Neuland

Neuland is the smallest and youngest of the three Mennonite colonies of the central Chaco, a tidy, prosperous farming town of roughly 2,500 people set in the desert-like scrub of western Paraguay's Boquerón department. It lies about 464 km (288 mi) northwest of the capital, Asunción, just off the Transchaco highway. The name means "new land" in German — an apt description of what the Chaco was to the immigrants who arrived here in the 1940s — and German is still widely spoken alongside Spanish. The town centres on a single artery, Avenida 1° de Febrero, where the cooperative, supermarket, hotel, museum and parks all sit within easy walking distance of one another. Today Neuland enjoys one of the highest living standards in Paraguay, almost entirely thanks to the Neuland Cooperative.

The colony was founded in 1947 by Mennonites fleeing religious persecution in the then Soviet Union. Its founding has a poignant distinction: the majority of the first settlers were women, because the men had been sentenced to Siberian work camps under Stalin's regime after World War II. These women fled the USSR to Germany, and from there were permitted to immigrate to Paraguay — a history the town's museum and memorial statues commemorate directly. The Neuland Cooperative remains the backbone of social, economic and cultural life: it runs the bank, the supermarket, the hospital, the museum, the town's only hotel and the tourist office, and processes the colony's dairy, beef, peanuts and sesame. Practically every Mennonite family holds shares, and outsiders may only buy or rent cooperative land after living a year among the community.

For travellers, Neuland rewards those curious about Mennonite culture and the wider Chaco. The well-kept plaza, the excellent settlers' museum and the surrounding parks make a satisfying half-day, while the town's real draw for many is its proximity to Fortín Boquerón, the best-known battlefield site of the Chaco War (1932–35), 27–28 km away. Climate: the Chaco is among the hottest, driest regions in South America. Aim for the cooler, drier southern-winter months (roughly May–September); the high heat of the December–February summer is punishing and best avoided.

Overland by road is the only practical way to reach Neuland.

By Car / Road

Neuland sits 20 km (12 mi) off the Transchaco highway; the turn-off is at the highway's 450 km marker. Coming from Asunción, turn left onto the paved road that leads to the town centre. From the other central Chaco colonies, Filadelfia is 37 km (23 mi) to the north, and Loma Plata is a further 27 km (17 mi) beyond that. The Bolivian border lies 327 km (203 mi) to the northwest, roughly a 7-hour drive.

By bus: Stel Turismo runs daily buses from Asunción (about US$13, 7 hr). NASA/Golondrina runs daily services from Filadelfia and Loma Plata, from where you can connect on to Asunción or — if heading for Bolivia — to Mariscal Estigarribia, 98 km (61 mi) to the northwest.

Neuland is small and there is no public transport. Almost everything of interest — the cooperative, supermarket, hotel, museum and parks — lies along the main street, Avenida 1° de Febrero, and is easily reached on foot. For the out-of-town sites (Fortín Boquerón, Fortín Toledo, the Chaco Research and Conservation Center) you will need a vehicle: arrange a guided trip or a round-trip taxi through the tourist office, as roads to these sites are partly unpaved. Carry water — the heat is intense and distances between shade and services are real.

Tourist Office — Avenida 1° de Febrero (in the cooperative headquarters), ☏ +595 493 240 201, [email protected]. Run by the Neuland Cooperative, it provides travel information and coordinates guided visits to the cooperative grounds, museum and plaza. Call ahead to confirm the tourism manager is available and the office is open.

Town sights (along Avenida 1° de Febrero)

• Museo Histórico (city museum) — 200 m south of the cooperative. Normally closed; visits must be arranged in advance through the tourist office. Of the Chaco's three Mennonite museums, Neuland's gives the best sense of early settler life. Housed in the former school and set up to resemble a typical Mennonite homestead — main house, covered barn for farm equipment, and a separate kitchen building — it displays butter churns, sausage fillers and countless handmade objects. Highlights include the large egg incubators used to transport eggs on the week-long journey to market in Asunción, and a curious machine built to make ceramic bricks and tiles. Free.
• Parque Chaco Boreal (city park) — next to the cooperative. A small, well-maintained park with three commemorative statues: one honouring the early women settlers (a Mennonite woman working the land) and two marking the colony's 25th and 50th anniversaries. At the far end stands a well-digging machine donated by Dutch Mennonites in 1967, used to dig more than 1,000 wells in the area.
• Iglesia Mennonita de Neuland (Mennonite church) — 500 m south of the cooperative. Built in 1955 with support from North American Mennonites; every colony member contributed 17 days of community-service labour, and it was completed after 20 months. Open for visits arranged in advance through the tourist office.
• Parque Serenata — go 400 m down Avenida 1° de Febrero from the museum, then turn left and continue two blocks. A well-preserved, tree-filled city park.
• Freundschaft Park (Friendship Park) — at the southern edge of town, next to the rodeo. Its terrain has been deliberately left in its natural state so visitors can see what the area looked like when the first settlers arrived.

Out of town

• Fortín Boquerón — 28 km southeast (take Avenida 1° de Febrero to the southern edge of town, turn right, follow the unpaved road ~24 km, turn left ~1½ km to the park entrance, then follow signs). ☏ +595 981 242420. Open Wed–Sun 08:00–17:00 (call ahead to ensure someone can open the museum). Founded in 1928, this is one of the Chaco War's most significant landmarks: strategically sited near freshwater reserves, it changed hands repeatedly before Paraguay's costly, decisive recapture in September 1932. The large museum complex holds an extensive collection of war photographs and weaponry, and much of the original 3,800 m of defensive trenches (mostly about 1.5 m deep) survives. The trail follows the trenches to two small cemeteries — Bolivian and Paraguayan — passing palo borracho trees whose trunks were hollowed out as sniper hides; a striking statue of a Paraguayan soldier by artist Herman Guggiari presides over the clearing. Best visited with a guide hired through the tourist office in Neuland or Filadelfia, or by taxi. Free, but tipping the museum keeper is recommended.

