El Salvador

As sad as we were to leave Guatemala we were very excited to get to El Salvador. This is another country that has struggled with civil war and US involvement. There has been peace and democratic elections here since 1989 at the end of their decade long civil war. There is still a long way to go as far as crime, poverty, and inequality, but they have been able to transform the country from extreme violence to a working republic. One of the most interesting things about this transformation is that the guerrilla group FMLN who was in the war against the previous government is now ruling political party having its president elected in 2009. Nevertheless it was still strange to see the FMLN banners hanging from buildings and painted all over towns. 



We drove into El Salvador along a road called Ruta de las Flores, not only was it filled with beautiful flowers but the streets are amazing compared to surrounding countries. We decided to keep our stay quick in this country, for no other reason except we wanted to try and make the Honduran islands for Christmas. Our first stop in El Salvador was in Parque Nacional Cerro Verde, a group of three volcanoes that allows you to park overnight on top of one of them in the park center. We ended up being the only people camped at the top of this volcano with beautiful views of the surrounding volcanoes and cities far below. In the morning we walked around the park filled with intense topiary designs including a huge igloo made out of a tree with three picnic tables underneath it and two tunnels spanning most of the park. After walking around for a bit we stumbled on a building that could have come out of The Shining or The Haunting. It had signs all over with caution warnings and chains around all of the doors but you could still see the beauty this place once held. Peeking into the windows there was furniture flipped over, a bar, a reception, and a garden and walkway that would have been spectacular once. It was creepy and cool and we still have no idea what it used to be or why it was closed but we guessed that it had to do with the war since we were in what was the thick of guerrilla territory at one time. 






We moved on to the boarder of El Salvador and parked on top of another volcano. Although our GPS wanted to argue and it seemed as if we were actually in Honduras. The volcano was Called El Pital and we parked near the local restaurant. When we arrived we couldn’t tell where we were, we were in the clouds and they were moving. We knew it was just before sunset and before we knew it the clouds started getting thinner and it seemed as if all of El Salvador appeared right below us. It was spectacular! It made us second guess rushing this beautiful country, but we didn’t want to turn back now and decided to keep moving on. Next stop Honduras…






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