EL SALVADOR – JUAYUA

January 14-18, 2024

We got off the bus in Juayua. We headed toward the main square to catch a taxi. There was some confusion about where our guesthouse actually was. We discovered that it was not in Juayua, but in the neighbouring town of San Jose la Majada. A kindly man offered to take us there for $5 USD. The funny thing was, we passed right by this town and actually stopped to let people off on our way to Juayua. Oh well!

We got to our guesthouse – Pulunte House – and were a bit shocked to see how run down it was. No worries, we’ve stayed in run down places before. However, the next morning we discovered that it was also filthy. I am talking months old grease and moldy food in pots filthy. I am a clean freak and this place made my skin crawl. We thought we could tough it out, but eventually two days later I cracked. We forfeited part of our reservation and moved to a hotel in Juayua.

Fiesta del Cristo Negro is a Latin American event where the people celebrate their Catholic and Black roots. It is kind of a protest to the “White Jesus” as well as giving thanks for the previous year’s blessings. It is their big yearly event and we were not about to miss it.

We hitched a ride into town. Yes, we hitchhiked! Nearly everyone was headed into Juayua for the festival. All we had to do was stick our thumb out and we caught a ride in the back of a truck. No seat belts, just jump in and hang on with the wind in our faces, like when we were kids.

The entire town goes festival crazy from January 1-15. The last day is the craziest. For the two week build up, the streets are taken over with food vendors selling local cuisine in a massive Feria Gastronomica (Food Fair). It was absolutely delicious. Alberta may brag about their beef, but these guys really know how to cook a steak. Yummy! The cost of a steak and prawn dinner ran us a whopping $12 CDN. I never asked what the grape size sausages were, but they were SO good!

Other vendors were selling your typical tourist fare of junk. One vendor had tequila shots – on the street. We wandered around, killing time when we came upon a Reptile Zoo. It was only $2 USD each so we went in.

They had lots of snakes and pythons, lizards, iguanas, and tortoises.

The zoo keeper took a huge python out of the cage and asked if anyone wanted to hold it. Pierre jumped forward. He said it weighed at least 18 kilos (40 pounds) and was about 3 metres (10 ft) long. He was beaming like a kid at Christmas.

Iglesia de Santa Lucia was open so we went in. Churches are always a treat, with their elaborate decorations and architecture. In hot countries the are also a place to sit and cool off without being hassled.

The entire alter area was decorated in exotic local flowers. Flowers that we only see in expensive flower shops back in Canada. I had to go up and touch them to see if they were, in fact, real. At the back of the church a man was decorating the Black Christ float for that evening’s parade.

The front of the church was soon blocked off, as the fireworks crew was setting up for the evening show. It was interesting to see the large metal tubes to contain the big fireworks and the spider’s web of wiring to coordinate the show.

Everyone was moving in a particular direction, so we followed the crowd.

There was a large metal sign set up that had the name of the festival displayed. Behind that was the Running of the Flaming Bulls. Men were running along the street with a wooden frame “bulls” over their heads and chasing people. The bulls had firecrackers and flares shooting out. 100% safe…. NOT! I have a video, but no still photos to post.

I found this painting in San Jose, but it depicts the scene well.

Immediately after this exciting event, the metal sign started lighting up with flames and spinning flares. The picture of the church on the front of the sign started shooting out more flames until it burst open like a Jack-in-the-box and revealed a statue of the Black Christ.

More flares started shooting out of the frame of the statue. But it didn’t end there. The letters on the sign all burst into flames. A couple who were staying at the same guesthouse as us said they saw some of the flames land on a building nearby. It was quickly extinguished.

Before these flames went out, the real fireworks started. It was a full on, hard core 20 minute show. It was more spectacular than anything I had ever seen in Canada. We hung around a bit longer then caught a ride back to our little town.

The next day our host took us on what he called a coffee tour. In reality he took us to a coffee processing plant and showed us where they dry the coffee beans, which is visible from the road. Then we drove past another processing plant, which he said was the Starbucks processor. There were no signs to say this, so we aren’t sure. Then he took us to Rancho Monte Hebron, a cafe where the owner has won awards for his coffee blending and roasting. He did have a certificate and seemed knowledgeable, so we can only assume he was for real.

The Master Roaster made us a pot of delicious coffee. He carefully weighed the coffee before putting it in a paper filter and gently adding hot water. He said that the test of a good coffee is to drink some hot, some warm and some cold. He said the true flavours of the coffee will reveal themselves when it is cold. Usually I like a bit of milk and a touch of sugar in my coffee. This coffee would have been ruined with the additions. It was delicious black. We also had a banana cheese cake. The perfect afternoon snack.

Rancho Monte Hebron was also a restaurant and had a nice eating area upstairs. I had a good view of both volcanoes Santa Ana and Izalco. The coffee plantations were clearly visible up the sides of both volcanoes.

We could see water bottles stuck into the metal roof of the building next door. The sun reflects through the water and creates a solar light in the dark room below. Very clever! The same system was used for the outdoor toilet. It was amazing how much light it let in.

We then went to another restaurant to watch the sun set. But the host felt it was too cloudy so we didn’t stay. I didn’t think it was too cloudy. To me, it was a poor excuse of a “tour”.

We had heard about las Siete Cascadas. We heard it was an easy walk to get to. We hitched a ride to the cross road that was to take us to the trail head. The trail was very steep and full of fallen leaves and little round berries that made the trek very slippery. We descended about 120 metres in a relatively short distance.

The trail was merely a cow path along a drop off, in places. We finally got to a beautiful little waterfall with the water shooting straight out of the rocks. We took some pictures and wondered what all the fuss was about over these falls. We found out later that we had to go further to see what everyone was going on about. However, you needed a guide – with rappelling equipment – in order to get to it. Nope! Ain’t gonna happen!

We hitched a ride on a work truck full of coffee pickers.

We had enough of the filth in our guesthouse so when we got back from our waterfalls trek we packed up our stuff and moved to Juayua. We walked to the highway, stuck out our thumbs and caught a ride with a fellow from Boston. He is Salvadoran and has houses here. He offered to rent his house to us. I kept his phone number.

We went out for a steak and prawn dinner that night. It was delicious and only cost $43 CDN. We stopped for an ice cream. A young family sat beside us and we struck up a conversation. When we were leaving we gave the Dad a small Canada flag pin for his daughter. Just as we were heading out the door, the Dad called us back. I thought we had left something behind. He gave me the leather bracelet off his wrist. He wanted to thank us for giving his daughter the pin. I put the bracelet on and have worn it ever since.

The hotel we stayed at was OK. In comparison to the Airbnb, it was a palace! However, the morning we were to leave, we went to the entrance and the doors were locked. Not just locked, they were chained shut! Our balcony was completely enclosed with metal grating. How the hell were people supposed to get out in case of an emergency?!?! We began to panic. We had a bus to catch. We started hollering HELLO until some sleepy clerk came stumbling out of one of the rooms and let us out.

This is one thing we can say about el Salvador, they are the nicest people we have ever met in all of our travels. Not just in Central America, ALL of our travels! They are so appreciative that we are visiting their country and go out of their way to assist us. 

I have said before how the children don’t cry and seem to amuse themselves with whatever is available. I watched two young girls playing with a mess bag filled with socks. They tossed it back and forth, trying to make it land in the other’s cardboard box. They were laughing and giggling the whole time. Then the game changed to using the boxes as a means to launch it back to the other.

Their mother sat nearby, selling her wares, and looking very tired.

We are off to Suchitoto. A fellow we met on the Santa Ana hike is there now. We are meeting Gavin for drinks tomorrow night.