The road to El Paraíso is winding and you can feel the temperature gradually dropping as you climb further and further up and away from the tropical coast towards the cold sierra.

There are four rivers that crisscross the town. Hanging over each one are sewage pipes protruding from the houses, turning the rivers into the sewage system.

“You live beautiful things but ugly things are more engraved in your mind because those hurt you and you don’t forget them, you take them with you, but in my life I’ve always tried to change, to forget, to make people feel good.”

~ Julia Figueroa Trujillo, owner “Cocina July”

“Luckily, in these lands whatever you plant, grows, but when the land is washed away, it’s ruined, it can’t support us anymore. This is a paradise, but what a Paradise it is.”

~ Esteban Sánchez Bautista, Coffee Farmer