STORIES FROM EL SALVADOR

El Salvador surprised us.

With an Endless sea of green landscape, volcanoes, lakes and beaches suited for surfers.. for sure a tiny country, there SO much to see! Unlike other parts of Central America, tourism is not widely popular in El Salvador. Perhaps this is why we were stared at basically everywhere we went... But quickly learned these stares were from people genuinely happy we were visiting El Salvador. People so curious as to where we were from and how we were enjoying their country.

So wait, who is we?

Meet Denise !!!

 Girls Love Travel

Denise and I are both members of an online Facebook group called Girls Love Travel. About 2 months before I left for my trip Denise and I connected through the site. Turns out we are the same age, both quit our jobs, and were leaving the exact same day, May 15th, to start Central American adventures! Denise lives in New York City now, but is originally from Argentina. We started in different countries but we're able to meet in El Salvador where we spent two weeks traveling the country together.

It could not have worked out better.

We wanted to do the same things, we're both laid back and ended up having a freaking blast. She cooked, I cleaned. I took photos, she posed. She spoke Spanish.. I didn't. (Thanks for being my translator Denise!) All in all, we were a good team. Shout out to Girls Love Travel.. thank you for this new friendship !!

Here's a little bit of what we got into in El Salvador..

New Friends in Santa Ana

We met at the Casa Verde Hostel in Santa Ana. A super awesome hostel with a lovely owner, Carlos. Everyday Carlos greeted us by name and gave us tips on things to do. When we were leaving he walked us to our car, hugged us goodbye and waved as we drove off. This was only the beginning of all the nice people we would meet here!

Denise's friend Bobby is a pilot and was able to fly into El Salvador for a couple of days. He rented a car and the three of us hit the streets of El Salvador. We hiked Volcano Santa Ana to find a volcanic crater lake made of fluorescent blue and green sulfuric acid at the top. It was a marvel for real. The hike wasn't too bad, nothing compared to Volcano Acatenango in Guatemala.

Before hiking up we made a little friend while eating some snacks..

Her name is Puchina and watch out she will literally JUMP ON YOU and steal your food. I was eating a pupusa when out of no where she JUMPED ONTO MY BACK. A freaking squirrel. Are you serious? Naturally I freaked out and a local had to get her off of me. Never have a I seen a squirrel that bold before..

Dance Party in Ataco..

Ataco is one of the towns along the Ruta De Flores (Flower Route). A series of 5 little towns along a pretty highway in the middle of the country. With Bobby and the car we made our way to the first little town, Ataco full of murals, shops, and shaved ice.

But best of all.. we spotted a small dance party of elderly El Salvadorian friends. They were breaking it down right in the middle of the main square! With their tiny portable radio. They spotted us admiring them and waved us over to join. They were the cutest and nicest bunch, these friends looked like the happiest little crew dancing like nothing else mattered.

They insisted we get a photo with them and were so happy to have us visiting and dancing with them. This is one of my fondest memories of El Salvador. I think one of the ladies hugged me 4 times. This is how I imagine my friend and I in 50 years!

Good times in Juayua

Another town on the Ruta de Flores, Juayua, is a cute little town known for their weekend food festivals. We spent our first night in a cute little hostel that we had all to ourselves. The sunrise over the pool was well worth the 5am alarm.

Our second and third night we spent at a different hostel, named La Casa Mazeta. The owner of the hostel, Darren, took us and a few others out for a 'local pub crawl'.

First 'pub' AKA a door in an alley way with no signage. Darren knocked on the door, no answer. Knocked again, no answer. Knocked a third time, door opens to what looks like a garage with two pool tables and a fridge full of beer! We played a mini pool tournament amongst ourselves, which I super surprisingly won, and chatted over one of the two beers they had available. This was definitely not a bar, it was a guy selling beer out of his garage, and I loved every minute of it.

Second stop Our next stop we again arrived to a closed door. This time it was an actual bar, and they reopened for us! The bartender brought out a flight of super hot sauces for us to try... one of the boys would not quit. These were SO hot. He literally had to order a shot of milk to help with the burning. He was hysterical. Denise and I tried some as well, WOW. The rest of the night we spent laughing and drinking. One of the guys had been to over 70 countries!! He was 24... When we left there was a car outside of the bar BLARING music so loud. A few minutes after we arrived back at the hostel the car arrived outside our door. He would not leave, apparently he was angry with Darren for not taking us to his bar... and seeking revenge by blaring 'Right Here Waiting' by Richard Marx at 12am. It was 100% weird and creepy but man we could not stop laughing. The song choice was brilliant..

COMMITING A CARDINAL SIN

My friends and I back home love karaoke. Like a lot. We frequent local karaoke nights and sometimes bring the machine to us and sing until the wee hours of the night. But there are just some artists you don't sing.. like Whitney or Adele, like let's leave those to the professionals.

WELL, Denise and I walk into this Mexican restaurant in Juayua one night and what do we find.. karaoke! We are the only customers in the place, the owner and his daughter are sitting at a table near by with the mic. As we sit down he urges us to sing but we shake our heads and say no thank you. He later proceeds to set down one of the mics on our table, motioning for us to sing. He only speaks Spanish and quickly realizes I do not, so he puts on what I assume is the only English song he knows.. 'Hello' by ADELE. He's back at his table now staring at me.. waiting. Shit, so I pick up the mic and attempt to sing Adele, while sitting down, over a plate of tacos, to a crowd of three people.

I made it through the song thank god. Only to be summoned to sing again.. ADELE, rolling in the deep.

Next he puts on some Spanish songs and I am relived of my Adele duties. Denise, who did not want to sing at all, ended up crushing some Spanish songs and we sat there and sang for a good hour. It was so random and so fun.

Like I said, El Salvador surprised us. In a country no one told us to go to, we had a blast and met some of the kindest people. Like the younger gentlemen who overheard the bus stop we needed to go to and walked us there and paid for our fare. Or the man and his son who bought Denise El Salvadorian food on the bus. Or the countless people who came up to us and welcomed us to their country.

But my favorite story of El Salvadorian hospitality...

Comes from a man named Luis, who took us up to his land a top a volcano and let us sleep in his kitchen.. that's a story you have to hear..

But I will save that for another post.

Make sure to sign up for my email list below or on the homepage to receive future posts right to your email! Feel free to send me a message in the below contact box! What was your favorite part of this post? Any questions? I would love to hear from you!