Filadelfia
Paraguay · Chaco · 140 m
Description
Filadelfia is the main town of the Mennonite colonies in the central Chaco, founded in the nineteen thirties by German-speaking settlers from the Soviet Union who turned one of the harshest landscapes in South America into productive dairy and cattle country. Plattdeutsch is still spoken in the shops. The town is a grid of wide dusty streets and cooperatives, and its museum covers both the settlement and the indigenous Ayoreo and Nivaclé peoples. Beyond it the thorn scrub runs for hundreds of kilometres and holds jaguar, puma and the Chacoan peccary. The Trans-Chaco road is long, straight and almost entirely empty.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 2 to 5 days (optimal 3 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: June – August
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Jakob Unger museum on the colonies and the Chaco peoples
- Mennonite cooperatives and the dairy industry
- Thorn scrub of the central Chaco
- Plattdeutsch in the shops and streets
- Laguna Capitán and Laguna Chaco Lodge
- Flamingos on the salt lagoons (May - September)
- Trans-Chaco road north to Bolivia
- Defensores del Chaco National Park(Multi-day trip)
- Ayoreo and Nivaclé craft cooperatives