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The bulk of Honduras and Nicaragua are located along the Caribbean coast and we are now on the Pacific Coast
where there are only small wedges of Nicaragua and Honduras. On leaving San Marcos, Honduras we crossed
into El Salvador and stopped in San Miguel within 115 miles, Colleen and I had been in El Salvador a couple of
years ago and, in reading the guidebooks which did not have too much enthusiasm for the country, we had given
it short-shrift. This time we were going to give it a good look and Joyce did a lot of research and planning toward
that end.
In San Miguel we parked at a Shell Gas Station (N 13:29 W 88:28) where there was a security guard and the
charge was $2/rig/night. We were going to use this point as the base for three trips to other areas. We also
decided to set up the satellite dish and see if we could get a decent signal. We did get a strong enough signal
and were able to send out and receive some emails. A huge rain and wind storm arrived and knocked out the
signal and we were never successful getting it to work again so we took it down….soon we will have consistent
internet access!!!!!
The first day trip, a Sunday, we went to Playa El Espino on the coast. This is a long beach where many
Salvadorans go on the weekend with their families. We attracted a lot of attention as we were among very few
obvious tourists. When we got there we were shown a place to park under a palapa for $5 for the day. This fee
also included chairs and a hammock hanging under another palapa right on the beach. We put our stuff down
and hung out in the shade, boogie boarded, walked the beach and chatted with others doing the same thing.
When we got there the tide was out and the beach was huge with lots of people in the water and walking up and
down. As the tide came in it started lapping at our feet and eventually was aggressively breaking waves under the
palapa. That signaled the time to head back to the car and the owners of the palapas gathered up their plastic
chairs to keep them from washing out to sea. This was not a clean and beautiful beach as we have found in other
countries as there was a lot of trash around that was allowed to wash out with the tide each day. Also, the sand
was very fine and dark and stuck to everything almost like dirt.
El Salvador suffered through a costly civil war for 12 years that ended 12 years ago. The war was between
guerilla groups who were tired of the difficult living conditions for the farmers and other poor people and the
government/military forces. The war was largely financed by the US Government, the poor people were
outgunned and the government forces won. El Salvador is poorer than most of the countries in Central America
and is still recovering from the war. The people are generous with their answers to our questions about their lives
and very curious about ours. Many times we have given tours of our rig with people looking in amazement at the
completeness of it as a rolling home.
The next day trip we made from San Miguel was to Ciudad Barrios up in the mountains. I was really glad to get up
to some cooler air as the heat and humidity of San Miguel were oppressive. Ciudad Barrios is way off the tourist
track and we enjoyed walking around the town. In one of our guide books it mentioned that a man named Enrique
Amaya lived in Ciudad Barrios and used to live in the US for many years. He was known to be quite friendly and
welcoming to visitors. We looked him up and he insisted on taking us to see his coffee finca, meet his workers,
and see a school that he is helping with some fundraising. Meeting Enrique personalized the trip for us and we
are glad that he was available to show us around.
On the third day we took a side trip to Perquin, also up in the mountains, where the FMLN (the guerilla forces)
had been quite entrenched during the war. A museum was created to show the public some of the memorabilia
from the war. There were many families visiting there as that week was a holiday week and the Salvadorans are
great tourists in their own country. We met a family that lives in Long Island who are originally from El Salvador.
They bring their children back to El Salvador each year to visit their extended family. In the next few days we met
many more Salvadorans who have lived in the US for many years and were in El Salvador for a vacation. Most of
them fled during the civil war and have since become legal residents of the US.
gotten ahead of the adults and were stripped of a camera and some other small valuables. They were not hurt.
We decided that it wasn’t that necessary to take that walk and headed back down the mountain to the rigs.
