Footloose surfing into Bahia del Sol
Departing Chiapas for El Salvador, one thing weighed heavily on our minds— the bar crossing into Bahia Del Sol. We had seen the videos of those who’d gone before and survived, but still the waves at this bar are intimidating. We arrived in the middle of the night and anchored out near the bar entrance. As the sun came up, we began our wait for high slack tide, the best time to cross the bar. At 1230, Footloose, Paradisea, and Sonamara made our way to the entrance to meet the pilot boat. Boats do not cross this bar without pilot boat escort. Paradisea was the first to go. We waited and watched as they took a wave and got sideways a bit, then pulled her to starboard, and in she went, whew. Our turn and Sonamara to follow. Bill directed us on Channel 16 and we followed “Full Speed Ahead”. Michael pushed on the throttle and we powered through, seeing 11mph, surfing one wave on the stern, sporty, and just like that we were through and made our way to the marina. (Unfortunately, the conditions quickly worsened and Sonamara was turned away and had to wait at anchor for another night.) At the dock, we were greeted by many smiling faces, including immigration folks and the celebrated hosts of Bahia del Sol, Bill & Jean (El Salvador Rally). They took our dock lines and presented us with Rum drinks. Welcome to El Salvador!
Bahia Del Sol
Bahia Del Sol
From our stern porch, we looked out onto the long estuary, with volcanoes prominently in the backdrop. The marina is rough around the edges, with the docks needing work (watch out for nails), boards loose… But, the restaurant and the 4 pm happy hours at the pool with the friendly cruiser community, make it a sweet spot. Bill and Jean have made their home here, having arrived 5 years ago. They host the annual El Salvador Rally and contribute greatly to the local community. They have a lovely Island home and have made Bahia del Sol a welcome retreat for cruisers. We even celebrated Chinese New Years with Debra from Avant teaching us how to make pot stickers and Pork Buns for a delicious feast. Bill rides with the pilot boat to escort boats in and out of the bar and provides clear instructions in English. They host Saturday “Pupusa” nights and are readily available to answer any questions about the area. Many cruisers have come to Bahia and lingered for a season or more, as it’s a sheltered place to leave your boat, with affordable mooring balls, and a very good place to take inland tours around El Salvador and throughout Central America.
First Impression, Politics
You can’t talk about El Salvador without talking some politics. The effects of the civil war (1980-92 ) are still felt and the people are still longing for a strong government without corruption. We arrived on the weekend of the presidential election. Alcohol was banned for the weekend of our arrival through Monday, Election Day. Voting is a big deal with much higher turnout than the US. Voters are given the day off to vote and there is a celebratory mood as everyone participates in this important civic responsibility. From our boat, we watched pangas bringing people from surrounding islands to the polling place along the estuary. We learned some about the different parties, including the once prominent FMLN and ARENA. Ultimately, Nayib Bukele (GANA party) won. Previously, as mayor of San Salvador, he made notable improvements , with successful projects to clean up the center of town, eradicating some of the gang element, and making it safer and more enjoyable for people to congregate. Some are hopeful, others skeptical that he can make good on his presidential campaign ideas. I hope so.
Touring El Salvador
We couldn’t leave Bahia without a tour of the country. In a week, we could not see it all, but our tour with Maureen and Bob (Paradisea) gave us a great taste of El Salvador. We hired Ernesto to be our driver/tour guide. Our tour first wound thru the recommended Ruta de las Flores, which was reported to be a pretty drive with stops at coffee plantations, colorful towns and festivals. Well, it wasn’t that pretty, with this being the dry season, it was – dry. Meandering through the countryside and towns we did see Coffee and Sugar Cane crops (the two largest exports of the country) and lots of color– with bright murals on the walls, painted houses and even the buses. The city buses are old time school buses from the USA. Industrious Salvadorians’s own them, drive them, and paint them. We stopped our first night in Santa Ana, the 2nd largest city, next to San Salvador.
Day Two: Parque Nacional Los Volcanes
We did It!
