Paul Visits El Salvador
The beach
We figured that the beach would be an easy introduction for all of us to begin our travel… Megan and Gus hadn’t even met Paul at this point. It was hot outside, the pool was hot, the ground was hot, but the beach and great seafood made up for it. It was the perfect place for Paul to start his all-over-body tan (yes, a joke).
Gus started this hot weather travel with a new pair of shoes, comically adjusting to wearing them every time they were out on. They are amazing and give us peace of mind when walking him on the hot ground.
We had our first exposure to venomous wildlife when we had to free a wayward scorpion from our rental. You’d think spending as much time in the Californian desert would have provided me skills for scorpion removal, but it didn’t. Turns out it was easy peasy. It sure has heightened our senses to wildlife going forward on our trip though, and also introduced Paul to the German rock band Scorpions for a few laughs.
The lake
Suchitoto is a colonial town known for its charm and large (man made) lake that was at the center of water rights wars in El Salvador. It’s a cute, small town steeped in tradition and religious and arriving there during Holy Week gave a different, small-town perspective on the festivities. There were processions most nights we were in the town, including acting out all 14 stations of the cross in 100 degree heat on holy Saturday.
Here we also introduced Paul to the national fast food… papusas. Coming from the land of handpies, I don’t think Paul was as impressed as we were. I do still crave a good papusa.
Jesus (helping Paul catch a Pokemon)
More jesus
Even more jesus
And then it was Jesus again
And then we all went of a boat ride on the lake (that was lovely, but quite choppy)
The mountains
Juayua is a small hill town between the much larger Santa Ana and slightly larger Socolotitan and we didn’t expect much from the town, just some exploring in the hills. But the town turned out to be really great. We arrived on a Saturday evening and the town center was bustling with market stalls and music. This continued on Easter Sunday.
Taking Gus on a walk through town proved to be a highlight as he garnished all sorts of attention in his shoes and the tour bus operators called out to him on their megaphone systems repeating “Gustavo in his zapatos!”
On the way to the town we stopped at the Cafe Albania, which is an amusement park specializing in zip lining and things of heights. The name is horrible. We went mostly to get lunch and ride down a huge slide on inner tubes. Fun!
And another highlight that was on Paul’s list was to climb the Santa Ana volcano. A moderate climb to the top paid off with views of the surrounding volcano and green bubbling lake in the caldera. Sadly we started down the volcano just as the ice cream man was making his way to the top with a huge box of treats on his shoulders. Man, people here sure work hard here.
With so many great discoveries and adventures it was hard to say goodbye. I’ll miss listening to Megan and Paul chat about visiting places like North Korea over the earsplitting calls of cicadas, and playing new card games we can carry through our journeys. Thanks for the visit Paul!
