Where in the World are the Bullivants?

I am not sure what I was expecting when I went to El Salvador, but I do think that I thought it would look poorer, dirtier, and feel less safe than the other countries that we had travelled to already.  However, I do not feel unsafe, and the country is actually really beautiful.  There were a number of points during the drive through the countryside that I was reminded of home.

Our first stop was Suchitoto, approximately 2 ½ hours from the Guatemala border.  The town is fairly small, with the main buildings being approximately 6-8 blocks in total.  Since we arrived late in the day (there was not a road to El Salvador from Honduras, so we had to double back into Guatemala and then down to El Salvador) we took a quick look at the main square and headed to dinner.  The main food here is also corn, so we had pupusas (corn tortillas filled with cheese/beans and other fillings).  The next morning we headed on a town tour/history tour for the area.  The guide was really knowledgeable and explained the development of the country, including discussing the civil war and how this was resolved.  We went to a really cool waterfall, took a look at the lake, Laurence made himself a cigar, learned about indigo dying, and the local programmes that they are developing in order to keep the children off the streets.

That evening we joined a local family for dinner.  Laurence and I made a corn tortilla (I can say that ours were not are round or even as our hosts) before sampling the local corn hooch.  The saving grace for this was that you chase it with lime covered in sugar and cinnamon.  Earlier in the day they have driven around the village to ask farmers if they wanted to sell their ducks for dinner.  I guess that it was successful ad they cooked two ducks for our group (7 people) and themselves (5 people).  The soup that they made to accompany the duck was delicious.

Our first coastal stop on our way along the Pacific Ocean was El Tunco, a rocky surfers beach.  As we were only staying one night here, we explored the beach, watched the sun set, and went to a bar for a drink before bed.  It was a nice spot, I am sure it would have been much better for people who could surf (the small triangle of a town was full of them).

Our last stop in El Salvador was El Cuco, a beautiful sandy beach with beginner waves.  We stayed two nights in this hot little (tiny) place.  It was a tourist destination, but more for the Salvadorian people.  We saw a lot of locals and people from the bigger cities who booked some the hammocks and shaded areas for the day.  On the first evening we headed out on a sunset boat tour.  It was not quite as expected – the boat was small and being on the coast we had to get past the ever crashing waves before getting to the bumpy ocean.  The sunset itself was lovely – bright and set over a small jutting peninsula.  On our return some people took turns on the sea biscuit.  Laurence did very well – especially since our group was telling the driver to go faster and faster.  He claims that in the end it was him or his pants, so he let go to bob in the ocean until the boat returned.

After a bit of a sleep in we headed out for our surf lesson.  Laurence and I both tried very hard, the ocean was crashing into us, almost drowning me as the waves were bigger than my head and I could not jump that high.  We both managed to catch some waves, surf on our knees, and stand for varying lengths of time (all ranging under 10 seconds).  After an hour or so, we were pooped.  This surfing really takes it out of you.  We relaxed on the beach, in a hammock, in the air-conditioned room, at the bar, for the rest of the day.  Laurence headed out to a party, with some locals and some people who were volunteering at the hotel, later that evening.  From what I heard, he won the beer pong game, managed to smash his stand in wedding ring (where one of the kind party-goers made a hair tie ring for him), and came home drunk at 1:15 in the morning.  I am happy that he managed to navigate his way back via the beach, but was not too appreciative in being woken up at that time due to having to be on a bus at 5:00 am.

Our last morning in El Salvador involved an hour plus bus ride and a two-hour boat ride across the gulf between El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.  We left via a wharf and on our arrival in Nicaragua we had to wade through the water and onto the beach (it looked more like an illegal entrance then a legal one – but there was an immigration officer there to stamp our passports and a bus there to take us another 7 hours to Granada).  This has been my favourite country so far, so relaxed, so pretty, and so friendly.  If you can surf, I highly recommend it.