Blogs from San Salvador, Central, El Salvador, Central America Caribbean - page 5

January 20th, 2012 El Salvador We left the Ticabus terminal a little late and arrived at the El Salvador border around 5 in the afternoon. It took well over an hour to clear the border, with us simply following along and doing what our fellow passengers were doing. We also converted our remaining Guatemalan quetzals for US dollars, the currency in use in El Salvador. Of course, the money changers try to take advantage of ignorant tourists and offered us only $21 US for our 300 quetzals. They used fancy math on their calculators to justify their offer. They were using a simple trick, but I had checked the rates on the net the night before and knew what we should get, and we finally settled for $36. Quite an experience! We arrived in San Salvador ... read more

Another week in Central America and yet another week of some beautiful places and slightly bizarre people. In the last 10 days I have lazed on a Pacific beach, climbed a mountain, had a fight with a Hondurian taxi driver and dived into the Caribbean Sea on the not especially beautiful island of Utila. It is impossible not to love this region! After the grey, wet Guatamalan highlands and far too many hours spent on buses we ended last week desperate to head to a beach and relax potentially with a cheeky beer or two in the evening. Luckily around 45 minutes away from San Salvador is a surfing hot spot called El Tunco, it met all the above criteria! We jumped onto the local bus to a coastal town called La Libertad which is about ... read more

We wanted to get to Playa El Zonte in El Salvador from Monterrico which should take about 4 hours by car. It ended up taking us 10 hours on one day then an overnight stay in San Salvador and another 2 hours in the Morning. In the process we travelled on a boat 2 taxis and 6 different chicken buses, a truly epic journey. People say chicken buses are not for gringos but I thought they were wicked. People would come onto the buses trying to sell anything, medication, sweets, fruit and even marajuana cream. Anyway we reached Playa El Zonte finally.... read more

Angenehme Grossstadt, ausgezeichnetes Essen (Steak, Rippchen, Shrimps-Pasta, Pupusas, etc.) und KEINE "Gringos".... read more

Sunday, July was a full day, and it was the first time the entire group worked as a team and found ourselves experiencing many of the same emotions as a result. We began with breakfast and then gathered out front in the courtyard for morning prayer. I kept copies of all our reflections and prayers but neglected to date them. As I look back now my sense is that today we used the one attributed to Oscar Romero where he reminds the reader that " We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's Work". I'd have to call this one of "our Oscar Romero days" (we had others) in that much of what we were exposed to today reflected upon him, his ministry in El Salvador and his messages. ... read more