Quetzals to Dollars - Exploring El Salvador

El Salvador
November 29 - December 15, 2014

I know, I know... we are failing at maintaining our blog.  To those of you who are still reading this and to our future selves as we look back on our adventures... don't forget, we went to El Salvador.

After a smooth border crossing, we began and ended our El Salvador adventure in the small surf town of El Tunco, just outside the port city of La Libertad.  We spent our days playing in the surf, relaxing in hammocks, and searching out the best pupusas in town (which we found)! We would ride the bus into La Libertad for groceries and haircuts (word of advise: just say no to the tempting $3 haircut... I lost almost 8 inches after all was said and done and fixed), and did a little hiking to a cool cliff jumping and swimming spot outside of town. Inicially we thought we might take this opportunity to learn how to surf; but after playing around in (and getting beaten up by) the waves... we decided boogie boarding was more our speed.

Local fisherman perched for a good view

Our beach friend, Uva

Pick-Up "football" game

At sunset, everyone stopped what they were doing, and enjoyed the beauty... every night.

 El Tunco is known as a great place to learn to surf because the waves are big enough to get up, but not so huge as to intimidate beginners... They are still to strong for me.  I'll just appreciate their power and beauty.

Boogie boarding fun!

 

King of the waves

Sometimes the waves got a little too big.

 

 

 

 

Cliff jumping at Tamanique Waterfall, and fish drying at the port in La Libertad

We followed La Ruta de Flores through several small towns, enjoying the scenery, the street art, a gastronomy festival in Juyua, and a coffee plantation in Ataco.

Food Fair in Juayua

Coffee processing plant

At work, drying coffee beans

Taste test!

Coffee cherries

 

 

 

 

View of Volcan Ixtapa

We spent several days in Santa Ana, and took day trips to climb Volcan Santa Ana, and visit some ruins.

It was extremely windy at the sumit

Trying not to fall into the crater... inside was a beautiful blue lake the we got a glimpse of, but no pictures.

Tazumal

Merry Christmas, from El Salvador!

Galavanting around Guatemala

Guatemala
November 16 - November 29, 2014

After saying goodbye to the friends we had made in Xela, we set off again on the road to explore the country we had been living in the last several months... here are the highlights:

Antigua, Guatemala
A cute colonial town in the highlands, Antigua is an UNESCO World Heritage Site, sits in the middle of coffee country, many of the old super-wealthy coffee plantations, and now is now home to many ex-pats.

View from our hostel balcony

Monterrico, Guatemala
A wonderful beach town on the southern coast of Guatemala, we were surrounded by black sand beaches, hammocks, and apparently nesting turtles... although we didn't see any.  We took a sunrise canoe tour through the mangroves which was pretty magical, and full of cool birds.

The boat tour:

 

Semuc Champey, Guatemala

Semuc Champey is a national park in central Guatemala... so basically we were in the middle of the jungle.  Rio Cahabon runs through the park, and a portion of it actually runs underground, creating beautiful turquoise pools above ground... perfect for mini-cliff jumping!

View of the pools from the viewpoint we hiked up to

Rio Dulce and Livingston, Guatemala
We also traveled down the Rio Dulce to the port town of Livingston on the Caribbean Coast.  Livingston is a Garifuna community founded by escaped slaves back in the day.  We visited the town on National Garifuna Day, and witnessed impromptu parades, floats, and street parties.  We stayed in an eco-lodge on the Rio Dulce only accessible by boat called the Roundhouse.  It was pretty amazing... so amazing we apparently forgot to take any pictures.  Just picture lush jungle, hammocks, manitees (we didn't actually see these either), outdoor showers, no internet, boardgames and family style dinners with fellow travelers.  It was amazing.