This morning, we woke up at 5am, as we planned to catch the 5:30 Jeep to the trailhead. We are going to be hiking about 7 hours through a national park, and the main attraction is the Cocoa Valley. This valley is home to extremely tall palm trees that look otherworldly. The rest of the hike is mostly through a cloud forest, with a small section in an alpine region. Hayden researched the hike, and we’ve seen pictures, and we’re all super excited to go! An added bonus, Hayden says it’s mostly flat! Sweet!

We get to the center of Salento by 5:30ish, where the jeeps leave, and there are no jeeps and no people around. A pack of dogs comes straight for us, apparently wanting all the attention and cuddles. We waited around for quite a while, thinking about how we could’ve slept longer, hehe. Part of us being up so early was to beat the incoming rain and thunderstorms headed for Salento in the afternoon, but also to be one of the first groups to the hike, to avoid people in our pictures. 

Finally, two jeeps arrive, and I go to ask one of the drivers what time we can leave for Cocoa. He tells me not until 6:30! Hehe. Ok, better early than late, lol. Dana and I are itching for a coffee, so we spot a corner cafe just opening, and we make our way over there. We wait a minute for the machine to get warmed up and have a delicious americano while walking back towards the Jeeps. We notice a little stand, and it has the prices listed for the Jeeps. Excellent! No haggling today! It was such a smooth system, and once the ticket booth opened, we were able to pay for round trip tickets. Easy! 

We hop into an orange Jeep, and it’s full, so two other passengers hold onto the back while standing on the ledge. It only takes about 30 minutes to get there, and soon we’re scrambling out of the Jeep and taking a look at the all trails app to see where to begin. In most of our research, the best suggestions were to go counter-clockwise on the trail, saving the best part, the tall palm trees, for last. But, the hike is expected to take 5 hours, and with the weather being iffy, we decided to go clockwise. We were the first Jeep there, and we figured if we started right away, we wouldn’t run into too many other people. 

As we orient ourselves with the map and begin our hike, a pack of dogs comes to hang out with us. We named them… Scrappy, as his hair was wiry and looked like a scrappy dog, Lord Henry Charles Wadsworth Buckenheimer III Jr, as he looked like a German Shepard and English bloodhound mix, complete with the hound howl, Sirius/Padfoot, a mostly black doggo, which obviously reminded me of Harry Potter. 🙂 And last, but not least, Ms. Marble, as her coat was a brown and black marbling. These guys followed us through most of the hike, but we did eventually lose them all. 🥲 

Walking through the farmland and where the tall Cocora trees are located was so peaceful and beautiful! I couldn’t get over how tall these trees were! We took tons of pictures and were keeping our eye out for lookout points to snag the most scenic photos we could. We make our way to one lookout point and spend a little extra time there, having a few snacks, and Dana gave some clean water to Charles (his short hand name, lol). As we were finishing up, we noticed how quickly the clouds began moving into the valley. It was amazing to watch! The clouds filled in everywhere we could see, hiding most of the farmland, palm trees, and the big mountain peak in the distance. I’m glad we got our pictures when we did! Hehe. And so glad we started with the palm trees first, as we would’ve risked not seeing them at all. 

We wonder for a brief moment, if it’s best to just turn around and go back. We didn’t really want to get caught in the rain, but we were prepared with rain jackets, ponchos, and waterproof backpack covers. We decided to push on. 

This trail is anything but flat and is actually more like a continuous incline for the first 3 miles, lol. Thanks, Hayden! He then admits he based the “flat trail” assumption off of the pictures we saw online, which were of the tall palm trees, which comprises only a small section of the hike, haha. 

We come across a place that looks like we may need to pay an entry fee. We had read online that we’d have to pay twice, as the trail traversed private property. We did pay 10k pesos before we began, and this was the total amount we expected to pay. So maybe they combined the entry fees into one? There was nobody at this place, so we just walked past and kept going. 

We kept our eyes out for birds, as a sign showed us the varieties that were in the area. Two small and colorful types of toucans, the Andean condor, among other beautiful birds. I really wanted to see a condor, but ultimately, I was not rewarded with a sighting. 

