It was a smooth border crossing, in fact, the smoothest, and we felt very welcomed. A theme that continued in the two weeks to follow.
El Salvador is a small country, lucky for us, as we don’t have much time left on our C4 visas. We still have to get through Honduras and Nicaragua. But we’re glad we dedicated a fortnight to exploring this wonderful and joyful country.
The border crossing isn’t the only thing that was smooth either- roads in El Salvador are exceptional! Especially when compared with those of Guatemala and Mexico. One can even engage cruise control every now and again, what a treat!
So it didn’t take us too long to get across the country, and our first stop was the famous Santa Ana volcano; Ilamatepec. This volcano had its last eruption in 2005, leaving a deep hole filled with hot bubbling turquoise water.
We had camped at two campsites in the area, our first; ‘Campo Bello’, set in a thick foggy forest, which, if you’re lucky to experience a clear day, gives you a stunning view of the other surrounding volcanoes, and our second, ‘Casa Cristal’, a campsite full of manicured trees, where most of the guided hikes start.
Our volcano tour was to be with Irving, a young, enthusiastic and very informative guide. He led us up Ilamatepec (Santa Ana’s other name), oozing with facts about the volcano itself and all its flora and fauna. The hike involved a steep two-hour ascend to the top, some of which was along forest footpaths, and some a scramble over huge rocks and boulders; Zoe’s favourite type of climbing. We were accompanied by a local family from the capital, who, when we did cross the finish line, kindly treated us to an ice cream.
This was worth the trek up, as was the view. Check it out…
As we drove down to San Salvador, the country’s capital, the next day, we were greeted with smiles and waves the whole way, even a local driving through traffic contacted us on Instagram and invited us for some pupusas. Unfortunately, we could not join him on this venture but we did get to sample the national cuisine, at Finca San Cristobal, with an amazing view of the city.
Just up the road from the finca lies El Boquerón National Park where a short trail takes you to a mirador overlooking San Salvador crater. This one was already overgrown but still one impressive hole. We enjoyed the view very much and also the generosity we received back at the parking lot. In fact, after seeing Silverskin parked up amongst all the cars with El Salvador number plates, Blanca, a ‘Guanaco’ (a Salvadoran living in the USA) had gone back up the trail hoping to catch a selfie with us. She and her family were visiting relatives and were keen to learn about our travels. They were so smitten with Zoe that they purchased a ‘muñeca’ (an El Salvadoran doll) for her and gave her $20- just for her, to buy whatever her heart desired! Wow!
Already late in the day, we decided to set up camp again, this time choosing the ‘Eco Parque el Espino’. A huge forest area full of biking trails. Zoe and I collected acorns whilst Richie grilled a Tomahawk steak. He’d found this Nicaraguan meat at ‘Super Selectos’ for an amazing $17, a quarter of the price you’d pay for in Switzerland, and boy was it good!
But Richie is not just a lover of meat. He’d heard about the outstanding oysters on the Pacific, and would not leave El Salvador without sampling a few. Well, a dozen actually, whilst we were sipping on our ‘Frozen’ drinks (unfortunately Zoe and I do not share the same taste for seafood) and watching the big surf at sunset.
We had made it to the El Tunco region. The waves were a bit too rough to swim in, but it was good to splash around and play in the beautiful black sand. We also caught up with @Hourlesslife, an American family we had met when in Antigua. They were camping at @Hammock Plantation a hostel run by a Dutch family. We spent a great weekend together chilling in the pool and grilling Vacio and ribs with our perfect hosts Mark and Xenia.
Next highlight for us on this tour of El Salvador was yet another crater; the Laguna de Alegria. No hikes involved this time just a steep climb up with Silverskin. We arrived late afternoon and enjoyed wading through the low sulphuric waters, grilling a picaña and settling in for a very cool and peaceful night… all by ourselves. That was until 7:30am the next morning, when we heard lots of chattering voices belonging to a group of children. It appeared that we were also camped outside a primary school! The four teachers at the school were extremely welcoming, as were the students, and invited Zoe to participate in their youngest class. Having just talked about how she was missing her daycare, you can imagine the delight on her face when receiving this invitation. She ran into the classroom excitedly.
