El Salvador – continued…
El Salvador continues to delight us. We learn how to make pupusas from our new friends that we met at Lago de Coatepeque, Rosy and Terry. We go to their house in a town close to Santa Ana and Rosy demonstrates the technique, then lets Paul and Quinn make the pupusas. Connor and I are the official tasters… We try a new type, cheese and loroca, which is a tangy white flower with a hint of asparagus flavor. Quinn now claims that he can make better pupusas than Paul. As official tasters, Connor and I concur.
We then venture to a colonial town, Suchitoto. We wander through the quiet streets, admiring the architecture, colorful buildings and art galleries. Our hotel has two refreshing pools, so we spend lots of time swimming due to the steamy temperature (95+ degrees and humid!). We take a boat tour around a nearby lake, Lago Suchitlan, which is known for bird watching. Unfortunately, the water is not swimmable and has a greenish tint. Paul calls it “spinach water”. After such at nice time at Lago de Coatepeque, we are disappointed with the other lakes that we visit in El Salvador.
We become friendly with the employees at the hotel (Paul makes friends with everybody…) and they bring us freshly picked mangos and cocohotes (small fruit like plums) from their garden. Quinn enjoys talking to the many birds and Connor is happy with a TV and A/C.
We attempt to escape the heat and head to Alegria, a small town in the mountains known for its flower nurseries. We stay at a rustic cabin overlooking a valley and mountains. The place not only has accommodations, but also a huge nursery, restaurant with an amazing view, church, artisan products and animals (lots of roosters for sopa de gallina, rabbits, hamsters, raccoons and birds). Quinn adopts a black kitten who hangs around our cabin. The little guy is now named “Ireland”. Oh, and I can’t forget about the bugs! Not so bad during the day, but ruthless at night. Some of the bugs are as big as hummingbirds. Yuck!
We check out another lake, Laguna de Alegria, which is small enough to walk around in a half hour, but not good for swimming. Thus, we spend our last afternoon in El Salvador in the plaza in Alegria tasting “street food” that Paul deems as safe. We eat empanadas, pupusas, fried yucca, French fries and shaved ice with fruit. Total price for lunch: $8.
Along the Panamerican highway, we see all kinds of interesting things. Note that the highway is the major thoroughfare through Latin America and has 2 or 4 lanes, depending on the section. On the shoulder of the highway, cows, horses, goats, sheep, pigs, roosters, and chicken graze. People walk, push baby carriages, jog, and ride bicycles, horses and ox-led wagons. Numerous small restaurants, stores and fruit stands line the road. We even pass a wedding party (the bride wears a bright pink dress and the groom wears a baby blue tuxedo – ghastly!). All this while cars, trucks and big rigs speed past at 60-70 mph. I think about my commute at home along 280 with nothing on the road except for vehicles.
We are now heading through Honduras to Nicaragua. Adios El Salvador.
Tags: El Salvador
hwy1alltheway
Wow guys, what a great blog and some amazing pix. I didn’t get to see them all but what I did see seemed like paradise! I am glad that things have been going well and sounds like you had fun with Patrick and are heading further south every day! Love the updates, stay safe and ENJOY!