Surfing Pupusas

Timon van den Berg
Dec 28, 2018
8 min read

El Salvador was as well a country we would visit without much expectations, so with a blank mind we crossed the border from Guatemala to El Salvador. Slowly we’re starting to learn how we should cross a border. The last km we drive slow and from left and right people approach us. You hear them ask whether we need to exchange money or if we need help crossing the border. Usually we wait for them to mention the word ‘propina’, and when that has been said we thank them and move on. Crossing the border is typically not that difficult! Crossing the bridge into El Salvador brought us to an office not more than a desk below a small party tent. The officer in charge around the tent told us ‘park here’! Not really friendly, but whatever. Not much later we got a government paid helper, despite the fact that the border was not much more than just a tent, this guy guided us through the whole process without asking for a fee! After a fairly smooth border crossing, without charges (the first country that lets us in for free) we headed to the Ruta de las Flores. In the town Juayua we stayed in a hostel owned by an English mailman. Our room had an outdoor toilet and shower, really nice experience. At night they lit the campfire in their beautiful garden with flowers and all, and we enjoyed a beer with the rest of the hostel guests.

The following morning we decided to take the chicken bus to a town just north, to visit a local coffee farm. Accompanied by two other hostel visitors, we arrived at the farm. We were well instructed to ask for Hector. He was the coordinator, and the only one at the farm who spoke decent English. Hector showed us around for 2 hours from the receiving process and the drying until filtering and packing. It was a very interesting tour. I was especially impressed about the precision of the process, and how little I knew about my daily beverage. Hector even trusted us with the shovel to turn the fresh coffee beans which were drying outside in the sun. At this particular farm, they even sorted and dried beans for companies like Illy and Starbucks. They allow only 4 imperfections on 400 gram of beans, which means the coffee beans are checked multiple times before packed in bags made ready for export. They also had a house brand which was sold only in El Salvador (we saw it in multiple supermarkets). At the end of the tour we were served gourmet coffee, in the old fashion way. Funny fact is that in this part of the world the holiday vacations are around now (November-December). This provides local farmers additional labor from students, to pick all the coffee beans from the plants. After the tour we went for lunch in the local village. Here was the first time we tried pupusas. A local dish, which is basically a thick corn wrap/taco with filling and then fried. Typically they’re filled with cheese and beans, and they taste pretty good.

We could have steady longer in Juayua, it was a really nice town with a lot of things to do in the near area. But, we decided that it was time for something different, and it had also been more than 2 months since we used the camping gear last. We found a nice spot to put up our tent, just a short drive from Juayua. Special about this camping is that it’s on 1900 meters, located between three volcanoes. To reach the campsite we had to drive about 3 km off-road. When we arrived at the campsite, it was completely abandoned. We walked around for 20 minutes until we finally found the owner of the campground. He was slightly surprised that people came to camp, since it was not really the season and he especially didn’t expect people with a Dutch passport, driving with a US car. Since we had been told that El Salvador could be a little criminal from time to time I decided to ask if the campground was safe. This question was responded by a big smile from the campground owner and the comment “There is nobody here, so no worries”. At night, surprisingly enough, a local El Salvadorian couple arrived on the campsite. Like us they collected wood for a nice cooking fire, back to the basics!

After a good night sleep in the open air, we headed back to civilization. Our next destination; El Zonte. We were promised breakfast at the campsite, but in the morning we were told that the lady who would provide the breakfast didn't show up that morning. Since there wasn’t much in the area we drove off in a search for a good breakfast spot. After an hour we arrive at a huge hotel, in the middle of nowhere. The hotel is fancy and is heavily guarded, which makes it a little questionable. Anyway, breakfast was perfectly fine :-). From the breakfast spot we headed on towards El Zonte. Part of the route goes over the Pan American Highway. El Zonte is a real surf paradise, not a sport we are very familiar with. But, that’s going to change during the next couple days.

Today is the day we are going to learn to surf. I’m full of confidence, claiming I’m going to stand up at my first try :-). First, we go for boards. It all goes a little vaguely, but eventually we get them and we are ready to go. The trainers we get mainly help us to get up to speed, they push us off to catch a wave and we try to stand up. In all honesty, it’s way harder than expected. During the first hour I manage once to stand up on the board, so during lunch we celebrate (and we need the calories) with a nice burger. In the afternoon we go out to practice for another hour. During that hour Hester really catches up and is able to stand up multiple times.

