San Salvador, capital of El Salvador did not fail us. As previously discussed, we love to travel. It had been a year since our previous trip so it was that time. We wanted to take a short one week trip somewhere & we decided it would be in Central America – how to pick a destination?
This literally was pull up a map & ‘close your eyes & point’! El Salvador it is! Let’s just go to the capital & that is how we decided the country for this trip in 2013. It also runs on US currency so we didn’t have to worry about currency exchange.
Where We Stayed in San Salvador
So…with no itinerary & basically no research we were heading to El Salvador with the capital, San Salvador, our landing point. Checked out hotels in San Salvador on Expedia, made our reservations & we were off! Easy peasy.
The hotel set on a beautiful side street with a gated entry! It did feel a little odd for the clerk to come out & reach through gate for our papers before she would open gates for us to enter from the street. More about this later in post. Beautiful hotel but the bed was small & almost as hard as rock. LOL. Basically a piece of wood with about a 2 inch piece of foam on top. Not the best sleeping but hey when in Rome….
But what the hotel lacked in soft cushy beds, it all then made up for it in the patio where we took our breakfast meals! So calm. So beautiful & green! Extremely loud birds of all types chattering away all during our breakfasts on the patio. The walls around the patio were high & covered with greenery & wild birds. It would be a bird watchers paradise I’m sure. We thought we found a little piece of heaven that first morning. Just lovely & the food excellent.
Our Incredibly Wonderful Itinerary for San Salvador trip!
Although we did next to no research for this short one week trip & had no set itinerary for San Salvador trip, we were pleasantly surprised by how smooth the trip went & how much there was to see. And the locals? They were awesome – every person we met had a smile.
With San Salvador’s turbulent history, it continues to struggle with various issues including displacement by volcano eruptions, civil wars, emigration, etc. For an overall view of San Salvador check this out.
Here our some highlights for us.
First Walk About in San Salvador & Armed Guards!!!
As you all should know by now, we love to walk wherever we land. Each morning after we had our yummy breakfast at the Hotel we would set out on a walk – which direction should we go today? We found a huge University [one of many in the city of over 525k]. The neighborhoods were just beautiful for walking, really green & just gorgeous!
A very odd sight we saw was a huge gas station where you stayed in car & the employees would come out to gas your car & check under the hood! Brought back memories of my high school years driving where you didn’t have to pump your own gas. The BIG kicker was there was a lady in the same blue uniform as the employees but she was out on the corner of the street corner of station waving drivers in. I’m pretty sure that would work tremendously here in the states. Ha.
So there was something that caught us off guard – only for a minute. Although we were aware of San Salvador’s turbulent history, this still caught us off guard just for a second. It seemed every shop, restaurant [even McDonald’s] had an armed security at their front doors. What the heck? But after a bit, we realized it was just standard protocol at that time. By the second day of our walkabouts, the guards would wave back when we waved to them. All was good now.
Coffee Shop & Food!
Right across the street from the above gas station was a nice little coffee shop! I think on our second day there we met one of the college students coming in for her coffee. Tall, very pretty Midwest girl of 20 something came into the cafe & sat across the room from us. At some point she came over & asked where we were from as she had heard us talking.
Turns out she had decided she wanted to learn Spanish & she figured the best way to do that would be to immerse herself into the culture. Not sure why she picked San Salvador to do so but she had been there almost a year & was meeting her attorney to get her visa renewed? We asked her what her parents had thought of her move & they were on course with her choice of college. She had friends, her apartment & was quite comfortable walking alone. Importance of this? Just need to be cognizant of your surroundings & your limitations.
The coffee was great but the food!!! We found a little restaurant ‘Lo Tipicos’ on our first evening walk & this place was a goldmine to us. This was our introduction to authentic Salvadoran pupusas! Check out this short post for more info on where to go for real Salvadoran food & hospitality.
Land of Volcanoes – El Salvador
For as small as El Salvador is, the country has a huge number of active volcanoes. In San Salvador alone there are around 20 active volcanoes! We decided a hired driver would be the best way to check out some volcanoes & in general just see some countryside! We took this photo of Lake Coatepeque [a flooded volcano crater] from a look out point & it was just mesmerizing…
In close proximity of Lake Coatepeque is the Parque Nacional Los Volcanes where took a walking tour of this volcano. Our driver dropped us off & we set a time for him to pick us up at end of day. He was on time! If you go to any tour by taxi please be sure that you make arrangements for him to either wait for you or a pick up time for him to be back to pick you up.
I won’t lie. Even with the two of us loving to walk & with its high altitude [7,800 ft] it did give us reason to stop & take a breather every now & then. When we did this only the tour guide accompanied us though now they recommend security as well? Well worth the trip! The last eruption of Santa Ana Volcano was in 2005!
Our takeaway about El Salvador…
The Land of Volcanoes did not disappoint! We are happy that we decided on El Salvador for this last minute trip. It did not fail in scenery, food, coffee or locals! If it ever comes up on your wish list, just go!
Happy Travels!
