Playa El Pimental

Hundreds of sand dollars at Playa Pimental.

Barra de Santiago

Barra de Santiago was a quick stop on the way back from Safari Chapin.  If the hotel had taken credit cards, we would have stayed.  Ni well. 

Beach of the Week #2

Los Cobanos, located in the western part of the country in the department of Sonsonate, was the first beach I was at this week. This one was actually for "work"; there was a Fulbrighters conference there at a resort called Los Veranderos. The beach was not so nice...small, lots of rocks, pieces of jellyfish, etc. Back in the fall, the resort had built a breakwater, which proceeded to damage the reef there.

Beach of the Week #1

El Espino, located in the deparment of Usulutan, is supposedly the most beautiful beach in El Salvador (at least according to my Let's Go book). It was certainly pretty, but I think what I enjoyed most is that it wasn't crowded.

Recent Travels in El Salvador

In an amazing change of events, I've actually begun to see more of this country. Turns out there are some
nice things here, some of which you don't even have to leave San Salvador to see.

I went to Puerta del Diablo with Samary a couple of weeks ago, but forgot to take my camera with me. It's close to los Planes del Rendero, famous for its pupusas, but you can see the ocean and the mountains from there.

I've also been on la Ruta de las Flores again, and got to stay in Juayua this time for lunch (see the pic of me eating rabbit, tastes like chewy chicken, really), as well as the opportunity to visit some nearby waterfalls. Ahuachapan, Chalatenango, La Libertad again, El Cuco, Coatepeque again, Tazumal,and San Miguel are also on the list of recently visited places. I'm so very glad that I met this group of people that I've been traveling with, after months of not even going out to the grocery store sometimes!

Semana santa is only a few days away, so I'll be off to Honduras for the week, to Copan and who knows where else. It's time for a vacation, and then when I get back, I'll be moving to San Miguel to work at the branch of the Centro Cultural there. I'm not overly excited about moving again, as I'm just getting used to life in San Salvador, but I'm sure the experience will be great! It's too bad that I'm not used to the heat any more, because San Miguel is going to be very, very hot very, very soon! Last week sometime it was up to 41 (something like 103 degrees?!).

Work has been good, busy as usual, although I'm ready for the break. My project has been renewed for another 10 months, which means I'll be back in El Salvador again next year! I'm excited about the prospect of not having to change countries again, and about being back someplace that I'm fairly familiar with.

Somewhere west of Puerto Libertad

This was yet another car trip to La Libertad, which is really only about a half hour or forty minutes away from San Salvador, at least when there's no traffic. I was highly regretting my choice of standard transmission on the way back though, when that half hour became three hours! And supposedly semana santa is even worse, when the whole country either heads to the shore or to Guatemala. I'll be on my way to Honduras instead, with a friend from Ohio.

And how had I managed to be here for seven months without having been to the closest beach? Good question...that many months without real sun turned my skin from pasty to lobster waaaaay to quickly. At any rate, nice conversation, fun with sea urchins and hermit crabs, and a hamaca.

Joya del Pacífico

It was nice to see the Pacific again after four years. Too bad I didn't learn how to surf while I was in Zihuatanejo! This place I went to on Saturday was on the Costa del Sol, about an hour from San Salvador.