El Salvador

March of this year we took our first vacation of 2018 to El Salvador.  Why El Salvador…so many people have asked us…well the short answer is it is a place we had never been!  A longer answer is when I went to start planning our trips for 2018 I got a TON of restrictions from Hendrik….my husband is my hardest travel client.  

Hendrik’s must haves:

• direct flight but not over 4 hours (this REALLY limits things)
• spa
• beach front
• surfing
• all other items must meet his approval ;) 

My must haves:

• somewhere we hadn’t been

So after taking all those things into consideration El Salvador was jumping out at me.  Also there ins’t a ton of tourism down there YET so we planned it.  I was very hard to find information on El Salvador the plus to taking a vacation that no one else does is it makes for great stories.  The minus is it is hard to find info on good hotels, restaurants, and tours, etc…there just isn’t much info out there that I would call reliable.  

I booked flights directly with Avianca which is a Mexican airline that I had never flown before.  Direct flights cost $460 each and we forged any bagged fees because we carried on.  Our flight was direct from DFW to San Salvador and took abut 3 1/2 hours.  Although we had never used Avianca I was really impressed with how much they communicated prior to flights.  They sent frequent email updates and check ins weeks leading up to our departure.  The plane was on the smaller side and we were literally the only white Americans on the plane both coming and going.  We weren’t bothered by that fact it was just really noticeable.   

I found our hotel on booking.com with breakfast included for 7 nights for a total of $1400.  It was a surf academy that had just opened in November of 2017.  The Puro Surf Academy was really modern, quiet, situated away from any major town or village near a backpacker hot spot called El Zonte.  I communicated via email weeks prior to our trip with questions and concern I had and was very impressed with their communication back.  Hotel management was very helpful in answer all my questions and setting up a shuttle to and from the airport.  When we checked in the front desk never asked for any money or anything until time of checkout and at that point I still had to bring it up. They never even got a credit card or passport copies for their file for the entire week. Very trusting but it felt so weird at the end of the week it all worked out perfectly. 

Note: when traveling to El Salvador you will need a $10 cash entry visa fee per person

Our room at Puro Surf

storage area for surf boards and sand catch all for shoes and such so modern and handy

Day 1 Tuesday March 13, 2018

Our flight left at 4:30 pm and upon arrival in San Salvador we breezed through passport control and were flagging down our shuttle driver in 15 minutes max.  It took longer to find the car and get out of the parking lot than it did for us to make our way from the plane to our driver.  The drive from the airport to our hotel took about an hour.  We arrived at our hotel half car sick and tired from traveling.  Thank goodness for Google translate because there was barely any English speakers at our resort.  To communicate fully we each typed our sentences/questions out on our phone and answered in proper language by type back. This was nice because it was off the grid and not all touristy.  Plus we had to brush up on our Spanish.  It was also a con because no one came up to us to ask if we needed help with food/ drink/ room cleaning and so on.  We noticed that all other guests were Spanish speakers and they were treated differently and differently in a better way. They were waited on like a real hotel LOL we were over at the pool sipping on empty glasses LOL!  Claudia the receptionist an sort of a manager showed us to our room. Before we unpacked we headed over the the only restaurant on the property to have a quick bite before unpacking.  

I had the ceviche which was FABULOUS and had the best plantain chips with a mojito.  Hendrik had fish tacos but wasn’t crazy about them because they were garnished with a pineapple salsa. Once we were back in the room I unpacked us and got all organized while Hendrik showered and then it was my turn. As all my other vacations should have taught me by now I can NOT leave the country without having some sort of accident.  Well I stepped into the smooth, wet concrete shower and slipped.  As I hung onto the shower door handle my hand slipped and hung in the crook of the handle making a HUGE gash in my wrist.  It took forever to quit bleeding and there was skin on the shower door handle even the next day!  I still carry the scar with pride but you better bet I watched every step for the rest of the week.  After my shower we headed to bed as it was a typical exhausting first day of travel. 

my injury the next morning

Day 2 Wednesday March 14, 2018

I had breakfast and coffee alone while Hendrik slept in.  I headed to the pool as Hendrik grabbed some breakfast to finish my book.  We hung out by the pool for a bit before speaking to Claudia about setting up a tour and in room massages for Hendrik and I.  We had our in room massages later that day and they were great!  After our massages we walked along the beach and on some rocks while the tied was out.  We had dinner at the hotel restaurant that was next door to our hotel.  The food was cheaper, bigger portions, and really good.  They had more of a traditional Salvadorian food. After dinner we headed back to our room to catch a movie.  It was a great full day of relaxation.

