EL SALVADOR (SAN SALVADOR/SUCHITOTO/LA LIBERTAD/EL TUNCO)

OVERVIEW

• When: 29 June- 4 July, 2023
• Where (accommodations): Barceló San Salvador, Fishermans Resort Life
• Transportation: Avianca airlines flight from Boston (BOS) to San Salvador (SAL); Car rental through Easy Rent A Car
• Sights/attractions: San Salvador: Iglesia El Rosario, Centro Historico-Plaza Libertad, National Palace, National Theater, Metropolitan Cathedral, Volcan San Salvador, Rainbow Slide; Suchitoto: Iglesia Santa Lucia, Lake Suchitlán, Center of Art for Peace (Arte Para La Paz), Indigo shop- Arte Añil; La Libertad/El Tunco: Malecón Puerto de La Libertad, Playa El Tunco, Playa Las Flores, Coco de Mar boutique; Santa Ana Volcano hike
• Food/drinks: San Salvador: Las Brumas Grill & Cafe; Andían Bistro & Cafe; Suchitoto: Casa 1800 Suchitoto; Cero Verde: Cráter Coffee Shop & Bistro; Santa Tecla: Restaurante Pueblo Viejo; La Libertad/El Tunco: Esquina los amigos, Pargos Restaurante, La Neveria, Panaderia Bendicion de Dios

I booked the flights to El Salvador on a plane. Yes, you read it right. There is a first for everything, and this was definitely my first time completing transaction of an international flight, while flying to another country. Back story- I saw announcement back in February that Avianca airlines is starting (or renewing) direct flights between Boston and El Salvador. I mentioned it to Sean, but he was not fully convinced- El Salvador still has a “Level 3- Reconsider Travel” warning on the travel.state.gov website. In March we were flying to Costa Rica, and the woman sitting next to us RAVED about El Salvador. She told us how she’s been there many times, how much she likes the country and how safe she feels there. I did not need much more convincing- I pulled up Avianca’s website and booked the flights. Sean (if I recall correctly) called me a travel addict and suggested I seek counseling. Same Sean flew with me to El Salvador and enjoyed it with no further complaints :).

Jokes aside- we did a thorough research about the situation and were not worried about the safety. It definitely was a dangerous country a few years ago, but the current president locked up 60 000 or so gang members and their families, which diminished the crime significantly.

El Salvador is a small country (about the size of the state that we live in- Massachusetts) with a population of around 6.3 million. It borders Guatemala, Honduras and has a coastline with the Pacific Ocean. The official language is Salvadorian Spanish, but any Spanish will do. I practiced Spanish a lot on this trip, because from the car rental to ordering at a restaurant, English was pretty limited.

Talking about car. We booked one through Avis a couple of months before the trip and never heard anything else. We landed in San Salvador at nearly 9pm, went to Avis counter and were told that they do not have any cars available! This definitely was a first for us- we drive in pretty much every country that we travel and never had a situation where we’d be told- “yes, we see you have a reservation, but no, we do not have a car.”

The booking we had made was around 280 USD (El Salvador uses USD and Bitcoin as their currency). The next counter over offered to rent a truck for $700. No gracias. Luckily Easy Rent a Car had an SUV for $460 for 5 days- still more than what we were suppose to be getting from Avis, but at least somewhat more reasonable and not a pick up truck. Windshield wiper fluid was not working, windows were hard to see through, but the guy just laughed and said, “it’s raining, you don’t need the fluid” 🙂 . Well, let’s just say that 30 min drive was not the most pleasant- pouring rain and dark, the window looked like grease was glazed over it. That said, we made it safely to the hotel and for the next 4 days tried to not drive in the dark, especially in the rain.