We continue on our path upwards and eventually enter what appears to be an alpine zone, with some pine trees and a much cooler breeze. We arrive at a wooden gate and have to check on the all trails map which way to go. Through one side of the gate is what looks like a house, and a little boy is outside riding his bike around. The other part of the gate goes down what looks like a make-shift muddy trail, barely wide enough for a single person to walk down. It’s situated on a hill and it’s very steep. The all trails app says to go the skinny muddy route. Ok, here we go! Dana is in the lead, trying to get a snippet of video for TikTok when she slips in the mud! Thankfully, she missed all the poop that was nearby and caught herself with one of her hands. Her phone was safe, and she didn’t injure herself more than a bit of a scraped hand, thankfully. We’re now cracking up and saying that no, this trail is not flat at all, but it’s actually flat on your ass trail. Haha. 

We carefully make our way down this slippery slope, and we enter a cloud forest area. It’s beautiful and dense and humid, and with all of that comes a ton of mud. More mud than we’ve seen yet on the trail, and this is a step downhill path. Good luck to us! Haha. The dogs are still with us, Marble and Henry, and they bolt pass us as we’re trying to maintain our balance without falling, nearly knocking us off our feet. If only we also had 4 legs and were closer to the ground, maybe we’d be just as fast as them, hehe. 

We come to a part of the trail that is literally walking through a babbling brook. Are we sure we’re going in the right direction?!? Hehe. We are, and we do our best to keep our sneakers and socks dry. It’s not too long before we have our first real fall. Dana slips and slides down the trail, getting sufficiently muddy, She’s a champ and gets up, but not without some bruises and scrapes. This is definitely a “flat on your ass” trail. 😂.

Now more carefully than ever, we make our way down the trail, guided by our furry friends, and motivated by the sound of rushing water of a nearby waterfall. 

We come across some fellow hikers, going in the other direction, and one poor guy was afraid of dogs, and there were plenty around, barking, and playing rough with each other. Hope he makes it okay! We assured him the dogs we came across were very kind and wouldn’t bother him, besides wanting a few loving belly rubs. 

We found the water and it’s gorgeous! Not qutite a waterfall where we are, but its rushing pretty fast and adding a calm serenity to our hike. Now our trail crisscrosses the river, and there are small wooden suspension bridges that look like they may or may not take the weight of the three of us, let alone one of us. Yikes! I guess we’ll give it a go, lol. We cross over just fine, and it becomes quite fun, bouncing around on the bridge. There must have been 5 or 6 of these bridges, and one was unfortunately defunct. The solution to crossing was a very narrow bridge, 3 or 4 bamboo stalks in width, with a tiny wire to hold onto for support. This is crazy! And so much fun! Hehe. 

We’re coming across more and more hikers, and we realize we’re not too far from the end of the trail. We’re getting ready for a solid lunch, and hopeful we’ll miss the rain that is allegedly on its way. 

We grab a jeep back to town, and the first order of business is to walk up to the town lookout. As if we didn’t hike enough already today, we decided to hike 6 or 7 flights of stairs, haha. It was tough, but when we got up there, it was a nice view of the small town of Salento. All the tile roofs were nestled between the rolling hills, and the clouds were sneaking their way in, giving the town a cozy, dreamy look. 

On our way back down we get attacked by these little black flies, and they bite! There were people weed whacking and must’ve disturbed a nest or something, because these guys were all over us! We take off our hats and try our best to swat them away, but we are not match for their speed and dexterity. We come flailing down the stairs, smacking ourselves with our hats, and swinging our other arms all around in an attempt to prevent some of the bites and discomfort. We get to the bottom of the stairs, and Hayden is a block away, taking off his long sleeve layer, trying to get the rest of the little bugs off of him. Dana and I are helping each other, again, utilizing the hat swatting method. We manage to get most of them off, but as we walk towards our lunch spot, I find one down my shirt, and Dana had one on the back of her shirt, still trying to hitch a ride. What the heck are these things?! 

Flustered as can be, we walk into a nice restaurant and pick a table to chow down. Our hike was a brief 8 miles, and was topped off with the stair climb, and our grand finale of the black fly swarm, we were ready to sit and relax. We had some amazing hamburgers and fries, and we headed back to the hotel.

