Loma Plata

Menno Colony History Museum

The museum that recounts the epic of the Mennonite pioneers who colonized the Chaco from 1927.

The main cultural attraction of Loma Plata is its history museum —the Heimatmuseum or 'home museum' of the Menno Colony—, built in 1977 for the colony's fiftieth anniversary, on the city's Central Avenue. Through objects, photographs, tools, reconstructed dwellings and testimonies, the museum recounts the arrival of the first settlers in 1927, the hardships of the early years —the thirst, the heat, the diseases, the lost harvests— and how, with organization and work, they managed to tame one of the most hostile regions of the country, the so-called 'Green Hell'. The tour is designed to be done practically without a guide, divided into thematic stations on sport, education, music, art, culture and history. It's an essential visit for understanding the character of the region: it explains who the Mennonites are, where they came from (from communities in Canada and Russia/Ukraine), why they chose the Paraguayan Chaco, and how they built the cooperatives that are today an economic engine of the country. The exhibits include an open-air section with machinery, carts and pioneer houses. Getting there: Central Avenue, Loma Plata (on foot or a short transfer within the city). Best time: the dry winter, cooler for touring the region. Tips: admission is free but it's worth coordinating the visit in advance by phone with the museum/cooperative (the usual hours are Monday to Friday, morning and afternoon); combine it with a tour of the city to see its characteristic architecture and order.

ℹ️ Distance: Central Avenue, Loma Plata (on foot or a short transfer) · Best time: Dry winter (May to September) · Admission: Free, with a visit coordinated in advance (source: Chortitzer cooperative / Visit Paraguay, verified July 2026) · Duration: 1 to 2 hours

Laguna Capitán and flamingo watching

Private nature reserve of the Chortitzer cooperative, famous for its flamingos and its aquatic wildlife.

About 20 km from the Cruce de los Pioneros (km 410 of Route IX), Laguna Capitán is a private nature reserve of about 4,500 hectares belonging to the Chortitzer cooperative, near the Tamyca experimental station of the Menno Colony. It's one of the most notable salt lagoons of the Central Chaco and one of the great natural attractions of the Loma Plata region. Between May and September, hundreds of flamingos arrive from the Andean highlands of Bolivia to feed in its shallow waters, filtering crustaceans, aquatic insects and snails from the salty bottom with their curved beaks. The spectacle of hundreds of flamingos tinging the Chaco horizon pink is unique in the country, and the lagoon has the IBA classification (Important Bird Area) granted by BirdLife International, as well as being part of the Guyra Rapé tourist circuit of Guyra Paraguay and Senatur. The Laguna Capitán Camp offers lodging in rooms with air conditioning, wifi, a grill area and traditional Paraguayan and Mennonite food, which lets you stay overnight and take advantage of the dawn or sunset, the best times for observation. Getting there: from Loma Plata, via Route IX to the Cruce de los Pioneros and then about 20 km on an internal road (with a guide or suitable transport). Best time: May to September, when the flamingos arrive and the road is passable. Tips: bring binoculars, plenty of water, sun protection, repellent and a hat; book the camp in advance if you want to stay the night.

ℹ️ Distance: About 20 km from the Cruce de los Pioneros (km 410, Route IX), near Loma Plata · Best time: May to September (flamingo season and passable roads) · Admission: About Gs. 30,000–50,000 (US$ 4–7) per person, access to the reserve, 2025; check with Chortitzer/camp · Duration: Half a day (visit); or overnight at the camp

Chortitzer cooperative and dairy production

The Mennonite dairy and agro-industrial hub that brought prosperity to the Central Chaco.

