EL SALVADOR – SANTA ANA

January 9 – 14, 2024

We took a private shuttle van to El Salvador. The idea of a long and crowded chicken bus in 33 degree weather was not appealing. The driver wove between cars, tuktuks, and semi trucks quite skilfully, but between the swerving and the heavy foot and last second braking, it left us with queezie stomachs.

About a kilometre from the Guatemalan border we came across dozens and dozens of semi-trucks lined up waiting for their turn at the border crossing. We zipped ahead of them, which was another reason we were happy to pay the extra. The chicken bus would have been in that line for hours.

The border to El Salvador was less busy. We had to pay $12 USD each to enter the country. The border guards were very friendly toward us, and treated us separately from the other travellers. We felt like VIPs.

We came across a funeral procession. The coffin was in the back of a pickup truck, covered in flowers. The mourners walked behind.

We got to our guesthouse and immediately set out to find some groceries. If you Google “grocery store” or “Supermarket near me” it will pop up dozens of locations. However, most of them are mini-marts selling junk food and a few basic items. We went to one that showed 5 stars. It turned out to be a private home, with the owner eating pasta on her grilled-in porch selling I’m not sure what; but it was certainly not a proper grocery store. The fellow next door came out and asked what we were looking for. I said, in Spanish, a large store. Ah, a Supermarket! Follow me.

He spoke good English and worked in a lawyer’s office. He took us about 5 minutes away and dropped us right at the door of a large store. He shook our hands, thanked us for visiting his country and left. This same scenario happened again and again. The people are so helpful and kind. They want nothing in return except that we tell our friends what a wonderful place El Salvador is. They obviously want tourism.

A couple stopped us on the street and asked where we were from. They were from Texas, his wife was from El Salvador and they decided to move here for a year with their two young children. The man was so helpful, giving us ideas of things to see and do. He even gave us his phone number if we should need help or advise. His little daughter picked the tiniest of tiny flowers and gave it to Pierre.

We spent a day just wandering around. We often get lost doing this, but always happen upon interesting things in the process. We found a fantastic grocery store nearby. This is always a thrill for us to find ONE store that has everything we need. We went through a huge outdoor market. I remembered that I needed a new battery for my watch, and was escorted to the proper stall. The vendor took my watch and replaced the battery for a grand total of $3.00.

Also in the market was a tortilla making co-operative. There were piles and piles of corn. They kernels were washed then put through a grinder. From there the mash was given to another group of ladies who added the flour and fried them into street tortillas. I am not a fan of the taste of corn tortillas. They taste rather flat and chalk-like.

We walked past the Old Art School – an old abandoned building which still looked grand, even in its dilapidated state.

We came upon a pinata store. They sold ready-to-go pinatas or decorate-your-own. They had all the paraphernalia to build and decorate pinatas.

We went to the Human Anatomy Museum. Inside were big models of human cells and muscles, with explanations of how they transfer energy from one body part to the other. Jars of pickled body parts, and human skeleton parts added to the educational tour. There were pickled fetuses. Pierre was a premature baby, born at 7 months, at home – no hospital. It was quite shocking to see how tiny he was.

We went to the Santa Ana Cathedral. The exterior is an elaborate Neo-gothic design, while the interior is simpler.

The dual coloured columns are not two types of stone, as I thought. They were actually painted two colours. Either way, it looked nice.

There were hundreds of pigeons just outside the doors. They were encouraged by the vendors selling bird food to people to feed them.

We decided to stop for a drink at the Simmer Down restaurant and ended up buying a steak dinner. The steak was a nice cut and tender but the preparation was horrible. It was literally floating in greasy oil. How can you destroy a steak that way? HOW??

The plus side of the restaurant was a young Czech man who sat beside us. He had been travelling for 4 years, mostly volunteering as a teacher and soccer coach. (He really was a teacher.) He has sponsors who have been paying his way for his blog on what the real world is about. He said the biggest thing he came away with was how kids in places like Africa wanted to go to school. They were hungry for education. They were eager to show their best on the soccer field. They were full of life and expectation. Whereas in his home country, the kids didn’t want to go out and run because it was too much work. Going to school was a chore bestowed on them by their parents. The idea of a better way of life was blase. (Obviously they had not studied their own history from WWII) We told him we were proud of him for making a difference in the world and that he was in inspiration to us. I never got his name.

