Little El Salvador

From Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, we jumped on a shuttle to get us down to playa (beach) El Tunco in El Salvador.  The smallest country in Central America, El Salvador is often skipped by the common traveller, but we found it to be a destination we quite enjoyed for some R&R time.  While you’re here, you need to try a pupusa (stuffed tortilla), a cheap local dining option and on the coast, the ceviche – yum yum yum! 

Now, the locals are less friendly here compared to Guatemala and you often notice security guards with large rifles hanging from their necks, but the relaxed atmosphere of El Tunco on the pacific coast, makes you see past these things.  The nightlife is pretty epic here on the weekend, while during the week, it’s a vibe of chilled-out surfer dudes, looking for the best waves and the tastiest seafood. 

Our first night in El Tunco - new family and Triple J's hottest 100!! 

We arrived in El Tunco just in time for Australia Day and Triple J’s hottest 100 countdown! Of course, we instantly found an Aussie family (plus several other adopted ones) for the night, to celebrate as only us Aussies do.  However, after being awake from 4am that morning, David and I didn’t even make it to the top 10 – it being 2am and only number 13 playing on the streamed radio!! Damn the time difference making things so difficult!!  But never mind, because the next day was Australia Day, Central America time, so we got a second chance…this time we cooked up a nice Aussie Day feast of snags from the barbie and sat around drinking beers and rum.  Tough day!

Kisses the sun "good night" on the beach

In El Tunco our days just consisted of surfing (well, David surfed, while I lazed), being hungover, eating lots of seafood and one day we managed to organise ourselves (as a group of 14) to hike to a waterfall and go jumping and swimming there.  The hike was a mission and some of us almost cracked our heads open a few times, but the water was beautiful and cold and the waterfall was a nice ending to the hike. Well…that was until we had to hike back out, making us all hot and bothered once again.  Lucky the surf was a 2 minute walk from the hostel….

Our crazy waterfall/hike crew (Lucy in the background!!)

After a chilled but very full 4 days, we decided we’d better break up the family as we needed to get going on our travels if we wanted to see more of the country.  That’s why we took off with my fellow Aussie chick, Lucy and headed to Santa Ana, the second biggest city in El Salvador (after the capital).  The trip itself was an adventure as it was David’s and my first chicken bus experience – and wasn’t it one! Crammed in so you can hardly breathe, people yelling at you in Spanish, preaching religion or trying to sell you the latest gadgets or some fast, cheap food – anything goes on the chicken buses.  It’s boiling hot, you have way too many clothes on and bags to watch but it’s an experience in itself just to see the craziness of everyday life for an El Salvadorian!

Now when we arrived in Santa Ana, the first thought we all had was that it is not at all pretty and nor did it feel very safe – but the hostel we found – INCREDIBLE!  The type of hostel that is so well planned out, and run exceptionally well, Casa Verde (Greenhouse) was everything you want in a stay – clean, cheap, equipped kitchens (yes, that’s a plural – they had 2!), movie room, quiet (or drunk-at-night) room, pool, laundry, cheap drinks, helpful information and it was close to everything! If you go to Santa Ana, you have to stay here!

Volcan Santa Ana

So while the best thing about Santa Ana city itself was the hostel, it did have a few beautiful volcanoes close by to hike up and get amazing views, and is very close to the Ruta de las Flores (route of the flowers).  We ended up climbing Volcan Santa Ana one day (getting ripped off with payment, of course!) and then headed to the Ruta de las Flores to check out all the hype! Now the towns along the route were relaxed and the bus trip between them very beautiful but there still wasn’t that much to do there.  Nonetheless, we had a lovely time exploring the quiet communities and seeing local living, while taking some chill-out time. 

Checking the delicious food options in the markets of Juiyaya (where I tried frog!)

Ataco - a cute town on Ruta de las Flores!

We spent an overnight stay halfway along in a town called Juiyaya – yeah good luck trying to pronounce it! This is where we went on a hunt for iguana skewers, guinea pig and frogs – all delicacies that the guide books tell us are available here.  While we did get lucky with the frog – and it was delicious by the way – the others we couldn’t find (but I do continue to try and find these all the way through the rest of Central America…but with 3 days left, have had no luck!).  It was here in Juiyaya that I also decided to cook David a curry dinner…however, somehow I forgot I was cooking curry, threw in a couple of birdseye chillis, and almost gave David a heart attack with the heat!! My bad….need to train this one to handle spicy food haha

We ended our short time (only 10 days) in El Salvador with a night just outside the capital in Santa Tecla and then started our 13 hour trek of 2 taxis, 5 chicken buses, 1 tuk tuk and 2 border crossings the next morning to get to our next country on the list, Nicaragua!

The Nicaraguan journey was an exciting and interesting one, so keep watching for the next update!

xx