We knew July is a rainy season for El Salvador and I was worried that it will be a non stop rain the whole trip (especially when we landed in a total downpour). However, either we got lucky, or that’s just how it works – it rained only every evening/night. Days were sunny and hot/humid. Each evening we got a lightning show, a few times very loud thunder and heavy rain. It gets dark before 7pm and since El Salvador is 2 hours behind Boston time, we took advantage of the jetlag and were up around 6am, which allowed us to enjoy a whole lot of sunshine.

Itinerary

Thursday – evening flight to San Salvador (5hr flight), rent a car, 30 min drive to Barceló San Salvador hotel

Friday– almost 2 hr drive to Suchitoto, sightsee the town, shop at Arte Añil, eat lunch at Casa 1800 Suchitoto. Return to San Salvador and explore the capital- National Palace, National Theater, Metropolitan Cathedral. Before sunset go down the Rainbow Slide and eat dinner at Las Brumas Grill & Cafe

Saturday– check out of Barceló hotel and drive 30 min to La Libertad. Check in the Fishermans Resort Life, drive to El Tunco, walk around, lunch at Esquina los amigos, shop at Coco de Mar boutique, return back to the resort and enjoy the pool/beach, dinner at the hotel

Sunday– wake up at 5.30am and drive 1hr 40 min to Cero Verde National Park. On the way stop at Cráter Coffee Shop & Bistro for breakfast with the view of Coatepeque Lake. Hike Santa Ana volcano (around 5hrs total), lunch at Restaurante Pueblo Viejo, enjoy the pool back at Fishermans Resort, dinner at the hotel

Monday– walk Playa Las Flores beach, 1.5 hr massages on the patio, lunch at Pollo Campero, walk around La Libertad port, ice cream at La Neveria, pastries at Panaderia Bendicion de Dios, dinner at Pargos Restaurante.

Tuesday-30 min drive to San Salvador airport for a 9am flight back to Boston (4.5hr flight)

Barceló San Salvador

We picked this 4 star hotel based on the location and great ratings, and had a very good two nights experience. Polite and welcoming staff, plentiful breakfast (we got an Executive Suite with access to the VIP lounge, but did not really use it). VIP lounge was on the 10th floor and had a very similar breakfast buffet option as the downstairs restaurant (just less people), but the downstairs had outside seating by the pool, so we chose to have breakfast there. The pool was quite small and we were too busy sightseeing, therefore I am sad to report- we never even dipped our toes in it.

Suchitoto

Only 32 miles away from the hotel, but it took us almost 2 hours to get to the adorable Colonial town Suchitoto. There was SO MUCH traffic leaving San Salvador that nothing prepared us for it. The roads are good, the weather was perfect, but the fairly narrow two lane streets and a lot of cars created a big congestion. We were extremely happy to see the open road once we finally left the capital city.

We drove by the colorful street art in the neighboring towns and made it to the center of Suchitoto before noon. The main sight (at least that’s what we were going for) was mid 1800s built church- Iglesia Santa Lucia.

Surrounded by the cobble stone streets and a charming square, this church has a wooden altar and what we found very peculiar- the statues wearing WIGS. We’ve traveled to many places and have seen a fair amount of churches, but Jesus with the long, flowy, real looking hair was something we’ve never encountered before.

The square in front of the church had a few souvenir stands and an ice cream man- I got tamarindo flavor, Sean opted for the coconut and both were delicious on a hot and humid day.

The nice thing about the vendors- nobody tried to push, sell, drag you into their booth- polite ‘hola’, a smile and that’s it. It gives me anxiety when every seller is asking to come see their items, so it was refreshing to experience such relaxed atmosphere!

We saw a colorful corner store- Casa de la Abuela (grandma’s house) and ventured in. Besides cute little trinkets, it was connected to a coffee shop- what a perfect find! Sean only drinks decaf (which they did not have), but he got to try cafe de maiz– corn coffee (caffeine free)- it tasted just like the real coffee! I got a cup of local Salvadorian cold brew and it was strong and invigorating.

