Santa Ana and Lago Coatepeque

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Santa Ana

Central American capital cities tend to be congested urban jungles, brimming with cement and re-bar. The second cities are often less dangerous and more unique.. While this is somewhat true of Santa Ana, it hardly rivals Xela in Guatemala or Leon in Nicaragua. There are signs throughout advertising their 450th anniversary, so there's quite a lot of (colonial) history there, but the town center mainly comes off as being dirty and sketchy. But Peggy and I enjoyed our stay at Casa Verde, essentially a model for what every hostel should be.

Lago de Coatepeque

This turquoise-blue lake, 15k around and cradled in a vast, forested caldera, is reason enough to visit El Salvador. In fact, it's probably the prettiest lake I've been to. After my experience at the filthy Lago de Suchitlan, I wasn't fully convinced when locals told me that Coatepeque is much cleaner, but it's true - there's hardly any trash in the lake itself, and the water is lovely and clear.

We spent the first night at Captain Morgan, a cramped hostel with a superhuman manager who somehow fulfilled the duties of at least 3 regular workers - cooking meals, answering the phone, checking in guests, getting out the kayak and paddle board, mixing drinks, cleaning rooms, and so on.

The second night we splurged and went for Mikiterios Resort, which has a beautifully manicured lawn and garden that leads 50 or so meters down to the shore. There isn't much to do there other than relax.

There isn't really a town on the lake shore, but the road around it is packed with posh weekend getaways, resorts, and restaurants. Most of the restaurants are expensive and dirty and cater to day-trippers who gorge themselves on whatever the tour offers. So pupusas, the pervasive Salvadorian dish, are the best option for food, though most pupuserías are little more than roadside shacks.

Cerro Verde Hike

The hike itself is a forced march in a line with 50 others stepping on top of one another. The armed escorts ostensibly minimize danger and littering, but they ruins the hiking experience. The green crater lake is pretty unique, but I wouldn't waste a whole day if I had it to do over again. After the hike we walked on our own on dirt roads through some coffee plantations, which was much more pleasant.

There are more photos below.

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