Sunday, June 04, 2006
El Salvador is not the common tourist destination, and it has a reputation as being extremely dangerous. Myrna and I just returned from a three day visit there by car from Guatemala City and found it variable, but mostly delightful. And certainly there are far fewer security guards carrying big ugly guns than here in Guatemala. We take that as a definitely positive sign.
Our visit was designed to get me out of the country, in order to renew my Guatemalan tourist visa before it expired. A tourist visa is good for 90 days, but each entry resets the clock. For a time, it almost seemed that that our objective was in doubt. We left Guatemala on June 1, precisely the day that Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua formed a common region where passports are not needed at the border. Fortunately, Guatemala immigration was still stamping US passports, and El Salvador stamped my passport as a favor, even though they said it wasn’t necessary. So my sojourn outside of Guatemala got duly recorded after all.
The guide books have little to say about Santa Ana, our first stop, except for an impressive church there. We didn’t see the church, but found the Central Park and adjacent market depressing, impoverished, and horrid. We did have a good meal nearby at a friendly cafe and bought some delicious pastries from a street vendor. I´m sure not all of Santa Ana was like this, but we were glad to leave quickly.
Then on to the outskirts of San Salvador and south to the beach at Puerto La Libertad. The roads in El Salvador are a delight, very much like the US, and much of the Pan American Highway (CA-1) in El Salvador is divided, multi-lane, limited access. Near San Salvador the highway is lined with modern foreign factories and expensive condominium complexes. Without any doubt, there is a lot of money being made here, but it is not clear that much of it sticks to the country or the people.
Initial impressions of La Libertad weren’t too good. Rocky beach of dark volcanic sand, lots of pollution at the southern end where we found this odd hotel that was trying to keep up appearances without much success. But it had a pool, hammocks in front of every room, air conditioning and cable TV. Why complain? The next morning we discovered the pleasures of La Libertad - had a great breakfast of local food at a waterfront kiosk, along with the fishermen who were not using their boats this day because the sea was too rough. They were using the opportunity to patch their nets instead, and were very friendly, telling us of the different types of nets and fishing that they do. Then we walked through the colorful fishing wharf, full of fish vendors selling everything from the sea. I had a big bowl of conch ceviche – fresh shucked scallops in a blood-red sauce of scallop juice with lime, onion and tomato, Worchester and hot sauces. A bit intimidating, but delicious.
The local specialty is the papusa, a tortilla stuffed with cheese, fish, meat, fried beans, or all of the above. Served with cole slaw and a hot (temperature) tomato sauce. Very good. The fried plantains are also a pleasure, along with excellent coffee. Food at the waterfront restaurants was more expensive, but here we had two big delicious breakfasts at the kiosk, for $1.90.
In the afternoon we drove to Santa Tecla, a suburb of San Salvador with a huge, modern mall that would sit comfortably most anywhere in the US. Product quality was high, and I was even able to use my debit card to get money from my bank in the US to replace the casual clothes I did not bring to Guatemala, but now find I need. El Salvador uses the dollar as its currency which is convenient but feels a bit strange.
On returning to La Libertad, we were wondering how to spend the evening. We stopped to watch a local soccer tournament, and met Julio who was willing to put down his skateboard to talk with us. He was a gregarious kid who seemed to know everything that was going on, and he told us of a church dinner-dance fiesta, then showed us how to get to it. It was clearly the big event of the town. The program included a beauty contest for pre-schoolers, and lots of latin dancing. We met the mayor, and heard his plans for cleaning up the beach and providing assistance for single mothers in La Libertad.
The next morning we watched the surfers ride the waves off Rocky Point (Punte del Roces), had another big breakfast, and then set off for Guatemala. We drove back along a coastal road with incredible views of the ocean as it winds through the mountains bordering the shore. Our impressions of El Salvador are of great beauty, surprisingly good roads, friendly outgoing people, and great economic diversity.
Yes, we do think the country requires diligence for personal safety but the people are extremely warm and friendly, and after Guatemala, caution for personal safety is simply business as usual.
Our visit was designed to get me out of the country, in order to renew my Guatemalan tourist visa before it expired. A tourist visa is good for 90 days, but each entry resets the clock. For a time, it almost seemed that that our objective was in doubt. We left Guatemala on June 1, precisely the day that Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua formed a common region where passports are not needed at the border. Fortunately, Guatemala immigration was still stamping US passports, and El Salvador stamped my passport as a favor, even though they said it wasn’t necessary. So my sojourn outside of Guatemala got duly recorded after all.
The guide books have little to say about Santa Ana, our first stop, except for an impressive church there. We didn’t see the church, but found the Central Park and adjacent market depressing, impoverished, and horrid. We did have a good meal nearby at a friendly cafe and bought some delicious pastries from a street vendor. I´m sure not all of Santa Ana was like this, but we were glad to leave quickly.
Then on to the outskirts of San Salvador and south to the beach at Puerto La Libertad. The roads in El Salvador are a delight, very much like the US, and much of the Pan American Highway (CA-1) in El Salvador is divided, multi-lane, limited access. Near San Salvador the highway is lined with modern foreign factories and expensive condominium complexes. Without any doubt, there is a lot of money being made here, but it is not clear that much of it sticks to the country or the people.
Initial impressions of La Libertad weren’t too good. Rocky beach of dark volcanic sand, lots of pollution at the southern end where we found this odd hotel that was trying to keep up appearances without much success. But it had a pool, hammocks in front of every room, air conditioning and cable TV. Why complain? The next morning we discovered the pleasures of La Libertad - had a great breakfast of local food at a waterfront kiosk, along with the fishermen who were not using their boats this day because the sea was too rough. They were using the opportunity to patch their nets instead, and were very friendly, telling us of the different types of nets and fishing that they do. Then we walked through the colorful fishing wharf, full of fish vendors selling everything from the sea. I had a big bowl of conch ceviche – fresh shucked scallops in a blood-red sauce of scallop juice with lime, onion and tomato, Worchester and hot sauces. A bit intimidating, but delicious.
The local specialty is the papusa, a tortilla stuffed with cheese, fish, meat, fried beans, or all of the above. Served with cole slaw and a hot (temperature) tomato sauce. Very good. The fried plantains are also a pleasure, along with excellent coffee. Food at the waterfront restaurants was more expensive, but here we had two big delicious breakfasts at the kiosk, for $1.90.
In the afternoon we drove to Santa Tecla, a suburb of San Salvador with a huge, modern mall that would sit comfortably most anywhere in the US. Product quality was high, and I was even able to use my debit card to get money from my bank in the US to replace the casual clothes I did not bring to Guatemala, but now find I need. El Salvador uses the dollar as its currency which is convenient but feels a bit strange.
On returning to La Libertad, we were wondering how to spend the evening. We stopped to watch a local soccer tournament, and met Julio who was willing to put down his skateboard to talk with us. He was a gregarious kid who seemed to know everything that was going on, and he told us of a church dinner-dance fiesta, then showed us how to get to it. It was clearly the big event of the town. The program included a beauty contest for pre-schoolers, and lots of latin dancing. We met the mayor, and heard his plans for cleaning up the beach and providing assistance for single mothers in La Libertad.
The next morning we watched the surfers ride the waves off Rocky Point (Punte del Roces), had another big breakfast, and then set off for Guatemala. We drove back along a coastal road with incredible views of the ocean as it winds through the mountains bordering the shore. Our impressions of El Salvador are of great beauty, surprisingly good roads, friendly outgoing people, and great economic diversity.
Yes, we do think the country requires diligence for personal safety but the people are extremely warm and friendly, and after Guatemala, caution for personal safety is simply business as usual.