Dana and I had our sights on a massage, offered by the spa in our hotel. We checked the prices, and they had a couples special, “because we deserve it,” Naturally, after the day we had, I’d say we earned it and then some hehe. We shower and get ready for our relaxing afternoon, and head to our massage. We got a basic facial and then the full body massage began. It was so relaxing! After the massage part was over, we got to spend an hour in a jacuzzi with a cocktail! Amazing! And all of this for just $37. Totally worth it, and we loved every minute. Once we walked back to our room, we were so tired and relaxed, we tried to get some work done, but ended up falling asleep pretty early, hehe. I guess we were more exhausted than we thought hehe.

This morning, we made our way to the main park in El Poblado to catch our day tour to Guatapé. The big attraction here is an enormous rock protruding from the earth, which has a whopping 700 stairs to climb in order to get to the top. I thought we were done hiking? Haha. Never. We’re never done hiking, as there is always a hike to be done. And it’s always worth it! :). It’s a 2 hour drive from Medellín to where we will be stopping for breakfast. We had a traditional breakfast with scrambled eggs, an arepa, a portion of cheese, a piece of toast, and hot chocolate. Perfect fuel for the 700 stair climb that awaits us….right? Lol.

Next stop is the rock. Here we go! Haha. We rush to be one of the first groups of people through the ticket counter, hoping that we’ll get to the top early enough to snag some pictures without other people in them. I tracked the climb on my watch, and it only took us about 20-30 minutes, including a few rest stops and a handful of picture opportunities. I guess our hiking has paid off! Hehe. We get to the top, and the views are quite wonderful. We were blessed with an overcast sky, which helped keep it cooler, although we were still dripping with sweat, hehe. The breeze was clutch and helped refresh us after the ascent. We wander around, doing our due diligence of taking instagram worthy pictures and taking in the various views. The rock overlooks a giant man-made lake that has many unique inlets and outlets. The color of the water is a lovely greenish blue, darkened a bit by the overcast skies. Once we had our fill of the vistas, we began our trek back down the rock. 

The way down was a separate staircase and much more narrow than the one going up. This caused a significant traffic jam, as we were relegated to move at the pace of those ahead of us. Every once in a while, the slower groups would pull off to the side as much as the narrow stairs would allow, and we’d creep around the corner and resume our own pace. 

Once we were back to the flat ground, we spent some time looking for sunglasses for me. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it yet, but my sunglasses broke quite a while ago, and at this point, I can’t remember where we were when I discovered this, lol. The frame cracked, and the one lens would fall out if I wasn’t careful, but for the most part, they were still functional, lol. Dana told me I needed to replace them, but I also wanted the challenge of seeing if I could make it the rest of the trip with them, hehe. Anyways, while we were going through the sunglasses, I did find a pair that was the style I was looking for, and they were multi-colored, which was what I was also what I was looking for. When I was living in El Salvador, I always managed to find wild neon colored sunglasses, or once a pair that was covered in little flowers, and another pair that had multiple colors, all of different parts of the frames. So, the ones that I found were designed with the three colors of the Colombian flag: red, yellow, and blue. Cool! So I go ahead and buy them, Dana now satisfied that I can ceremoniously throw out my old ones. 

Our next stop was the town of Guatapé, which is the most colorful city in the Americas, and second only to a town in China, according to our guide. A quick google search claims the most colorful town in the world is actually in Indonesia. 🧐. Top colorful town or not, it was so cute! Early in its history, the houses were made of wood, and needed protection against the rain and humidity, so the solution was to build a wall around the building, half a story tall, and put images on them. This collected the water, and it ran into the streets as opposed to sticking to and rotting the wooden structures. These are called zocalos. At one point, all the houses were required to have these, and if not, they had to paint their house a bright color, and this is how they managed to become the most colorful town in the Americas. 

We wandered about, hoping to find a place for a coffee and a smoothie, but all the restaurants accepted cash only, or a minimum purchase of 50k pesos to pay with a card. 50k would’ve been fine if we were buying lunch, but our lunch was also included in this tour. We were trying to conserve our cash for our next couple of days, but we had to burn some to get out drinks. And good thing we did, as we ordered coffee to warm us from the cold breeze blowing through town.