Next morning we go out for another try on our surfboards. This time we are coached by a real pro surfer. After 10 minutes in the water he tells me “Dude, your board ain’t big enough”. Great, so I’m trying to manage this for a day and a half, and now finally someone is telling me that I don’t have the right gear :-(. Good thing that Hester is really enjoying it and she really manages to stand up and surf! We decide to skip our fourth lesson. It’s very energy consuming, and 6 hours within 2 days is simply a little bit to much for both of us. In the afternoon we decide to go to a town nearby. In El Zonte there is no ATM, and everything in El Zonte needs to be paid cash since there is hardly any internet connection in the village. The reason for that is that the phone company gave up on laying the cable since it was stolen twice when they try to implement it.

The next morning we drove off to San Salvador. To most people to whom we told we would be visiting the capital city, they told us there isn’t much to do and most neighborhoods are a no go zone for tourists. These kind of stories have been told to us a couple times during the past couple weeks, regarding multiple cities that we’ve visited. Until now, we have always been surprised in positive way. It starts with the road to the city, which was under heavy construction, the finished parts of the new road are modern and in amazing condition. We approach the city from the west and it’s just like driving into a normal American city. The KFC’s, Walmart, etc are left and right of the road. The AirBnB we are staying is within a compound and has an amazing view over downtown San Salvador. That night we eat our home cooked meal on the rooftop garden of the house. Really nice!

Guided by Chris Seegers, a Dutch Travel TV Presenter, we follow his example and go and visit the volcano behind our house. A brief 30 minute ride brings us almost to the top of the volcano, called El Boquerón. It’s a national park, so there is a lot going on, on the top. Our host already warned us for the restaurant and parking promoters. As soon as we approached the park they jumped on to our car to get us in their restaurant or parking. But, we received the right recommendations so we knew where to go. After a short hike up the last part to the top, we arrived at the edge of the volcano crater. Since it’s inactive, you get a very nice view of the bottom of the crater. While enjoying the view, I decided to drop my phone :-(! Luckily for me there was a shop down the volcano, called 911 iPhone! Within 30 minutes they installed a new screen and get my phone back up and running. In the early afternoon our AirBnB host and his girlfriend take us into the city center of San Salvador. They are a little holding back on our wish to visit the city center. They haven’t been there themselves since they were young and they only live 15 minutes away. Since we really wanted to go, they insisted on guiding us there, and showing us the city center. The visit to the center was well prepared, the host had made multiple calls to make sure we were able to access the downtown church, a rooftop as well as a guide who could tell us something about the old city center. Both me and Hester were very honored that so much preparation was done. But soon we found out that it wasn’t just for us. Our host also did it for himself, and I guess he ended up making more pictures then Hester and I did. The center is almost like you are walking in Disneyland. It has been made so modern and clean. Initially we were planning to leave before dark, but we decided to stay for a drink. With a great view of the city center we enjoyed our drink and talked about the amazing improvements made in the center of San Salvador. Final stop of the tour was an ice cream store, where we enjoyed a good Ice Cream Sundae!

Our last night in El Salvador we spent in Suchitoto. Suchitoto is a small village close to the Honduras border. From the village you have stunning views over the Rio Lempa. It’s not a cheap place to stay, since it’s a popular vacation town for the rich and famous of San Salvador. Coincidentally, there are some activities in town this week and it includes a Ferris wheel and a couple other attractions. At night we learn that the attractions consume a lot of power. The town goes dark a couple times, but nobody seems to worry. Hester and I take out our headlights to be prepared, but typically it only takes about 5 to 10 minutes before the power comes back on. For dinner we enjoy our last serving of local pupusas. We review our visit of El Salvador and come to the conclusion that this is a very nice country. We haven’t had the time to visit the west, but the east of the country already kept us well entertained for a bit more than a week. The people are very friendly and the prices are fairly low, but the facilities are of a good quality level. And not really unimportant; we enjoyed good weather.