By “It’s dangerous there, you shouldn’t visit at all!” The warning a few of my friends gave me after I replied to a text of where I’d be heading to next: Honduras & El Salvador.
Any place in the world can be a dangerous one, even your own backyard. It’s a known reputation that both of these countries are the murder capitals of the world outside of an active war zone, but if you know me well enough you know I’m going regardless! With my sense of adventure churning on all cylinders I decided against all warnings and yeeted myself into my next escapade.
By now I’ve realized getting anywhere in Latin America would be a smorgasbord of feelings, mainly: anxiety, worry, and confusion. It was also a mix bag of adventure and fun. Going from Copan Ruinas to Santa Ana in El Salvador can be done one of two ways: local buses OR private car hire. I chose the car hire because of my unfamiliarity with the local buses up to this point in my trip. With the car hire we went back into Guatemala, funny enough, before driving onwards to El Salvador.
PRO TRIP: Having the private car hire also helped me with the land border crossing. Important? Yes, because if you saw what I saw in the queue for papers I might’ve never made it in one piece!
After a rather low-key morning of almost no mishaps and powering through three true-crime podcasts I arrived in Santa Ana, El Salvador. Wasting no time I got to jotting now my next week’s plan:
- Hike Santa Ana Volcano
- Explore the food stalls at the city center
- Visit the Rutas de Las Flores (Road of Flowers)
- Find some waterfalls to dip in
- Catch some surf
- Catch some seafood
I coordinated with the host of Casa Vieja Guest House (lovely bloke by the way) of my plans and he was more than helpful in getting me sorted. But first, as we always do, I took to walking the streets of Santa Ana, feeling it out in my search for an ATM and some food.
Within the first few blocks I could tell this city was LIVELY. Plenty of food stalls for that quick bite along with more upscale offerings. Locals were out in full force enjoying the hot afternoon heat and I couldn’t have noticed anything out of the ordinary, other than families having a great time. This goes to show that not everything people, the news, or even blogs like mine depict about a destination could be true, but always keep your eyes peeled and your wits about you.
The next day I hopped on a bus at the Francisco Lara Pineda station and headed towards one of the closer cities on the Ruta de La Flores, Juayua. This was my first real experience with chicken buses in their natural form. At the bus station I witnessed some insanely decorated yellow school buses from the states. From Fast and the Furious style flame decals to full blown entertainment systems boasting the latest and greatest dance hits. All of the bus drivers really took it seriously when stamping their mark on their rides. Each one I hopped on since I took notice of little personal touches they did to their rigs. Got to give these gents and ladies the credit they deserve!
Also, rides cost anywhere from $0.25-$0.50! El Salvador takes the American dollar. Got bitcoin? They take those too now!
During my ride to Juayua I befriended an Italian lad who’s been traveling on and off for about 15 years. He invited me to check out La Siete Cascadas (the 7 Waterfalls) and I 100% did not turn him down. Spur of the moment plans are what I live for so off we went to find these falls I kept hearing so much about.
To view these falls you really should go with a guide because we found out the hard way that the gates are locked. Undeterred, unwilling to pay for a guide more like it, we decided to hop the gate instead. When in Rome as they say.
The Good: the waterfalls were pretty incredible, add to the fact we were the only ones around in the jungle to enjoy them! Bring a bathing suit because because the water was incredibly cooling to the touch after trekking through the hot jungle. Without a doubt the clearest water I’ve seen in a very long time!
The Bad: because there always is a bad, I completely wrecked my legs up hopping said gates. My right calf was bitten by some unknown jungle bug, you know, the best kinds with life bar health meters bigger than your head. The left calf wanted to join the party of injuries with its entry of being serrated by a barbed-wire fencing.
At the end of the afternoon I was bleeding with bits of hamstring meat poking through on one leg and a colder than usual bug bite on the other. Did I regret meeting this guy on this bus in this country? No way. Shit happens.
We made our way back to the city center to explore what it had to offer being on this famous route. Everyone made it seem to be a very magical place with flowers literally lining the streets. What we found were contrary to that. Vendors were selling flowers as buses passed by them, broken pots, half dead flora were the consensus. The town did have a food stall section mainly aimed at tourists or the upper echelon of Salvadorians who could afford the meal prices. Other than that it was a dreary little place, not like what was described to us.
Was I let down? Not entirely. I got to spend an afternoon exploring, even if a little bit of mishaps happened along the way. I made a new friend, had some great conversations and saw some amazing waterfalls. It was a good day.
With my injuries I chose to have a rest day and skip the volcanic hike until I healed up. Meanwhile I had the pleasure of sharing a dorm with a Frenchman who had ridden his motorcycle from Alaska with the hopes of hitting Patagonia in the next few months. I was in awe, the second motorcyclist I’ve met doing this insane trip on a motorbike in less than a week!