I’ve read about Arte Añil in some blog and this tie-dye indigo store was very close, so we went to check it out. Well, what can I say. Don’t go in if you don’t want to spend any money : ) . Made in El Salvador, dyed with natural dyes, fashionable designs- I want to say I spent just under 300 USD there…And their credit card machine was not working, so after falling in love with a few tops, dress, pants and Sean picking out a t-shirt, we had to leave and go find an ATM to take out the cash.

Luckily there was one only a few steps away and it had the money (we heard sometimes ATMs are lacking cash), so we were back in business 🙂 ! Gotta support local artists, right?

Talking about art. We did not come to Suchitoto only to shop. We also wanted to see the local art at the Center of Art for Peace (Arte Para La Paz). It’s a very nice art center/museum, but the guy working there did not speak English, so brush up on your Spanish 🙂 . I was able to converse/understand what he was saying and to translate it to Sean. It’s worth a visit!

Our last stop in this adorable town with colorful streets was Casa 1800 Suchitoto. Absolutely must visit for the food and most importantly for the view!

Coming in from the street you’d never picture that it opens up to this incredible vista of Lake Suchitlán. I tried my first pupusas here as well. It’s a national dish of El Salvador, made out of corn dough and stuffed with whatever you choose- cheese, beans, meat etc. Wash it down with the local Pilsener of Salvador beer and your day will be complete :).

We’ve got a drive ahead of us, back to San Salvador to explore the capital a bit. Traffic was slightly less dense on the way back, but still took us at least 1.5 hrs.

San Salvador

We don’t usually spend much time in the cities, but since we were staying pretty close to the historical part of the capital, we figured it would be a shame to miss it. We found parking for $1 an hour close to the Iglesia El Rosario and went to see this church first. I think it was my favorite church in the country.

Besides a very interesting design, this church simply wowed us with the light coming through the colorful glass windows. The best part- nobody was there, so we got to admire the rainbow on the floor and really take it in. Obviously you want to go here during the daylight if you want to see this play of light.

Only a few blocks away you will find the main city plaza- Plaza Libertad, as well as the National Palace, Metropolitan Cathedral and the National Theater. We only went into the Cathedral. The Palace is a museum now and we did not have time to explore it. National Theater had a private event going, so we did not see it from the inside either.

Historical Center was pretty busy, people were playing music and dancing in the plaza. It’s a quick stop though, I don’t think you need to spend much time there. On the way back to the car we saw a line of people waiting for the a drink that was served in a plastic bag. I got curious and decided to try it. It’s a licuado- basically a milkshake. Mine was with banana, ice, milk and lots of sugar 🙂 .

We got back to the hotel to shower and change- all day in the hot and humid weather definitely made us sweat. And then we had one more activity of the day- Rainbow Slide!

About 20 minutes drive from the city center, the slide is in the restaurant Picnic Steakhouse territory, but you do not need a reservation or to eat at the restaurant. This restaurant is located at the beginning of San Salvador volcano, also known as El Boqueron volcano.

The views from the top of the slide are spectacular, we were there right around sunset and watched the clouds roll in. It costs $5pp and the crowd seemed to be on average 12-20yrs old. But we did not get discouraged and went down with the kids- young at heart that we are 🙂 . It was about an hour long wait, so be prepared for that. They do a lot of things manually- like dragging the rope down to collect the tubes, pouring water down the slide- there is room for improvement, but it was a fun, adrenalin filled activity before dinner. It’s one of the top rated things to do in San Salvador, so probably it’s something to consider while you are there!

For dinner we went to Las Brumas Grill & Cafe– a very short drive from the slide. We hoped to make it there for sunset because the view is incredible, but by the time we were done with the slide it was dark. It still was a nice view with the lights in the distance and the dinner was excellent.

When we arrived we were told it’s going to be 45min wait, I think it ended up being around 30+, but it was worth it.