After Guatapé, we had lunch, and again, it was delicious! I had beef, beans, rice, a plantain, and a little mixed salad. And to wash it all down, we were given a sugarcane lemonade. Yum! 

And now, onto the last adventure of the day: a boat ride on the man-made lake. But first, we were told to go visit what was left of the old town of El Peñol. This town was demolished in order to create the lake, which serves a giant reservoir for the surrounding towns. It was the traditional colonial architecture, and all the stores were touristy souvenir shops. It didn’t’ take us long to walk around, and we headed down to where the boats were. 

As we are standing there, an announcement is being made from what looks like a floating barge, instructing us to get onto one of the boats. Sweet! We’ll get the first pick of our seats. They make us take life vests, and we all groan a bit. It seems like in this part of the world, health and safety are almost an afterthought. For example, hiking up to the ridge of an active volcano is fine, but getting on a boat without a life vest is where the line is drawn, lol. I was forced to take a life vest once before, and was told I needed to wear it in the water, so I did, and it was so big, it actually inhibited me from swimming properly. At that point, all it does is keep you afloat until you’re rescued, but think about swimming somewhere to safety, forget it! Haha. 

We ran up to the top deck; there were 3 levels on this thing! We sit next to our new friends we made from Miami, Mike, and Alexa. They’ve just come down for a long weekend adventure, as the flights are so easy from Miami! How cool! During the boat ride, our guide shares with us that the big cross ahead of us is where the old church used to be located before they flooded the area. It was really neat to be floating above what once was a town center, and on the outskirts of the lake, a couple of remnant colonial buildings that didn’t need to be demolished for the lake. What a neat history! 

And then, the coolest history lesson was a small swath of hilly terrain that had some ruins on it. We were told that this was once a farm owned by Pablo Escobar himself! Wow! La Finca is what it was called, and I’m pretty sure that’s the first one he bought, as it’s in a show I’m watching about him. Apparently, he built his homes with double walls as a preventative measure, and most of his properties were not unlike bunkers. I guess you gotta be smart when you’re in that industry, lol. We’ve read and been told that Pablo Escobar is a touchy subject for many Colombians, and out of respect, we steered clear from any tours about him. But here, we were rewarded with a little snippet! Sweet! 

Our turning around point on the boat tour was a gorgeous shot of the giant rock we walked up, way off into the distance. It doesn’t look as intense from here, hehe. The ride back was cold as the sun completely disappeared behind the ominous gray clouds. There were a few young men behind us drinking beers and being rowdy. We think they must be part of a bachelor party or something. Dana, Hayden, and I, and the couple from Miami all roll our eyes, and thank god we’re no longer in our 20s, lol. That party lifestyle is no longer for us, haha. While still young and adventurous, none of us feel the need to be partying while traveling, hehe. 

Back on the bus for another 2 hour ride back to Medellín. We hit some traffic, and it takes a bit longer than anticipated, but we finally get back to the Poblado park. We get off the bus and have jelly legs, hehe. But even so, we walk towards our favorite supermarket to get some snacks for our 5 hour bus ride tomorrow, and for the 5 hour hike we’ll be doing the day after. Back to the grind! :). 

We had a lovely dinner of pasta with peas and broccoli, and the most delicious pesto bread from the grocery store bakery, and some M&M brownies for dessert. We watched a few episodes of The Office before turning in for the night. Next stop, Salento! 🙂

The next day, our bus didn’t leave until 9:15, so we had a good chunk of time in the morning. We woke up a bit earlier than usual, as Dana and I wanted to shower and we still had to pack our bags, have breakfast, and figure out next steps for Dana and Hayden! I won’t give any secrets away, but their plans are always spur of the moment and can change with the slightest hiccup or connection. 

We get to the bus station in plenty of time, and just stand around waiting to get on. The bus looks like one you’d assume would transport you between big cities, comfortable seats, big windows, and it does have a bathroom! But, the bus is shorter than those typical larger ones. Our ride is allegedly “only” 5 hours. At the time I’m writing this, we’re going on 6 hours and change, lol. 

