My last entry was from Suchitoto, El Salvador, a cute little arts town on a very big, man-made lake. The location on the lake seems to be secondary to the charm of the town and the art scene.


We met some of the people who are starting to make the tourist thing happen there, from tour operators to internet café owners and restaurateurs. They all love the community in which they live and want to make sharing it with the world a positive experience for both tourist and resident. This is no easy task, but so far they are doing an admirable job.

Van in front of parque central from Artex Cafe

From here we visited the town of Cinquera, a strong-hold of the FMLN during their civil war and stayed with the family of subsistence farmers who were very enthusiastic to share their way of life with us. Their property had a great view of the lake and we were invited to take a spin on their very home-made zipline. They also gave us a great demonstration on how their trapiche (sugarcane press) works. They involved us in the daily task of working the press and invited us to sample the final product.

Trish about to take a spin on the zipline

Uncle Santo readying the press (We have great movies of this activity but there is no way I can load them at this time)

Leaving Suchitoto we went to Alegria, named the best place to live in El Salvador in 2009. We agreed. A small mountain community with a clean, inviting parque central and, again, the beginnings of tourist infrastructure including a tiny museum and a fledgling tourist office. Our campsite was right on the shore of the Laguna de Alegria, a pretty green lake inside of a long extinct volcano. It was far more stylin’ than I anticipated. We liked it so much we came back and camped there the next night, too.

Our campsite on Laguna de Algeria

Mike holding court with the local youth in Alegria

Then it was time to dip our toes in the ocean again. This time we went to El Cuco and found a spot to camp right on the beach. I mean right on the beach. The high-tide mark was just 5 feet from our slider. We were assured that was as high as the tide would go, but let me tell you, we stayed up till the tide began to recede just to be sure.

We stayed a couple of nights but again found that the beach isn’t the best place for two mountain folk traveling in a van with a dog.

So…..we retreated to the mountains once again, this time to Perquin. This was another strong-hold of the FMLN during the civil war and there is a great museum on the war here. Our guide was in the war and he pointed himself out in a photograph as he took us through the museum. He told us that things were indeed better for the people today. He also told us he held no bad feelings against the US for their part in the war, explaining that in Civil War brothers fight against brothers and that many people he knew had fled to the US during the war.

Roadside politics

We had a nifty little campsite here with our own private waterfall and as with any travel accommodations, it colors the way you feel about a place.

We really covered El Salvador end to end and top to bottom, but still I was a little sad to close it out and move on as I so loved the country and the people.

Next we headed to Nicaragua, but not before crossing Honduras in a day. No pictures, but I´ll post the play-by-play soon.