Labrador. Battle Harbour Inn is the best bet on the coastline; dinner costs around C$14. On the coastal boat, a main course from around C$7. Money The currency in Newfoundland and Labrador is the Canadian dollar. Visa is widely accepted but not Mastercard. After Goose Bay, exchange facilities on the coast are virtually non-existent When to Visit The government ferries don’t start to run until the ice thaws in July. They stop at the end of September. The icebergs are bigger and more numerous at the beginning of this period but the black fly tend to ‘burn off’ towards mid-August. This is the ideal time to go. What to Buy It is possible though difficult to buy Inuit art direct from the artists (such as Gilbert Hay and John Terriak in Nain or John Neville in Goose Bay). However the artists tend to keep little or no stock. To see a good range, visit The Birches Gallery, 18 Hamilton River Road, Box 1226, Station B, Happy Valley-Goose Bay. In addition to sculpture, Herb Brown sells a range of paintings, sea-grass basketware and Inuit weapons and tools. Remember that, north of the Hamilton Inlet, one cannot buy spirits. It is possible to stock up at the government Liquor Store in Goose Bay.