3 Days in El Salvador

Last year I spent 17 days traveling through Central America on a group tour with G Adventures. After visiting Honduras, we headed to El Salvador where we would spend the next few days.

Day 1 – Border Crossings and Suchitoto

We left Honduras early in the morning to begin our journey to El Salvador. Although you can drive directly from Honduras to El Salvador, we crossed into Guatemala first. Their roads are in much better shape than Honduras’s, so the majority of the drive took place on Guatemalan roads. We had another private vehicle which made the ride fairly comfortable.

When we arrived at the El Salvador border, we learned that they had just implemented a new tourist fee for Americans and Australians at 6 PM the day before! Three of us had to pay this $12 USD fee, while the rest of the group got to enter for free. As we crossed the border, there were men on the side of the road exchanging currencies for slightly lower prices than the banks; apparently this is normal in Central America. This made trading in my Honduran money for USD really convenient! (Interestingly, El Salvador’s official currencies are the U.S. dollar and Bitcoin).

After crossing the border, we headed to the town of Suchitoto. We had a free afternoon, so some of us decided to go on a tour of the town and its surrounding areas. Our first stop was the Cascada Los Tercios waterfall. The climb down to the falls was actually kind of scary because it was steep and the rocks were uneven. The waterfall had a really cool geometric pattern at least. After learning some local legends about the falls, we climbed back up where we had a pretty view of the Lempa River.

Cascada Los Tercios Waterfall

The Lempa River

Afterwards we toured some of the sites in the city center. We then learned how to roll cigars from the last rolling lady in Suchitoto. I was pretty terrible at it, but at least we got to keep them as souvenirs. Lastly, we stopped at Arte Añil, an indigo art workshop, where the owner showed us the dyeing process and some of her beautiful pieces. She also showed us a vat of indigo that smelled absolutely horrible because the bacteria in it had been growing for more than a decade! We learned that the older the indigo, the stronger the dye.

Santa Lucia Church in Suchitoto

Learning how to roll cigars

Indigo artwork (and a very old vat)

After the tour, we went to a family-owned papusa restaurant for dinner that was located in the back of the family’s home. Papusas are the national dish of El Salvador and are thick tortillas stuffed with meat and cheese and grilled over high heat. They were really good, especially with curtido (a cabbage slaw) on the side. Once we finished trying all the various flavors, we headed to the only bar in town for a bit before having an early night.

Day 2 – El Tunco

The next morning we traveled from Suchitoto to a beach resort in El Tunco. We stopped at a strip mall in San Salvador, the capital, along the way. During our drive we passed the president’s house; he lives in his own home in town. It was interesting learning about all the positive changes that the president has been making in the country. El Salvador used to be extremely dangerous, but it’s much safer now thanks to his crackdowns on gang violence.

We arrived at the resort in the late afternoon, and I spent my time relaxing until dinner. Our guide had made reservations for us at a restaurant directly on the beach, and we had the place to ourselves which was a nice surprise. I had a seafood rice dish with shrimp, clams, squid, and lobster that was really fresh. We stayed at the restaurant until late and had another fun night together as a group.

El Tunco at sunset

Day 3 – Surfing the Salvadoran Waters

Some of us woke up early the next morning to go surfing. Our instructors picked us up from the resort and we drove about 15 minutes to a popular surf spot. We had a quick lesson on the sand and then each had a 1-on-1 lesson in the water which was awesome! I stood up really quickly and was able to catch most of the waves; I was glad some of my previous surfing experience seemed to pay off. Everyone in the group did pretty well which made it a fun morning.

Salvadoran surf lessons

After spending the morning at the beach, we headed back to the resort to relax. I spent the afternoon lounging by the pool with some other group members. A few of us joined an impromptu dance lesson with our guide before dinner, where we learned the basics of salsa and bachata. It was actually pretty fun despite the heat. Before long it was time for another group dinner; we ate at the resort’s restaurant where I had some really good baja fish tacos. We all headed to bed early as we had an extremely early start the next morning. Despite knowing nothing about El Salvador beforehand, it was an enjoyable time spent relaxing and learning more about the country.