• Fortín Toledo — 60 km northwest, beside the Chaco Research and Conservation Center (out to the Transchaco highway, left toward Mariscal Estigarribia for 26 km to the 475 km marker, then right and west 9 km to the centre, then 1 km on). A Chaco War site where a major battle was fought between 26 February and 10 March 1933; two cemeteries honour the more than 1,000 soldiers of both sides who died here.

• Centro Chaqueño para la Conservación e Investigación (Chaco Research and Conservation Center) — 60 km northwest, next to Fortín Toledo (same directions as above). A research centre dedicated to conserving the peccary (locally taguá), where you can see three species up close. A guest house with dorm rooms and a kitchen is available for stays of two or more days (booking required). Ideal for nature lovers heading deeper into the Chaco — bring all supplies, as the nearest store is in Filadelfia.

• Take a guided cooperative tour. The tourist office coordinates guided visits to the cooperative grounds, the museum and the town plaza — the best way to understand how a Mennonite colony actually runs, from dairy and beef processing to its banking and welfare systems.

• Make the Chaco War pilgrimage. A guided half- or full-day trip to Fortín Boquerón (and, with more time, Fortín Toledo) is the area's signature excursion; hire a guide or round-trip taxi through the tourist office.

• Go wildlife-watching in the Chaco. Use the Chaco Research and Conservation Center as a base to see the rare taguá peccary and venture into one of South America's great wilderness regions; overnight in its guest house to make the most of dawn and dusk.

• Browse the parks and plaza on foot. A relaxed walk linking Parque Chaco Boreal, Parque Serenata and Freundschaft Park gives a quiet, leafy counterpoint to the surrounding scrubland.

Neuland's food reflects its Mennonite farming economy: excellent beef and dairy, plus crops like peanuts and sesame processed by the cooperative. Dining options in town are limited and centre on the hotel restaurant and the well-stocked cooperative supermarket, where you can assemble a meal from local produce.

• Restaurant Boquerón — Avenida 1° de Febrero (at/near Hotel Boquerón). The town's main sit-down option, convenient for both guests and day visitors.
• Neuland Coop Supermarket — Avenida 1° de Febrero, opposite Hotel Boquerón. Best bet for self-catering and for tasting the colony's dairy and other products; also the place to stock up before heading out to the fortines or the research centre.

As everywhere in Paraguay, the ubiquitous social drink is tereré — cold-brewed yerba mate sipped through a metal bombilla, ideal for the Chaco heat — alongside hot mate in cooler weather. The Neuland Cooperative is a major dairy producer, so locally made milk and dairy drinks are widely available.

Water safety: the Chaco is arid and historically reliant on dug wells and rainwater collection; bottled water is the safe choice, and you should carry plenty whenever you leave town for the battlefield sites or the research centre.

• Mid-range — Hotel Boquerón, Avenida 1° de Febrero. The town's only hotel, run by the Neuland Cooperative and sited centrally on the main street next to the supermarket; it is also one of the few places in town that accepts credit cards.
• Budget / out of town — Chaco Research and Conservation Center guest house, ~60 km northwest. Dorm rooms with a shared kitchen, aimed at visitors staying two or more days; booking required, and you must bring all supplies.

Shopping here is practical and produce-led, centred on the cooperative and a few specialist stores along the main streets.

• Neuland Coop Supermarket — Avenida 1° de Febrero, opposite Hotel Boquerón. The cooperative's flagship general store (rebuilt in 1996), worth visiting just to see the range of goods produced in the colony.
• Librería Neuland (bookstore) — Avenida 1° de Febrero, next to Hotel Boquerón. Books and reading material, mostly in German, plus maps and postcards of the region.
• APICSA (honey store) — Avenida Industrial, at the entrance to town. Where local beekeepers sell their honey; Chaco honey is among the best natural honey on the Paraguayan market and is shipped nationwide.
• Indigenous crafts in Cayin ô Clim. In this working-class neighbourhood, home mainly to the Nivaclé people, artisans make carpets and bags with traditional designs, along with palo santo wood carvings of Chaco animals — turtles, anteaters, armadillos and serpents.

Bargaining and payment: prices are generally fixed. Crucially, bring cash — apart from the hotel and the cooperative supermarket, only a few shops in town accept credit cards.

• Fortín Boquerón (27–28 km / ~30 min) — the Chaco War's most famous battlefield, with trenches, cemeteries and a war museum.
• Filadelfia (37 km north / ~30–40 min) — the largest central Chaco Mennonite colony (Fernheim), with more hotels, restaurants and services, plus its own settlers' museum.
• Loma Plata (~64 km / ~1 hr) — the oldest Chaco Mennonite colony (Menno), known for its history museum and dairy industry.
• Fortín Toledo & the Chaco Research and Conservation Center (60 km northwest / ~1 hr) — a second Chaco War battlefield paired with the taguá peccary conservation centre and Chaco wilderness.
• Mariscal Estigarribia (98 km northwest / ~1–1½ hr) — the last major town before the Bolivian border and a staging point for the long Transchaco crossing into Bolivia.
• Asunción (464 km southeast / ~7 hr by bus) — Paraguay's capital and main transport hub, with the country's international airport and historic riverfront core.