El Salvador Dos!

And you thought I wouldn't!  I'm trying to catch up on these travel posts, since I always procrastinate and then forget all about them :]

The 2nd part of our time in El Salvador was spent at La Libertad, which is a port city near the middle of El Salvador, as well as Las Flores, the eastern part of the country also known for good surf waves!  The beach at La Libertad isn't too pretty to look at (note hobo sitting on the bench).  Not sure if I've said this before, but El Salvador is a pretty small country compared to most other ones in Central America, and you can probably travel through it extensively in about a week and a half!  To give you an idea, it is about the same size as New Jersey or New Hampshire... less than 5% the size of California!

We met up with one of Mike's friend who is also from Los Angeles and he came down to El Salvador just to catch the amazing swell!  Mike's friend introduced us to the nicest El Salvadorian you will ever meet, Mauricio in the yellow tank, who is the most considerate, kindest, happiest soul... and an AMAZING surfer as well!

In Las Flores, we stayed at a place called La Tortuga Verde, which was an eco-lodge / turtle sanctuary!  The owner saves a lot of wild animals, including the billions of dogs scattered around the streets of El Salvador, stray pelicans that are hurt, as well as grown turtles.  He also buys turtle eggs from people who steal and sell them, and helps the baby turtles hatch, and then releases them!  Very cool :)

Look at how tiny these newborn turtles are!!! I tried to include the coffee cup in the picture for comparison!  I'm not a fanatic of turtles, but newborn baby turtles?!?! Come on, it could even melt the heart of a cyborg :)

The owner of the eco-lodge, Tom, happens to be an American who runs his own television station in El Salvador.  This meant he spent a lot of time filming his animal-saving escapades.  One morning, he even took a couple of us around on his boat and gave us a tour of all the private islands and bays in this one secluded area. The intention was to catch some waves, but we ended up at this bay where waves were non-existent... so we spent the day swimming!

There was no one else at the bay except one single restaurant with one person working there.

We also went kayaking down a river with crocodiles... luckily for us they sleep in the day time!  We did feel one swim right under our kayak though... scary!!!

We were able to arrange for a boat ride to Nicaragua, rather than the usual strenuous bus route in a "chicken bus" or trambilla, just like the one that rammed into our rental truck, so named because they are also used to transport live animals.  They look like large, colorfully decorated hummer buses!  Buses are particularly a hassle because to get to Nicaragua by bus, it usually involves a stop through a small strip of Honduras, which means more time wasted a Customs.

Going by boat, though, was not much better.  First we had to wade through a port covered in sludge and mud, trash and sewage amongst other things I'd rather not think about... with all our luggage in tow.  We traveled with a French couple we met at La Tortuga Verde, Alex and Gwenn, who were WONDERFUL and extremely experienced backpackers.  They make me look like an amateur!

Alex was the only one brave enough to not get off the cart... he waded through the mud barefoot and said it was definitely one of the most disgusting things he's done in his lifetime.  The man dragging us literally has the worst job in the universe... the mud and gunk doesn't look that bad here but further out it goes up to your waist... YUCK!!!

We then rode on a delivery boat that turned out to be carrying cargo to a remote island near nicaragua.  The people living on this island had NOTHING.  Not even fresh drinking water, which had to be delivered by this boat.  And in exchange, our boat got to have fresh, giant dead fish dumped into the sitting area.  YAYE!

We finally got to Nicaragua after about a 5-6 hour journey, which isn't bad at all by backpacking standards, and got to our hostel about 3 hours later.  Nicaragua is filled with adventures, surprisingly even more so than El Salvador!  It's one of those magical places that I know I will return to and continue to explore over and over again... 

but that's a post for another day!  

GOOD BYE, EL SALVADOR!  GOOD BYE, COWS ON THE BEACH!