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Pablo is very knowledgeable and passionate about what he does, and clearly loves sharing his knowledge with others. The tour itself is a visit to 3 locations, a chocolate workshop where they teach you how they make the chocolate and offer some tastings, an alcohol-fabrication place with some tastings, and a jade workshop. While there is an option to buy at all stops, there was no pressure to do so - I bought some chocolate and left a small tip at the alcohol place to compensate for the tastings. Because of this, I truly wish I could give him five stars. Unfortunately, Pablo can also be very hotheaded, disrespectful and Xenophobic. At one point in the tour, he explained to us that all Jews are the problem (we were discussing how Guatemalan companies struggle, especially with foreigners from around the world with better business sense and experience come in with the same business concept and do better than their Guatemalan-owned competitors, and suddenly Jews were the ones at fault, and are horrible people), that all French are arrogant and disrespectful, etc. At some point, a French couple spoke to Pablo alone. I hope they will leave a review to show their side of the story, as I can only explain what the rest of the participants saw and experienced. While none of us heard the beginning of the conversation, it seemed like they had simply misunderstood the concept of the tour and asked him about it. Instead of simply explaining the tour and maybe apologizing for the misunderstanding, Pablo clearly escalated the issue unnecessarily, yelling at them that they are horrible, stupid, disrespectful people, and that they should get out. Clearly uninterested in an argument, they left, even though we were in a random village and they had no idea how to get back to Antigua. To explain his side of the story, he told us that they were stupid and arrogant, and had been disrespectful the entire tour, and that this is true of all French people. While none of us had fully heard what caused the argument, we had been around the rest of the tour and had not noticed any signs of disrespect at any point prior to this - they had been friendly with everyone and respectful the whole time. We were then forced to wait at this last stop for another 10 minutes, as Pablo did not want to pass by them on the street, even though they clearly had no interest in an argument. After 10 minutes, we had all had enough and basically forced the issue that it was time to leave. When ALL people from certain cultures, backgrounds, or countries are blamed for a few bad apples, and when disagreements are escalated rather than de-escalated, I cannot in good conscience recommend him as a guide. While the first two stops were great, we all left the tour quite uncomfortable and with a bad taste, unsure of how to react or if we could safely give our opinions without repercussions.
