A Little Tour… Macadamia Nuts and Social Good in Antigua, Guatemala

Last updated on August 2, 2025 by Shannon

The chicken bus bumped to a stop in front of the Valhalla Macadamia Nut Farm and I offered a first glimpse of Emilia and Lorenzo, an expat couple who have created an entire movement in this region Guatemala toward assisting indigenous people in developing self-sustaining agriculture.

The Valhalla Experimental Station—a macadamia nut farm, restaurant and shop—is located about 15 minutes outside Antigua, Guatemala but it’s a world away in terms of the hustle and bustle of Antigua.

Visiting Valhalla Experimental Station means trading jostling elbows and candy-colored streets for a vast expanse of trees lining the curved drive that leads into Guatemala’s most interesting macadamia nut farm.

What I Most Loved About the Valhalla Macadamia Nut Farm

Walking along the dusty dirt path, my friend and I dodged low hanging branches and respected signs asking us to leave all fallen the macadamia nuts on the ground. The vibes at Valhalla immediately rewarded us for making the trip outside of the city, even though this was a pretty unknown spot back in 2009—my first visit to the farm.

The pace at Valhalla Experimental Station is relaxed in all the right ways. As we wandered the grounds from where the bus dropped us a the farm’s entrance, Emilia, an expat running the macadamia farm since 1985, scooped us out from between the macadamia trees.

Within minutes she was plying us with macadamia samples.

Macadamia and dark chocolate.

Cocoa covered macadamia nuts.

Macadamia nuts coated in cardamom flavored chocolate—my favorite.

It was a fun start to our tour that would uncover exactly how macadamia is harvested and processed on site. For those who have visited a coffee farm tour near Antigua, adjust your expectations. It’s a less complex process and a far more informal tour. You’ll learn a whole lot about macadamias though, and you should absolutely plan on macadamia pancakes at the restaurant after your tour.

My Private Tour of the Valhalla Macadamia Nut Farm

Emilia and her American husband Lorenzo are the stars of the show on a tour of this working farm. Larry is quite a character—a classic dad type who will talk your ear off with good-natured, cheesy dad jokes and expand on his many theories about the expat life in Guatemala.

This couple started the macadamia farm decades ago, well before it became fashionable to expat yourself in another country.

They’ve cultured some of the strongest and most disease resistant macadamia trees in the Americas, and also run nonprofit efforts to give macadamia trees to locals and help them create businesses and process and sell macadamia nuts.

The tour is short, sweet, and personally guided by Emilia, so I was able to ask every question that popped into my head about this nutritious nut—as well as about operating a socially-minded business, which is a passion of mine.

After the 15-minute tour, Emilia guided us into the corner of the farm’s small shop. Kat and I sunk back into reclining chairs. Within minutes we received a complimentary macadamia nut facial and a mini massage.

It lasts a mere two minutes, but the two Guatemalan women work a bit of magic in those two minutes, exfoliating your pores and then finishing it off with a dab of pure macadamia oil rubbed into your face.

Emilia has me convinced as to the miracles of macadamia oil for keeping skin young—she was over sixty during my tour but sported the skin of a thirty year old.

Macadamia Nut Pancakes: Worth the Trip

With freshened faces and a lot to think about, we relaxed at an outdoor table and prepared for some of Valhalla’s famous pancakes at the Valhalla Oxygen Lounge. The farm runs a small restaurant and we had both come hungry, ready to sample the farm’s famous pancakes smothered in blueberries and macadamia butter sauce.

What’s being served? Two fluffy pancakes made from macadamia flour that are then smothered in the creamiest macadamia butter imaginable, and topped with a dollop of blueberries from the blueberry farm they also own in own in a nearby region of Guatemala.

The pancakes are, in a word, fantastic. Macadamia nuts hold a subtle flavor, but the final package is a delicious breakfast and a filling way to start the day.

What Makes Valhalla Macadamia Nut Farm Special?

This serene and inviting family-owned organic plantation is empowering indigenous communities by promoting the cultivation of macadamia trees, offering them an avenue for food security, a source of income, and the opportunity to promote sustainability and environmental preservation by sequestering atmospheric carbon.

By supporting the work Emilia and Lorenzo are doing at Valhalla, you’re supporting their dedication to the preservation and healing of the planet through sustainable agriculture and the education of indigenous people. Who wouldn’t want to get behind that?

The Valhalla Macadamia Nut Farm is breezy, shady, and relaxing. The tour is short but it’s interesting and everyone you meet at every stage is attentive and kind. Plus, Emilia and Lorenzo both still wholly love their jobs and lives after forty years operating this small macadamia farm.

And while I don’t want to move to a macadamia farm in Guatemala, I do deeply love seeing how other expats in the world are able to make new lives in other countries that embrace completely alternative lifestyle choices.

How to Visit Valhalla

How to Get to Valhalla Macadamia Farm / Experimental Station

Valhalla southwest of Ciudad Vieja and located at km 52.5 Carretera a San Miguel Dueñas, Sac.

By bus, to get to the Macadamia Nut Farm leave Antigua from the bus terminal on any chicken bus headed to San Miguel Dueñas. Tell the bus driver “Las Macadamias,” then sit near the front of the bus—the driver will drop you off in the right spot. If the bus just sits at the bus station for a bit, don’t fret—it will usually wait to collect more people and leave after about 10 minutes.

By taxi it’s just 50 Queztal ($6.50 USD) and a 10 minute ride out of town.

How Long to Spend at Valhalla?

The tour lasts just 15 minutes, and then a leisurely breakfast and some light shopping for macadamia nut oil means you’ll spend about two hours total, give or take.

Other Things to Do at Valhalla

Consider glamping on the farm in their RV, or spend a day at the spa receiving a luxurious day of macadamia-themed treatments. The farm’s shop is also one of its key sources of income and the push the oils and creams hard. The good news is, they’re great. I used every single drop of my luscious macadamia nut oil until there was nothing left in the bottle.