But, the ride has been beautiful, through the tall mountains, down winding roads, set right along the ledge. Most of these roads we traveled were in excellent condition, and we passed by several road work areas, clearly enhancing the highway system. We went through several tunnels, each remarkably well done, with obvious emergency exits, and fire hydrants every 100 meters or so. I’ve never felt so scared or embarrassed by the tunnels in Boston, lol. I risk my life every time I go to work, traversing the Sumner Tunnel, which looks like it could cave in at any moment, lol. Thankfully they’re working on it…but I doubt it’ll ever be as nice as the ones here in Colombia. 🤣

The tall mountains are capped with clouds that seem to just spill over the tops and into the upper forests. We drive alongside several rushing and wide brown rivers, presumably fed by the rain fall higher up in the mountains. We enter the coffee region, as becomes obvious when as far as the eye can see are hillsides covered in coffee plants, some young and short, and others robust and full. I’m looking forward to a coffee tour, that is, if we can fit it in! 🙂

We get into town and walk in the rain towards our hotel. We’re clearly in the mountains and it’s chilly and wet here, hehe. We check in and get situated in the hotel and head out immediately to find some food. Hayden found a restaurant and we were so hungry, we didn’t really care about what they had; we figured we’d find something worthwhile on the menu, lol. We each got a chicken dish, and the piece of chicken was just about as big as the plate. No way were we going to finish the whole thing, lol. We ate while the cool breeze blew into the restaurant, blowing out the decorative candles they had on each of the tables. 

Full and happy, we return to our hotel room to shower and get some sleep before an early morning tomorrow.

Today, our main objective is to take a walking tour of Comuna 13 in the western part of Medellín. This community was the most dangerous place in the city 20 years ago and arguably the most dangerous community in the world. Contrary to popular belief, this was not in any way related to Pablo Escobar, as the violence in Comuna 13 surged after Escobar’s death. The community sits in a strategic location geographically within the city of Medllín; the main road that connects the city to the coast lies just behind the mountains of Comuna 13. Any goods that were being trafficked in or out of the city passed through that road, and anyone in control of Comuna 13 had control of the highway and the goods being trafficked. 

There were several guerillas and paramilitary groups that were fighting for that control, and these conflicts led to the surging violence in this community. However, in 2002, the government stepped in and decided to invest and try to improve the area. They did so in a controversial way, at best, but ultimately succeeded in the “clean-up” of Comuna 13. They brought in the government military to take out the biggest players of the guerillas and paramilitary groups, and the last operation lasted 3 days and included 2 helicopters shooting down into the community, apparently aiming at the main targets, but how could they possibly be so precise, many wonder. A tank was also brought in, and local residents put mattresses up on their windows to slow down or prevent stray bullets from getting inside their homes. Our tour guide, Cristian, grew up in the community and remembers gathering in the kitchen, and looking out of their window and seeing all the mattresses in the neighboring homes.

After this operation, the government began heavily investing in the community. One of the first projects was to build a cable car metro station. As far as I’m aware, Medellín is one of the only cities to use cable cars as a part of the city transit system. The majority of the city is located in a valley surrounded by very tall and steep mountains. The city has sprawled up these slopes, and as we experienced with our poor Uber driver, Lorena, it’s nearly impossible to access the tops of these communities by car. The cable cars help make the main city more accessible for the communities. 

Another large project was to build outdoor escalators in another area of the community, again increasing accessibility for the residents to the main city. And these escalators have made that area of Comuna 13 a major tourist attraction in Medellín. For me personally, it was a must see, and if you ever make it to Medellín, that’s a non-negotiable place to visit. I loved it so much, and I think it was easily my favorite part of Colombia so far. 

Some of the other projects were to build a new university in the same location that once housed the women’s prison and a community driven project to encourage street art and hip hop. The touristy area of Comuna 13 is filled with expressive murals and graffiti, retelling the tales of the community’s transformation. And there are multiple hip hop groups performing African rhythms and breakdancing, the former a reminder of the influence of the Afro-Colombian influence in the community. Commun 13 is largely comprised of people who were displaced from other areas near the coast and who came to Medellín in search of a calmer life. Many of the homes built were not legal, and many today still do not have official titles. I admire the resiliency of this community and their drive to build a better future for themselves. 