The views from the resort that I snapped early that morning after my breakfast.

at the neighbor hotel restaurant with the cutes lights and an awesome dinner view

traditional mixed seafood ceviche

Thursday March 15, 2018

After breakfast we got ready for our 10 am surf lesson with the surf academy on site.  We practiced our movements on the beach before heading to the water.  Once in the water neither of us had much success.  Neither one of us was feeling great and I just felt out of shape I guess.  I felt the currents were super strong and just way harder water.  The instructor was OK but I felt like he wasn't very hands-on like we probably needed.  Each time you surf in new water it is pretty much like learning again especially for us as we aren't experts by any means.  It was a disappointing experience as we really thought we would crush it and surf a lot for the rest of the week.  After our unsuccessful surf session we relaxed by the pool a bit as we waiting on our hotel car to take us to a nearby town for the afternoon El Tunco.  We were starving by the time we arrived so we ate at a little pizzeria joint that was recommended to me by a backpacker friend.  Mopelia was great and although the main restaurant wasn't open until night the pizza was really good.  After eating we just walked around and explored the little town. We walked along the beach and bought a couple of bracelets from a vendor before heading back to have some fresh fruit ice-cream and going back to the hotel.  Tonight we started to both feel even more not like ourselves and started to have stomach issues. 

Friday March 16, 2018

After breakfast we hung out by the pool before heading out on our waterfall hike at 12:30.  Around 11:30 we decided to eat something as we knew it would be late afternoon before we would have another chance.  I had their version of a hamburger and fries which was pretty good and Hendrik had ceviche again.  Our guide picked us up from the hotel and he was awesome. Rivas owns his own little hostel and coffee shop and is a guide on the side.  He knew English soooo well and it was great to have some awesome conversations with him and learn about El Salvador and the area we were heading into for our hike.  He loves his country and it was evident in all his historical and current knowledge.  We drove for about 20 minutes before starting our hike at where the river begins.  The hike DOWN was nice seeing all the different trees and plants.  We were there at the driest part of the year and so a lot was already dead and there were even some wild fires on some mountain sides.  The first little part was a natural spring that begins the river and has some great cliffs to jump off of. Since the river is spring fed the water was so cool and refreshing after our hot afternoon hike.  There was local college kids cliff jumping also and I was the only girl to do it.  Hendrik just hung out in the water and I jumped several times.  We moved on to the big water fall farther down the mountain to hang out a bit longer.  The waterfall there was way cooler and very powerful.  It was so nice just relaxing and enjoying this site with the locals like a local.  After a while it was time to acknowledge the fact that we had quiet a hike back up to our car so it was time to set out.  The hike up was so hard and so hot but we just kept powering through the heat and my stomach issues.  Once back at the care we grabbed a cold drink and set back towards the hotel.  I got car sick on the way back I think from the heat and just the winding roads.  When we got back to the hotel late that afternoon we hung out at the pool before heading to the hotel next door for dinner again.  After dinner we started the Sinner TV show on Netflix.  

local tree that produces "cotton" instead of a plant 

this the cliff we jumped from

the larger fall 

Saturday March 17, 2018 through Monday March 19, 2018

The rest of our trip was all eat, sleep, pool, repeat.  By this point in our trip we had both contracted travelers belly and things were not going good.  We tried to eat the most cooked bland food possible and just make it out of the country alive and in clean clothes. LOL. I really wanted to do the live volcano guided tour with our same guide, Rivas, but I knew with our stomach troubles I would never make the 2 hour one way car trip, hike up the volcano, hike down, and another 2 hour car ride back to the hotel so we opted out. I was super bummed as this volcano is active and I would have loved to see it up close and personal but surely they will be around another 50 years or so!

these little pork tacos were YUMMY and that pickled onion oh my!

Tuesday March 20, 2018

We had an early checkout and shuttle to the airport at 5am for the normal airport shenanigans and our easy trip home.

Once home we discovered that we both had contracted a parasite and were sick for another 3 weeks with several doctor visits and a lot of medicine.  We turned out fine and still don't regret the trip although it was definitely not our best vacation.  I really would love to head back to El Salvador now that we got a taste.  I would go during rainy season or a much greener time to experience all that it has to offer.  I would also stay closer to the major city of San Salvador and use that as my hub to see all the different sites and beaches.  Our hotel now was great and modern and relaxing but it was very far out and secluded from other things and seeing we didn't rent a car we were sort of stranded.  Another country visited, another culture explored, and I'm intrigued and yearning for more.