School finished at 12pm and we decided to leave too and hit our next volcano- Volcan Conchagua. We were glad to have left no later because once we reached La Union, a coastal town in the south, it still took another hour and a half to ascend the very steep, windy and rocky dirt roads. 4-low was definitely in order! But it was a fun ride nevertheless through thousands of mango trees, which we of course took advantage of! Our Silverskin may have gained a few more scratches that day but being able to climb up on our roof and handpick a bag full of fresh, juicy mangoes is just priceless.
We arrived at camp at Mirador Espiritu de la Montaña just before sunset. This resort set amongst a very beautiful dry pine forest has an amazing platform that overlooks the southern coast of El Salvador, its islands and even next-door neighbour, Honduras. The view was a little hazy upon this evening, but we’re glad we made it on time, because the next morning the thick fog was there to stay. After a chat with some Swiss backpackers, we settled in for another cozy night in our camper, enjoying the cooler temperatures.
Being so close to the border we could have stepped into Honduras the next day. But it would have been stifling! And besides, we weren’t quite finished with this fantastic country. We decided to head up north again, and learn all about the tragic events that took place in the not-so-distant past. The civil war lasting 12 years between 1980 and 1992.
In the small town of Perquin lies a museum detailing exactly what happened 40 years ago with a former soldier of the revolutionary army, the FMLN, present to tell the story.
With both of us being very much alive during that time, we were shocked to hear about the inequality amongst the population during the military Salvadoran Army’s rule and absolutely flabbergasted when learning about the brutality of the massacre that took place in El Mozote (a village not far away) on the 11th and 12th December 1981. At school, we of course had learned about the nazi regime of World War ll but had never been educated about this extreme dictatorship, how over a mission to eliminate the rebel presence in this area (the Operaciòn Rescate), 811 innocent civilians, many of whom were children were tortured and executed.
There is a memorial commemorating the names and ages of those that lost their lives in El Mezote, but with Zoe in tow, we had heard that it might be a little too traumatic to visit. So we drove on to Suchitoto, picking up some very delicious pupusas at Pupuseria Cristy on the way.
GoogleMaps had informed us that it would take four hours to reach Suchitoto. But with quite a few roadworks on route, resulting in a lot of traffic, an unexpected tumolo (speed bump) which sent our camper surging through the air, and an unsuccessful mission to try and withdraw some money (all cash machines had been rejecting our MasterCard during the last week- Visa is definitely the way to go in El Salvador), this journey had us arriving at 7pm.
Luckily, our stable lift wasn’t too damaged this time round and the hunt to find money in Sensuntepeque did mean we got to explore a Mexican-style plaza and bandstand and listen to a few happy mariachi bands on route.
…And as the blue hour kicked in, right at the very last minute, with only $5 cash left in our pockets, we were able to find an ATM that accepted our foreign-looking card. Thank you Suchitoto!
After a night spent at the ‘Centro Arte para La Paz’ (thank you Mr. security guard for enabling us to stay so late in the evening), we decided to check out nearby Lake Suchitlan. Here we met Emilio, Lily and Dominic, a lovely family from San Salvador- and just as you do, spontaneously shared lunch with them at one of the restaurants. They gave us expert advice about which meats to try, and we ended up having the very traditional sopa de gallina India, which friends, has nothing to do with the country found in Asia, but rather to do with the fact that it is cooked using an organic, hormone-free chicken. It was a delicious bird, served with a very flavourful vegetable-rice soup. Very much recommended!
We parted our ways after a fun afternoon play at the playground, and journeyed on to Hotel Maya, where Hourlesslife were already waiting, ready for our early morning border crossing into Honduras the next day.
El Salvador, we have learned so much about you these last two weeks. Your stunning landscapes, your very tasty food, and your history. And what won’t leave our memories, are your people; who after 30 years since the peace treaty was signed, make every effort to share their love. We have received such a warm welcome and will never forget those sunny smiles across the miles.
Thanks for reading, and we’ll ’meat’ you guys around the world!