Before we headed to the beach the following morning, we walked over to Andían Bistro & Cafe. Besides great savory breakfast, we also picked up some red velvet croissants for the road. Possibly THE BEST red velvet croissants with cream cheese frosting/filling we’ve ever tasted.

La Libertad

Port city on the Pacific coast of El Salvador and we are here for the beach! From San Salvador we reached Fishermans Resort Life in under an hour. It would’ve been faster, but we missed the exit and ended up in some traffic near the center of Puerto de la Libertad.

Located on Las Flores beach, this six room resort is a little oasis of tranquility.

All rooms are facing the ocean, warm pool, plenty of parking, excellent chef.

We had two dinners at the hotel- one was in the room, because of the heavy rain and the wind that started right around dinner time. The other one was at the table in front of the ocean. We also had breakfast and everything was really tasty.

Modern digital key to enter, large room and even a stove/fridge in case we wanted to make our own meals, great music playing in the lobby – we really liked the ambiance and the customer service.

Small improvements that could make this place better- we really wished for a king size bed! There was a pull out couch next to our double bed. There was plenty of space in this giant room, so why put a small bed? It was a bit of an adjustment for us to sleep- Sean and his multiple pillows and me trying to not fall out 🙂 . Another odd thing- they did not provide hair conditioner, body lotion or the hair dryer! We communicated with the staff via WhatsApp and I even asked in Spanish, since their English was limited. Nope, they confirmed that they have an iron but no hair dryers. Given how hot and humid the air was, my hair was frizzy either way, but I just found it strange that a modern luxury resort did not have a single hair dryer on the premises.

I guess who needs to dry their hair when you have a warm pool and even a warmer ocean to swim in! El Salvador is famous for the good surf waves, and our hotel had long boards, but for us the waves seemed to be a bit too big and we chickened out. We swam in the ocean a bit, but even that was a little scary- tall waves and the black sand making the water seem dark. Maybe I am spoiled, but I definitely prefer clear water where I can see what I am stepping in.

Right in front of the hotel there are rocks/pebbles, but on the left lays a long, wide, beautiful dark sand beach –Playa Las Flores. We walked around on our last day in El Salvador and did not see anyone there- no other hotels, just a lot of crumbling buildings. The unfortunate discovery was that we also saw trash. In general it seems like the country does not have a very good handle on it- people throwing cups out the window, leaving trash around on the beach- it’s heartbreaking and hopefully now that the government made the country safer, next would be the clean up.

As for La Libertad town- it’s ok, but nothing spectacular. We walked around the port on Malecón Puerto de La Libertad, went on the fishermen’s pier and saw some freshly caught fish. We got a very good ice cream at La Neveria (3.5 USD for two ice cream cones), and passed by the Surf City area, but it was under construction. Looks like it might be a lot nicer when it’s all renovated, especially the boardwalk in front of the ocean.

Upon Sean’s request (his friend loves this chain) we went to Pollo Campero– giant fast food restaurant that specializes in chicken. I had a salad with grilled chicken, Sean had some fried chicken that looked like nuggets- it was definitely a waste of calories and nothing special whatsoever in my opinion. But the place was packed, so maybe I just have no taste for junk food.

El Tunco

Short drive from La Libertad (around 20 min) and we are in the small beach town mostly popular amongst the surfers. There was also construction being done to the boardwalk, parts of it was closed off, but we are able to walk around, saw the beach with a big rock in the water and a cute little center with boutiques and restaurants.

One of the boutiques worth mentioning- Coco D’Mar. Very well priced, nice clothes that fit me really well. It’s pretty hard to find long dresses that are not an awkward length for me, but here I found several!

We ate a couple times in El Tunco- once for lunch and once for dinner. Lunch was at Esquina los amigos– simple corner restaurant with freshly made pupusas (oddly served on the plastic bags instead of the usual plates). They were ok, but not as good as in Casa 1800 Suchitoto.

When we came to El Tunco for dinner, we chose Pargos Restaurante, which is adjoining the same name hotel. Food was good, but our hotel chef’s meals were better.