Little did I know how much he loved Dunkin Donuts, the Red Sox and Boston being his favorite city, all from a European! He divulged that he studied in the states, RI to be exact, and fell in love with NE. Not often you hear those things together nicely in a sentence. At that moment I did get homesick. I think we both did.
My time in Santa Ana came to an end when I packed up my things and headed for the coastline. Seafood, beach bumming and surfing were on my docket. I mean, they have a place called Surf City after all!
I took a few shuttles and some buses to get to Lagarza Hostel a few miles away from the ever popular El Tunco. This hostel was nicely situated with their own section of volcanic beachfront. From my hostel dorm, which was ice cold due to having air-con (a forgotten luxury), you can hear wave after wave breaking onto the sand. I was EXCITED to finally get a chance to surf again, but something was hitting me, something hard.
I woke up in a sweat, confused and dazed, had no idea where I was the first night I stayed at Lagarza. I couldn’t make it to the bathroom fast enough. Was I getting sick? Could this be tetanus from my fall on the fence two days ago?! Weak and tired, I carried myself back to bed hoping I’d feel better in the morning. Oh was I wrong. When I woke the next day I was in bad shape and the only pharmacy was a 30 minute bus ride to El Tunco.
Frantically I was worried about my tetanus shot not being up to date. My last was three years ago and it’s good for ten. So, it can’t be that because my jaw doesn’t hurt! I realized my host at my last hostel must have given something to eat the morning I left that was not agreeing with my body in the end. Through a series of deduction: food poisoning from bad cheese.
I spent the next two full days being helpless, sucking down electrolytes in the form of very expensive generic Gatorade from the hostel café, eating Imodium pills like tic tacs. Misery, sadness, solitude. All I wanted in that moment was to go home. Being sick sucks. Being sick abroad while hearing waves crashing on the beach from your window sucks more.
On my third morning I woke up at the crack of dawn and made way to the very beach that has been taunting me since I arrived. The sand was soft and fine enough to sift through all my toes. There were friends I made in the from of carefree dogs that roamed as they wanted to. We all took a liking to each other, enough so they sat with me and watched the sun rise, in that moment I knew I was alright and STARVING.
My sickness has passed. Just in time to leave for the next coastal town.
I made my way from town to town along the coast until I reach El Tunco, but first was El Parmacito for a few nights stay at The Hammock Plantation. Here was a no frills accommodation with a sweet family running the joint. I met a bunch of cool folks traveling through on long holidays where we would share a few hours of the day watching the world cup and chopping it up.
Location was perfect from the beach, a few minutes walk away where we all grabbed some boards and headed for the surf. The water here is calm enough for both swimming and catching some waves. By no means are they huge in comparison to other destinations you might be thinking of (Pipeline, Portugal, The Reef), but solid for beginners and intermediate surfers. Having been before I took to it pretty quickly despite the last time I surfed was back in 2018! If it’s your first time you can 100% book a surf lesson for about $20 and they will supply all the gear and board!
After working up a huge appetite from all the surfing it’s best to relax at a pupuseria and indulge in their national dish. With a cerveza on the side of course. By now you’ve probably heard me mention this dish quite a bit and in all fairness, it’s delicious. At Pupusas Y Mas Carolina you can snag a traditional pupusa or her famous pupusa LOCO, which ends up being the size of one’s face. I opted for the latter with a cold Pilsener.
Filling your days with beach bumming, catching surfs, and swimming in man made oceanic pools will work you up a fierce appetite. El Salvador is no stranger to seafood and neither am I. With the opportunity of staying in coastal towns I took up the chance to eat seafood at every turn. One of my favorite meals will always be a lobster while watching the sunset. Or try their famous seafood stews featuring fish, crabs, langoustine, basically everything you can find in the ocean can be found in this rich a hearty stew.
Eventually I did make my way to El Tunco, the surf city in El Salvador. By this point I’d soaked up my share of the sun and opted to just relax out my last couple of days in the country. Sometimes you need to unwind and decompress, so I treated myself to a private stay in a container home styled resort near the city center. I rode out my last few days with morning runs, more pupusas (I know, you can’t believe it), naps in air-con rooms, finishing off with a sunset and street tacos.
El Tunco on the weekends are wild, the town comes to life with people flocking from all over, even the capital. If you find yourself here on a Friday or Saturday prepare yourself for frat style partying. This is a surf town that never sleeps! Except on Mon-Thurs and sometimes Sunday.
In the short while I was in both countries, Honduras and El Salvador, I only got but a small taste of what it had to offer. Did I do them justice? Absolutely not, but that means all the more reasons to have a second jaunt through them, holding off the food poisoning this time around.
Don’t ever let any one else deter you from visiting places you have your sights on. Do the research, be aware and present, soak in them moments, and experience it for yourself! Hopefully you walk away with some incredible memories, too!
theroamingnoodle 