Loma Plata is the headquarters of the Chortitzer cooperative, one of the great Mennonite cooperatives and one of the main dairy companies in Paraguay (its dairy-products brand is known throughout the country). The cooperative is the economic heart of the Menno Colony: it groups the producers, industrializes the milk and the meat, and sustains much of the colony's infrastructure. Touring Loma Plata is seeing up close how the cooperative model transformed a semi-desert region into a prosperous agro-industrial hub. The landscape around the city shows cattle fields, dairy farms, silos and industrial plants, in contrast with the Chaco scrubland that still surrounds the area. This combination of order, technology and production in the middle of the deep Chaco is one of the most striking aspects of the destination and explains the level of development of the colonies. Getting there: the cooperative and its facilities are in Loma Plata and its surroundings (on foot or a short transfer within the city). Best time: dry winter. Tips: the cooperative's shops and supermarkets have open access; visits to production plants are usually coordinated in advance through the cooperative; take the chance to try and buy local dairy.

ℹ️ Distance: Town center of Loma Plata and surroundings · Best time: Dry winter (May to September) · Admission: Free (shops with open access); visits to production plants: coordinate with the cooperative · Duration: 1 to 2 hours

Town center and Mennonite architecture

The orderly streets and the Central European-style architecture that set Loma Plata apart right in the Chaco.

Beyond its specific attractions, touring the streets of Loma Plata is itself part of the experience. The city stands out for its orderly layout, its tree-lined streets and its Central European-style houses, the result of almost a century of Mennonite planning and community work right in the arid Chaco. The contrast between this tidiness and the thorny scrubland surrounding the colony is one of the most striking features of the destination. Walking or cycling through the center of Loma Plata lets you appreciate the colony's daily life: shops, schools, churches and the calm, orderly atmosphere that characterizes the Mennonite cities of the Central Chaco. Getting there: in Loma Plata's own town center (on foot or by bike). Best time: year-round, preferably in the cool hours of the day. Tips: it's a good walk to complement the museum visit and to acclimatize to the city's rhythm before heading out to the lagoons or the deep Chaco.

ℹ️ Distance: Town center of Loma Plata (on foot or bicycle) · Best time: Year-round, cool hours of the day · Admission: Free (open access) · Duration: 1 to 2 hours

Wildlife and nature of the Central Chaco

The Chaco scrubland surrounding Loma Plata, home to a singular wildlife adapted to the extreme climate.

Around Loma Plata stretches the Chaco scrubland, a dry forest of thorny vegetation —quebrachos, palo santo, cacti— that houses a singular wildlife adapted to the extreme conditions of the Gran Chaco: pumas, maned wolf, anteaters, armadillos, the tagua (a peccary believed extinct until its rediscovery in 1975) and a rich birdlife added to that of the salt lagoons. Although the great wildlife draw of the area is the flamingos of Laguna Capitán, the scrubland around Loma Plata also offers viewing opportunities with local guides, especially at dawn and dusk, when the heat gives the animals a break. Getting there: around Loma Plata, with a specialized guide. Best time: dry winter (May to September), for the milder weather. Tips: hire a local nature guide; bring binoculars, neutral-colored clothing and closed footwear for the thorny scrubland.

ℹ️ Distance: Surroundings of Loma Plata (with a guide) · Best time: Dry winter (May to September), dawn or dusk · Admission: Free to explore; paid guided outings (see Activities) · Duration: Half a day

Neuland Colony (nearby excursion)

The third great Mennonite colony of the Central Chaco, with its own history of settlers who came from the USSR.

A short distance from Loma Plata and Filadelfia is Neuland, the third of the great Mennonite colonies of the Central Chaco, founded by settlers who fled the Soviet Union after World War II. Its history, different from that of the Menno Colony but equally marked by the epic of the colonization of the 'Green Hell', complements the understanding of the region. A visit to Neuland lets you see another face of the same phenomenon: how different waves of Mennonite immigrants, with different origins and trajectories, managed to establish themselves and prosper in the Central Chaco through the same cooperative model. It's an excursion that rounds out a two- or three-day circuit through the central colonies very well. Getting there: from Loma Plata, by road toward the south of the Central Chaco (private car or transfer). Best time: dry winter. Tips: coordinate the visit with Filadelfia and Loma Plata to put together a complete circuit of the three colonies in a single trip.

ℹ️ Distance: A short distance from Loma Plata and Filadelfia, Central Chaco · Best time: Dry winter (May to September) · Admission: Free (open tour of the colony) · Duration: Half a day