Blogs from Central, El Salvador, Central America Caribbean - page 6

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

Well, today was our last day with Pastor Francisco and friends! We enjoyed another wonderful breakfast of fried black beans, scrambled eggs with cheese and coffee. After devotions, we headed straight to Alba and Juan's home. Our goal was to level off the room, moving dirt again to the other side of the street. We used the pic-ax and shoveled dirt into buckets and carried them across the street...up and down the hill! The dirt was heavy and wet. The great thing is we had many of the ENLACE staff with us to help! We formed an assembly line to get the job done faster. I took a couple minutes to step back and watch the team....they were getting worn out. People were missing the bucket while shoveling, and barely able to hold the shovels. A ... 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