Overall we liked El Tunco – walkable, charming, clean- definitely has things to do. But we had no regrets for staying at Fishermans Resort Life either- the calmness and the peaceful wide beach seemed a lot better after coming back from a cute but busy town.

Santa Ana Volcano

You cannot travel to the Land of Volcanoes and not climb one. Well you can, but we decided that we are up for the challenge! And why climb some small hill- lets go to the tallest volcano in the country- Santa Ana– 2381 meters above sea level. Latest eruption was in 2005 and according to Wikipedia, it was spitting rocks the size of cars. So yea, that’s what we chose to ascend instead of relaxing on the beach. There are over 20 volcanos in this small country, so I am glad we got to cross one out of our list.

There was a lot of confusing information online when doing the research about this hike. But the main point was- you cannot go there without a guide. We did not have any tours booked, and a lot of sources said that the hike starts at 9am, so we decided to get there early and see if guide would be available. From our hotel at La Libertad to Cero Verde National park where we had to park the car was around 1hr 45 min drive. That means we had to be up veeery early. And we did not have breakfast at the hotel because it was not being served by the time we had to start our drive.

Since nobody should hike hungry, we stopped for breakfast at the Cráter Coffee Shop & Bistro– a MUST visit if you plan to hike Santa Ana.

Not only was it good, filling breakfast, but the view alone was worth the stop. Overlooking Lake Coatepeque, this place is really spectacular. I only wish we had more time to enjoy this view, but we had to make it to the parking lot for Santa Ana hike by 9am. Luckily from this restaurant it was only about 10 min drive.

We had no idea what to expect, but I think it was certainly not this. About 200 people (most of them wearing JEANS) showed up for the hike.

Indeed the hike can only be done with the guide and it started at 9.15am. Because the group was so large we had several guides. To be honest I am not sure what happens if you show up too late. Someone said that there are local guides waiting around and you might pay them directly, but I don’t know if that’s how it works. We all had to pay I think $6 pp in the parking lot (I am not 100% sure of the amount, but it was not much and it was cash). The group got the same color bracelets and moved aside. The guide went over the hike, explained the rules etc. After a short walk we had to pay another small fee and then the real hike started. And so did the rain. And the fog.

We brought rain jackets to El Salvador, but left those in the hotel at the sunny beach. So purchased these colorful ponchos to protect us from the mist and it was just fine.

It’s not a very difficult hike (I mean if you can hike in jeans, it can’t be that hard, right?) , but it was pretty long.

We reached the top of the crater (met some nice people along the way, so it was easier climb while chatting away) and we saw NOTHING. What was suppose to be the view of a blue/green sulfur lake at the bottom of the crater, now was a wall of fog/clouds. We definitely could smell the sulfur, but no matter how much we looked, there was no view to be seen. There were several people selling ice cream up top, we also brought snacks, so we spent about 30 min resting there and hoping for the weather to change, with no luck. It took us about 5 hours total to complete this hike and by the end we were pretty tired. Despite the no crater lake views, we still enjoyed the hike and had no regrets whatsoever.

On the way back we were starving, so for lunch stopped at the Restaurante Pueblo Viejo. Amazing food, there was live music outside and it was very inexpensive.

CONCLUSION

Great little trip for a long holiday weekend. Ideally I think having a couple more days would’ve been better. But when is it ever long enough? We saw most of everything we wanted to see, but this small Central American country has a lot more. There is Ruta de las Flores that we didn’t get to go to- the string of towns that have flowers blooming depending on the season. There is a food festival that we didn’t get to sample over the weekend. You just can’t see and do it all.

We are very glad we traveled to El Salvador despite the scary warnings about its safety. We never felt unsafe- day or night. It once again proves that you can’t believe everything you read online- just have to go and experience it for yourself. One pupusa, one rainbow slide, and one volcano hike at the time!