There are three major Volcanoes at this park. Active Vulcan Izalco is the youngest with its cone taking form starting in 1770, and now stands 1910m high. It erupted throughout the 20th century, earning its reputation as the “Lighthouse of the Pacific”. Next to it and 400m higher, stands Volcan Santa Ana. At 2,381 metres (7,812 ft) above sea level, it is the highest volcano in the country and last erupted in 2008. True Confession: I like to hike, especially on long, flat, smooth trails. I heard stories about the Santa Ana Volcano, (“arduous, kicked my butt, not for the weak…). I told myself, I’m not doing that. I’ll take the forty-five minute nature hike instead and call it good. But then, there I was walking up this huge volcano, climbing, panting, cursing, wondering if I would make it to the top. We got a late start (waiting for required park police escort) , but we did make it to the top before closing time. And it was quite spectacular looking down into the deep green caldera below. So Worth It!
A word about Coffee
Cafe Expresion Cultural, Santa Ana
On the way out of Santa Ana, we just had to find a good cup of coffee. Surprisingly, Salvadorans are not as java crazy as we are. Coffee is the prominent export, but that doesn’t mean they drink it or love it. So far on our tour, we had tasted mostly watered down nescafe or its equivalent. Strangely disappointing. My Central America guide book made a solid recommendation to go to Expresion Cultural, which did have good coffee, art, and vibe. Refreshed and properly caffeinated – we traveled on to our next stop, Suchitoto.
We arrived Suchitoto on Valentine’s Day and our guys did the right and romantic thing by splurging on our lodging at Los Almendros de San Lorenzo. It is a Spanish style Inn, with beautiful art, courtyard, lounge, pool, and gracious hosts Joaquin and Pascal. Joaquin and Pascal are want to be cruisers, so perhaps we’ll meet them again at some remote anchorage! We later learned that the El Salvador Rally has in the past rented out the whole Inn for cruisers on this rally. How fun would that be! We enjoyed our two nights there and also soaked in the charming town of Suchitoto along the Indigo Trail.
Indigo
Before coffee, indigo once reigned in El Salvador. There are still artisans who carry on the tradition. We met Jenny and her husband and spent a few hours in their shop in Suchitoto. Lovely people and art. They were happy that we did more than just look and treated us to a demonstration.
A Word about the Tour
Perhaps it was due to the off season or just plain bad luck. Whatever the cause, we had a bit of the Cerrado curse. Ernesto attempted to thrill us with sites, but unfortunately, many places were closed upon arrival. We were turned away from waterfalls, coffee plantations, the puerto del diablo…. We took it mostly in stride and teased Ernesto plenty. And he did his best to fill in the time with more sites, like the tour of Suchitlan Lake in Suchitoto.
Days Five-Six, San Salvador, the Capital City
Sunday Night, Downtown San Salvador
San Salvador is a modern city, with crazy traffic, homeless people, some beautiful buildings, museums, art, and very good food. Thanks to Pascal’s recommendations, we enjoyed the best meal of our season at Punto, the restaurant at the Museum of Art (MARTE). Shopping at Kreef (German) Deli and the Super Selecto Mercado across from the US Embassy brought provisioning to a new height. Plus, there is a volcano! A gentle hike to the top of this one.
Volcano San Salvador
A Day at the Museums
Michael gives bartender a lesson on making a “dry” martini, Punto Restaurant, Museum of Art
We spent a few hours and could have spent more walking through the Military and Anthropology Museums. They were excellent, better than our group anticipated. They helped us to understand more about the history of El Salvador, its past and current struggles and opportunities. Migration was featured a lot in exhibits with a large percentage of Salvadorans considered transnationalists, working and living in other countries. Very interesting to get this perspective. We didn’t have the time or brain power left to tour the Art Museum, but the restaurant was an amazing treat!
Final Day of the Tour, San Salvador
San Salvador
Our last day we did a walking tour around the center of town. The National Palace is mostly empty since the earthquake of 1984; nonetheless, we enjoyed walking through the empty hallways, imagining the past splendor of this European-design statehouse. We saw that the National Theater had a Dance Performance at 5 pm, so we returned and took in the performance. We didn’t completely understand the “plot” but the dancing was terrific, reminded Bob and Maureen of Capoeira, the Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance and music. Very powerful. After the show, we found Lero Lero Cafe (another Pascal recommendation), and enjoyed a casual tasty meal while looking down on San Salvador all lit up.
We so enjoyed our stop in El Salvador. Only three weeks there, but with many more miles to go this season, it’s time to go. Next stop, Isla Tigre, Gulfo de Fonseca, Honduras…
Fair Winds Everyone-
Lisa & Michael
Entering the Bar at Bahia del Sol
