La Choza Chula, Escuintla Department, Guatemala

5Robert H 5:00 PM Dec 26, 2017

El Paredon - The Hidden Gem
We sailed into Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala on a Saturday. Having planned this visit for months ahead, we had searched for things to do extensively and were not impressed with the usual options: a 90-minute bus ride to Antigua, coffee plantation or volcano hiking tour. Finally we hit upon a Viator review of El Paredon and a tour company called La Choza Chula. We googled La Choza Chula and made arrangements for a day tour of El Paredon - a surfing and ecotourism village 40-minutes from the port. Things could not have worked out better and this tour turned out to be our favorite experience on our 16-day, 10-port Panama Canal cruise. La Choza Chula is a non-profit community development organization dedicated to improving the lives of the residents of El Paredon. Alex Bevan, from London, is the director. His staff includes Raphael (Raffa) from Nice, France. Each accompanied us on the various aspects of our tours. Their shiny new air conditioned van picked us up at the pier and drove us through the beautiful countryside dotted with plantations, horse and cattle ranches on smooth paved roads sometimes covered by canopy like riding through tunnels. About 8-miles from El Paredon, we turned onto a dirt-gravel road that wasn't too bumpy and then we arrived. El Paredon is a small village on the Pacific coast with thatch roof buildings, dirt roads and if you can find it, is internationally known for surfing, fishing, sea turtle spotting, mangrove boat excursions and as we found out, occupied by laid back, warm, hospitable residents truly interested in showing tourist an extra good time. The first phase was Alex accompanying us on the mangrove boat tour. Senor Adelso paddled the small boat up the Rio Acome and through canals of huge mangrove trees while pointing out wildlife. Later, he showed us how the mangroves are re-forested and allowed us to plant a mangrove seed along the bank giving us hope of a legacy-our tree. Adelso also demonstrated his fishing technique using a tin can and string. Exhilarating. Accompanied by Raffa, Tour 2 was going to Senora Dona Aura's home where she taught us to make empanadas on a wood fired stove while her children watched with amusement. My job was to knead the dough, fashion them into pancakes and fill them with salsa while my wife shaved cabbage for something like coleslaw. Then we all sat at Dona's table and feasted on our creations Ala Grande! With Raffa in tow, Tour 3 was boarding Senor Neri's covered boat and traveling down river to spot sea turtles coming up for air. These guys are huge, abundant and here all year. El Paredon means "The Wall." The ocean pushes sand onto the shore and the river shaves it forming a large wall-sand dune between it and the ocean, hence, The Wall. Our on board companions from Guatemala City, bought blood clams from a gentleman harvesting them mid-river. They are so-called blood clams because of the amount of iodine they accumulate from the brackish water. The GC gent asked me how in the world I found El Paredon - the middle of nowhere. I told him it wasn't easy. He was amazed. We toured a salt farm before returning to El Paredon. Tour 4 included the El Paredon Surf House. This is a beachside hotel catering to surfers. There were a few trying their luck but on this day, the winds were light and the waves small - 2-3 footers. They can be enormous at times. Then, unfortunately, we had to return to our ship which sailed at 6 PM. I highly recommend touring El Paredon with my new life long friends at La Choza Chula. Wear comfortable clothing that you don't mind getting wet and slightly muddy climbing in and our of boats. This is a Category 2 tour - somewhat physically challenging. No need to worry about speaking Spanish. We intend to return there and spend a few day or maybe like Alex and Raffa, stay longer. It's maravilloso!

5Divya P 5:00 PM Oct 29, 2018

A great organization for a deserving community
I had the opportunity to work closely with La Choza Chula and it was an incredible experience. They are really trying to make a sustainable tourism ecosystem in El Paredon, and ensuring the community is benefiting from the expat influx. They run great tours, are fun people to be around and have great merch!