El Salvador – que bueno!
El Salvador – what a wonderful place! The border crossing is long, but uneventful. Fortunately, our caretaker from Monterrico has a brother who works at the El Salvador border, so he accompanies us and helps us through the process. After two hours of miscellaneous paperwork and waiting, we are free to continue into El Salvador to our destination, Santa Ana, a bustling city in the mountains.
As usual, we have a hard time finding the hotel, which turns out to be shut down anyway, but finally find a good, clean hotel close to the central plaza. The kids are happy with the AC and TV.
On Tuesday, we have the perfect day. We go to volcanic crater lake called Lago de Coatepeque and find a lakeside restaurant with a large dock. The lake is amazingly beautiful – sparkling water is a perfect round circle, surrounded by three volcanoes. The shore is lined mostly with fancy private homes and just a few small hotels and restaurants. We spend the day swimming in the clear, refreshing water and socializing with other visitors. The kids love jumping off of the dock and are joined by several young men showing off their diving skills (Quinn happens to be the best of all of them). We have a relaxing, wonderful day.
Today, we spend our time in the city, getting the car serviced and sightseeing. The plaza is surrounded by a gothic-looking church, ornate theater and colorful government buildings. We spend a leisurely lunch overlooking the plaza. Leisurely because meals take forever to be served. We venture to a museum and learn about the history of El Salvadorian money. Very interesting – starting with coffee beans to pesos to colones to US dollars.
We head back to the hotel for a quiet evening, stopping along the way to shop for some clothes. Quinn gets a Barcelona soccer jersey (Messi) for $6 and Guinness boxers for $1.50. How cool is that?!!
Tags: El Salvador
hwy1alltheway
Glad you made it across the border smoothly and are enjoying El Salvador. I’ll be looking forward to seeing some pictures of the area!
Hey Curleys!
Tiki just drew #12 to write a comment on your blog – that’s CONNOR’S number!! (59 eighth graders laugh).
“I finally got an X-Box!” ~ Ethan
“Find me. My gamer name is K-9 Consumer.” ~ Mike Car.
“My ratio is 1.11.” ~ Colin Girk.
“Have you ever seen a Black Squirrel?” ~ BacaRama
“I like you – like you like you.” Joanna Lintner
“Did you see any multi-colored giraffes?” ~ Haley BOOO-YEAH!!!
“Did you grow a mullet yet?” ~ Mrs. Leiva
“I love you.” ~ Sam
“How are the babes?” ~ Wyatt “mack-daddy” DeShane
“Make me rice krispy treats. Now. Mail them.” ~ Amanda Kraal
“Sup.” ~ Lazarus, Lauren, Emmanuel the E-Man
“Call me.” ~ Korbus
“I love you, and your socks. So much.” ~ Escobar
From Connor:
“I finally got an X-Box!” ~ Ethan – Nice! Finally I can play with you!
“Find me. My gamer name is K-9 Consumer.” ~ Mike Car. – OK
“My ratio is 1.11.” ~ Colin Girk. – That is so good. Now you are officially better than me.
“Have you ever seen a Black Squirrel?” ~ BacaRama – Yeah, I saw 5.
“I like you – like you like you.” Joanna Lintner – I like you too!
“Did you see any multi-colored giraffes?” ~ Haley BOOO-YEAH!!! – Nope
“Did you grow a mullet yet?” ~ Mrs. Leiva – Almost
“I love you.” ~ Sam – Love you too
“How are the babes?” ~ Wyatt “mack-daddy” DeShane – Nice. Some that you would like.
“Make me rice krispy treats. Now. Mail them.” ~ Amanda Kraal – No rice krispies here.
“Sup.” ~ Lazarus, Lauren, Emmanuel the E-Man – SUP?
“Call me.” ~ Korbus – No cell phone
“I love you, and your socks. So much.” ~ Escobar – I like my socks also.
I wish that I could go to Great America with you guys.