We had heard about the hike up to Santa Ana Volcano. It is the highest volcano in the country (2381 metres or 7815 ft) and is still an active volcano having last erupted in 2005. ANY seismic activity or rain and the hike is cancelled. You can only go up with a guide. However, he didn’t really guide us, as much as when along. We looked up the price online and found it was anywhere between $85-115 per person. We did some searching and found lots of blogs on how to go on our own. We took a $0.70 bus ride to the trail head. We were charged $3.00 to cross through some private property. The normal fee for foreigners to enter the park is $6.00. Seniors got in for free. The total cost was $3.40 USD each ($4.55 CDN). Always check local prices for tours. They are generally less than half price, but this was an absolute rip-off.

The bus was crowded, but not ridiculously. I sat with a local man who wanted to chat in English. He said he practices everyday, even if he has to talk to himself. LOL sounds like me! He asked how we liked his country and I said we liked it very much. He told me that only two years ago there was so much crime that people got robbed all the time. It was common to see dead people in the street. The new president cracked down and put most of the criminals in jail. People started opening new businesses because they felt safe again. Everyone loves the new president.

Pierre helped an old lady load her bags of goods onto the bus and gave up his seat for her. That gesture earned us both lots of brownie points with the locals. A lady on the bus gave us what looked like a short fat banana. She said it was a papastero (phonetically spelled) It was a firm and very sweet banana. I wish I had taken the entire bunch that she had offered.

We met Gavin, from Australia, on the bus. He proved to be a very interesting fellow. We ended up walking with him for a part of the way. On the return bus ride home we exchanged contact info. I certainly hope we cross paths again. He has travelled all over the world and had many interesting travel stories. (We did meet up with him again in Suchitoto.)

When we left Santa Ana, it was very hot. As the bus ascended it got noticeably cooler and cloudier. Perfect hiking weather. The actual hike up to the volcano started off pleasantly enough with a gentle incline through a dense forest. There were the steps made from tree roots and some man made steps, but generally very pleasant.

Then it got steeper and rockier.

You know how engineers design airplanes by observing the birds fly? Well, I think this trail was designed by watching goats climb. OMG, the gentle incline turned into a rocky trail that, at times, seemed to disappear into the surrounding terrain. It was steep, but not incredibly so. It was more the uneven rocks that were just waiting to twist an ankle.

We managed, slowly, (2 hours, 3.5 km and 465 metre ascent) and finally reached the top where a man was selling ice cream. WTF? Did he climb up here everyday with that heavy insulated box? Apparently so! And he was doing a thriving business!

The edge of the volcano crater had no guard rails. One misplaced step and down you would go, hundreds of metres to the green lake below.

That didn’t stop people from edging as close as they could to take selfies and general pictures.

We were no different.

It was an incredible experience to be on the edge of one of the most powerful forces Mother Nature has to throw (literally) at us. However, there were only so many pictures one can take of a volcanic lake. We lingered about 20 minutes then headed back down. It only took us a bit over an hour to descend.

There is another volcano (Izalco) that can usually be seen from the trail. But the clouds obscured it this day. (We did see it when we got to Juayua a few days later.)

At the park entrance I asked a guide if we had missed the 1:00 PM bus, as it was 1:15. He said no, but that it was coming in 5 minutes, and pointed the way to go. It was the path we had come in on, and it had taken us about 10-15 minutes to get to the park from the place the bus dropped us off. We hustled through the forest path, hoping the bus would be late. Just as we got to the road, there was the bus, and it was loading people. We ran the last few metres and got on just in time. Whew! Our Aussie friend, Gavin, was on the bus and we enjoyed the next 2 hours back to Santa Ana chatting with him.

We passed a couple of cemeteries. They were like flower gardens. Every tomb was covered in flowers and streamers. They were beautiful.

It was really, really hot in Santa Ana. The weather network was showing 34 degrees Celsius. My travel watch was showing 50 degrees while it was laying on the washing machine outside. Either way, we didn’t wander very far or for very long.

RANDOM NOTES: Sinks never drain properly. I think I found out why.

A favorite snack for me is fried plantain. It is like potato chips but much more crunchie and tasty.

Chair made out of used tires

Markets are always fun. The energy is unparalleled. They sell anything and everything. Vendors are yelling, advertising their wares and prices. Some have recorded messages playing on a loop. Some just have loud music playing. It is almost as if they compete as to who can play the loudest music. Although they are only a few feet apart, the both have the music full blast – each playing their own brand of tunes.

We caught a chicken bus to Juayua for $0.90 each. It was only a 2 hour ride. The bus was loud and belched smoke every time he took off from a pickup or up a hill. It was a pretty ride along the Ruta de las Flores. 

A note about the buses: There are vendors that get on the bus before it takes off, if it stops for some reason, and even while its going, selling everything from fresh fruit, to bras, to jello, to cleavers. They jump off on the go, to jump on the next bus, selling their wares.

not all buses are buses

Price of Petrol: $3.72 / gallon

Currency: USD