Halfway between Asunción and the colonies, Pozo Colorado lives off its location: here the PY09 crosses the PY05, which leads to Concepción and on toward Brazil. Its official name is General Luis Irrazábal. Service stations, roadside restaurants and shops cater to truckers, ranchers and travelers. All around stretches the humid Chaco of palm groves and marshes, with historic estancias and Southern Enxet communities; nearby is Makxawaya, the Anglican “English Mission.” It's a good place to stretch your legs, fill up and watch birds in the roadside wetlands.

This was the land of the Southern Enxet, who called it Yexwase' Yamelkyet. From 1889, Anglican missionaries led by Wilfred Barbrooke Grubb founded missions in the area. Around 1914 the American George Lohman Canfield established the Pozo Colorado estancia, a pioneer of Chaco cattle ranching. The Transchaco linked it to Asunción in 1961, and from 1988 to 1999 it was the capital of Presidente Hayes department.