Nearby in the mountains is where hundreds were gunned down at what is called the Massacre of El Mozote. They
are still exhuming bodies and uncovering the truth of what happened there. We did not go to El Mozote.
where there are only small wedges of Nicaragua and Honduras. On leaving San Marcos, Honduras we crossed
into El Salvador and stopped in San Miguel within 115 miles, Colleen and I had been in El Salvador a couple of
years ago and, in reading the guidebooks which did not have too much enthusiasm for the country, we had given
it short-shrift. This time we were going to give it a good look and Joyce did a lot of research and planning toward
that end.
In San Miguel we parked at a Shell Gas Station (N 13:29 W 88:28) where there was a security guard and the
charge was $2/rig/night. We were going to use this point as the base for three trips to other areas. We also
decided to set up the satellite dish and see if we could get a decent signal. We did get a strong enough signal
and were able to send out and receive some emails. A huge rain and wind storm arrived and knocked out the
signal and we were never successful getting it to work again so we took it down….soon we will have consistent
internet access!!!!!
The first day trip, a Sunday, we went to Playa El Espino on the coast. This is a long beach where many
Salvadorans go on the weekend with their families. We attracted a lot of attention as we were among very few
obvious tourists. When we got there we were shown a place to park under a palapa for $5 for the day. This fee
also included chairs and a hammock hanging under another palapa right on the beach. We put our stuff down
and hung out in the shade, boogie boarded, walked the beach and chatted with others doing the same thing.
When we got there the tide was out and the beach was huge with lots of people in the water and walking up and
down. As the tide came in it started lapping at our feet and eventually was aggressively breaking waves under the
palapa. That signaled the time to head back to the car and the owners of the palapas gathered up their plastic
chairs to keep them from washing out to sea. This was not a clean and beautiful beach as we have found in other
countries as there was a lot of trash around that was allowed to wash out with the tide each day. Also, the sand
was very fine and dark and stuck to everything almost like dirt.
El Salvador suffered through a costly civil war for 12 years that ended 12 years ago. The war was between
guerilla groups who were tired of the difficult living conditions for the farmers and other poor people and the
government/military forces. The war was largely financed by the US Government, the poor people were
outgunned and the government forces won. El Salvador is poorer than most of the countries in Central America
and is still recovering from the war. The people are generous with their answers to our questions about their lives
and very curious about ours. Many times we have given tours of our rig with people looking in amazement at the
completeness of it as a rolling home.
The next day trip we made from San Miguel was to Ciudad Barrios up in the mountains. I was really glad to get up
to some cooler air as the heat and humidity of San Miguel were oppressive. Ciudad Barrios is way off the tourist
track and we enjoyed walking around the town. In one of our guide books it mentioned that a man named Enrique
Amaya lived in Ciudad Barrios and used to live in the US for many years. He was known to be quite friendly and
welcoming to visitors. We looked him up and he insisted on taking us to see his coffee finca, meet his workers,
and see a school that he is helping with some fundraising. Meeting Enrique personalized the trip for us and we
are glad that he was available to show us around.
On the third day we took a side trip to Perquin, also up in the mountains, where the FMLN (the guerilla forces)
had been quite entrenched during the war. A museum was created to show the public some of the memorabilia
from the war. There were many families visiting there as that week was a holiday week and the Salvadorans are
great tourists in their own country. We met a family that lives in Long Island who are originally from El Salvador.
They bring their children back to El Salvador each year to visit their extended family. In the next few days we met
many more Salvadorans who have lived in the US for many years and were in El Salvador for a vacation. Most of
them fled during the civil war and have since become legal residents of the US.
gotten ahead of the adults and were stripped of a camera and some other small valuables. They were not hurt.
We decided that it wasn’t that necessary to take that walk and headed back down the mountain to the rigs.
Nearby in the mountains is where hundreds were gunned down at what is called the Massacre of El Mozote. They
are still exhuming bodies and uncovering the truth of what happened there. We did not go to El Mozote.
Copyright - All Rights Reserved
2005
2005
August 2004
Around the World with Kathe and Colleen