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!

El Salvador!

This summer has been filled with trips and excursions, and countless opportunities for traveling!  I've been hopping around so much that I am ashamed to say, it took me a while to remember everywhere I've been for the past 3 months!

The most memorable, momentous, and remarkable trip I've taken this year is definitely the two weeks in El Salvador and Nicaragua.  I hadn't planned too much for this trip because of all the other things that were happening throughout the summer.  My expectations also weren't especially high because I had originally wanted to go to South America instead of Central America (it will happen one day!), but timing and funds didn't allow for that so Mike got his dream beach/surf vacation.

It turns out, though, Central America has some of the most beautiful and wondrous sights I've ever imagined possible in my life!  I thought this trip would be too similar to Costa Rica, but it was better in almost every way!  El Salvador is literally Costa Rica 10 years ago... pristine beaches, minimal tourists, almost no sign of mass commercialism anywhere!  Perfection.

Cows, horses, dogs, and chickens running out onto the road while you are driving, almost no street lamps on the roads, fresh and free range chicken and beef, pure fruit juice... country living!

Along with some crazy things happening, like having our rental truck rammed into by a giant public bus in El Salvador, and Mike's surf board snapping in half from a huge wave while surfing, we also met some really amazing people throughout the entire 2 weeks :]

I will probably have to split up everything that happened into three different posts, just to give merit to all the amazing things that happened!

For the first 4 days we drove up and down the El Salvador coastline and checked out almost every single beach.  The first night we arrived we stayed at Playa Sunzal, which has one of the best surfs purportedly in all of El Salvador!  It was perfect for me and Mike because there was a point break where the waves were larger and rougher, and beach breaks which are milder for me to practice on!

Playa Sunzal is actually slightly ugly and touristy (well toursity for El Salvador), one of the least physically appealing beaches we came across... it is surfer heaven though, because all the surf bros come here to catch some consistent waves and then listen to reggae in bars catered to surfer bros :]

One of the BEST KEPT SECRETS of El Salvador is Mizata Point Resort.  Mizata Point is heaven, and so far the resort is the only place to stay in the area because El Salvador is so undeveloped.  It was only built in April and almost nobody knows about it yet, which means the beach is basically YOURS while you are here.

The man who owns this place is George, and he is originally from San Diego.  He traveled all throughout Central America and decided to build here, and used to work in construction and was a landscape architect, and designed and over saw the entire construction process himself!

Him and his wife and two kids live here, and they cook their guests dinners and sometimes other meals, and it is DELICIOUS!!! this place is one of the few in El Salvador with running hot water. and George is seriously one of the kindest people we met throughout the entire trip.  He is so warm and friendly, and genuinely wants his guests to feel welcomed!

Mike broke his surf board surfing at Mizata Point. When I first saw his board I thought it had slammed into a rock and snapped, but it was actually the impact of a ginormous wave that crushed it!  I didn't even know waves could do that!  A lot of surfers were in El Salvador at the time because supposedly one of the biggest swells in 5-10 years was coming, and the waves were going to be SO SICK DUDE. I don't really get the whole surfing thing. As long as I can see more giant turtles and not drown in 4 ft of water, I'm good :) 

We befriended the security guard because we came back so late every night and he had to open the gates for us. Basically everything closes when the sun sets. He carries around a giant machete and a rifle (no joke) every night even though he is the most timid and soft-spoken man in the world :) I can't imagine him using that thing.  It is more of a deterrent, almost every household and security guard for any type of establishment carries a machete and a gun!

We also befriended this guy who works on George's property, his name is Chico and he does everything imaginable!  He looks slightly shady here in this picture like he is going to steal your wallet, but he is EXTREMELY friendly and considerate!  He went surfing with Mike almost every day, and is an AMAZING surfer and swimmer!

One night he even woke us up at midnight so that we could see a turtle come onto the beach to lay its eggs! Him and a bunch of his friends were waiting for the turtle to lay its eggs so that they could steal it and sell it (sad reality).  People eat them as an aphrodisiac, but lately turtle reserves across El Salvador have been buying up turtle eggs for more than they're worth on the market, in order to save them and release them back into the ocean. Chico's friends were planning to sell them to the reserves anyway, so all is well in the world! There were barnacles growing on this giant grandma turtle!

We also went on another hike to Coatepeque Caldera, an active volcano! We weren't able to walk right up to the crater and look down, but we got to do that in Nicaragua :)

Along the hike up, we stood under the spot where two gigantic trees of completely differing species entwine each other at the top.  The story behind it is that if a couple stands under the trees and they are not truly in love, they will not survive..... yikes!

Afterwards we went swimming in Lake Coatepeque, an AMAZING volcanic lake formed by Coatepeque Caldera with hot springs all around it. It started raining and there was lightning all around the volcano... it was GORGEOUS :) Naturally we went swimming AFTER the lightning stopped... We were only able to access the lake because we ate at the only public restaurant there, otherwise all the land around it is privately owned.  

The water was around 80 degrees, which was slightly colder than the ocean in El Salvador, and that's extremely warm for Angelenos but Chico was FREEZING! Hilarious :)

On a different day, we also went hiking in Parque Nacional El Imposible, and met this amazing El Salvadorian couple that we ended up having dinner with!  They spoke English extremely well, which is rare for El Salvadorians, and the husband is a writer and translator, and his wife works for USAID!  Their work sounds so fascinating, and they were absolutely lovely and wonderful! All the parks and volcanoes in El Salvador require guides because they are so unexplored and untouched, and sometimes the guides even need to use their machetes to pave the path!  Our guide carried a machete the whole way!

We didn't see any pumas but we did see this giant dung beetle, and a flesh eating plant! As well as lots and lots of vultures and hawks.

That was the first 4 days of our vacation. The rest is yet to come :] 

Me encanta El Salvador!!!