River Trip in El Salvador

Hello everyone! Yep, we are still here in El Salvador. We are waiting to receive a Solenoid that we ordered, and the delivery missed the carrier by a few hours, so luckily we had a contact up in the same area (Seattle) who was flying down here about 5 days later. So through phone calls and overenighting the package UPS, supposedly it will arrive here Thursday. We may be leaving here Thursday, so we will have our friends, Bill & Jean, bring it to Ecuador.

We are reading our weather files, and listening to a Pan Pacific Net in the mornings, to get the latest weather along this coastline. We have plans of heading to Costa Rica for a few days, refueling, then heading straight to Ecuador. We may have to angle our approach so we can get some wind to sail, as it seems the wind and waves may be on the nose. Not looking forward to the pounding that comes with sailing upwind, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Since we have been waiting here, we decided to take a mangrove tour with one of the locals named Santos. We had a boatload of about 11 cruisers. As you can see from the photos, some of the mangrove tunnels were very small and tight. Keep those hands inside! Keep eyes forward as a mangrove branch can come out of nowhere. Yes, it was hot, but luckily not too buggy. The rains haven't come yet, so the mosquitos aren't here yet. I can't even imagine that time of year. Yikes! We still have those no-see-ums, but where there is a breeze, you won't get bit. (Our last trip to town for supplies we bought two large cans of repellant, one heavy-duty, the other, a lighter brand)

Santos' place was pretty neat, but to get to it regularly, I could see how it would be a pain, with all the mangroves. His grandfather planted some fruit trees a long time ago, and the mangos were everywhere. Soon all of us were picking up fruit on the ground. We had quite a bit by the time we left. Got a nice group photo of everyone.

After we left there we headed to a little resturant hanging over the water , a friend of Santos. No name, and very rustico, to say the least. The bathroom was really unique. I had a hard time walking to it, as the railing was broken in places, and the round pieces of tree trunk were not too even, it was pretty difficult. Don't wait until the last minute, coz you definitely have to walk sloooowww to get to the throne. The food was very good, and they were using vege oil, so I didn't feel too bad about the fried food.

After we left there we headed to the Rio Lempa, a freshwater river running down from the mountains out to sea. I thought the current would be pretty strong, but it wasn't. We all went swimming, and the water was warm and fresh water, not salt! It was real relaxing and refreshing. We finally got back to our boats later that afternoon. It was a long day, but a good one, good company, good food, and a nice swim to top it off.

The next day, Bill, Theresa, Rob, Robin & I, got our kyaks out and towed them behind the dingys and re-entered the inland esturary for a little kyak trip. It was fun also, and no bugs yet, so it was a good time. But I estimated it took us at least two hours to haul the kyaks out before the trip, then after ,to wash them down, let them dry, then repack them. So half of the time was actually kyaking, and the other half was dealing with the whole kyak issue. Was it worth it, look at the photos,. I think so. Not much animal life there, only birds and lots and lots of mangrove roots. As we were coming out we ran into a large cyuko (ky-you-ko) that was loaded up with large logs. We spoke to the man with the ax, and he came 4 miles to cut wood for his outdoor ovens where his family made bread to sell. Man, that guy REALLY needs a motor, can you imagine, polling your canoe four miles, then cutting wood with an ax, filling up hundreds of pounds of tree trunks, then polling your canoe back? Now that is MANUEL labor! They must have used up all the wood close to their homes and they have to go further and further afield for fuel. You would think they would turn to propane sooner or later.

All and all, it was a fun two days, and we are hoping to head out in the next couple days. Want to get south of any weather coming, so far it seems that the rainy season begins in May, but the rains are coming later this year because of the La Nina, we heard, so that is good for us.

Take care and keep smiling, laugh a couple times a day, it's good for you. All our love, Jean & Robin
Oh, yeah, that video I tried to download didn't happen, so maybe I will try another one another time.

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