The community itself is a network of tiny staircases that connect the different levels of houses, and narrow streets where motorbikes pass through. There were a handful of cars, but honestly, there wasn’t much room for them. If we didn’t have our guide, Cristian, there is no way we’d be able to find our way around, hehe. The main road that leads straight towards the escalators was easy to find, but weaving in and out of the maze of passageways and narrow alleys was difficult at best. 

As we walk around, I am just taking in the views of stacked homes and brightly colored murals. For me, it was a beautiful sight and an inspiring example of how a community can organize and improve their circumstances. We were told by Cristian that things aren’t 100%, and there is still a level of insecurity, but compared to 20 years ago, it’s eons better. A lot of the improvements are in part thanks to the government investments. I wonder how that could be applied to some of the communities FUNDAHMER (the NGO I volunteered for in El Salvador) works with. The community organization is excellent, and there are many projects funded by sister communities, but what appears to be lacking is government investment. I’d like to learn more about Comuna 13 and how it has evolved so much in just a short 20-year period. 

We finish the tour in a rooftop cafe that serves a local specialty: hot chocolate with cheese! Haha, yes, you read that right; a bowl of hot chocolate and pieces of either mozzarella or “cuajada,” a wet fresh cheese floating in the chocolate. It seems like an odd combination, but I love chocolate, and I love cheese, so naturally, it must be a delicious treat?! It was better than anticipated, and I nearly drank (or should I say ate?) the whole thing! Hehe. I sipped some chocolate, and that forked out a bit of the cheese. I’m pretty sure Trader Joe’s sells, or sold at one point, a chocolate cheese….is this my new quest? To find chocolate cheese? Hehe.

While in the cafe, our guide was preparing a demonstration on graffiti. He showed us how to use the can of spray paint properly, and then gave us each a try. It was way more difficult than it looked, and I now have a whole new appreciation for graffiti artists. I thought I took his tips into consideration, but my “tag” just looked awful, lol. That was a very neat and unexpected part of the tour. 

I could’ve stayed here all day, and there were questions I didn’t have answered, like beyond this touristy area of Comuna 13, how do the other residents feel about the escalator investments, and all the tourism that comes to just a small area? Is there any resentment? Do all the inhabitants of the larger Comuna 13 support the touristy area? I just might need to come back and explore some more :). 

One thing our guide told us is that the minimum wage in Colombia is about 1.3 million pesos ($250/month) and an average rent for the lowest “stratus” (socio-economic class, if you will) is around 700,000 pesos. Rather than divide the population into lower, middle, and upper class, here in Colombia, it’s divided into strata: 1-7, with 1 being the lowest, with the majority of the inhabitants in Comuna 13 falling into status 1. We also learned that during a census, the government fills out a questionnaire that eventually categorizes you into one of the strata. Those in the higher strata pay more for public services, with the extra amount subsidizing those resources for the lower strata, and the lowest strata getting free access to things like health care. Cristian pointed out that this is a socialist system, but Medellín is a conservative city, and most wouldn’t accept this system as being socialist, and yet it exists. Another interesting little fact he shared with us was that in the glamorous expat neighborhood, El Poblado, the higher you go up the mountain, with the better views, the more money it costs. The exact opposite is true in Comuna 13, as the higher you go, the less accessible it is. This thought had never crossed my mind, but I suppose that would be true almost anywhere in the world. If you can pay for the nice view, and pay for a decent road to get there, it’s for the wealthy. If the location is remote and high up, with little to no access, even with a view to die for, it becomes a home for those with less money and resources. 

Once the tour was over, we went back to the apartment for some food and a recharge. We wanted to head out and check out the neighborhood we were staying in, El Poblado. It’s one of the nicest places to stay in the city, and is where most of the expats live. There are a ton of restaurants, from Mexican to Vietnamese to American to typical Colombian. There are tons of bars and clubs, and we can easily imagine what it’s like on a Friday night. Too bad we’re in our 30s now and are usually done for the day before the sun sets, lol. One day we came back and were planning to head out and explore a bit, but needed up playing more Family Feud and Jeopardy on Dana’s iPad, lol, battling someone named Isabelle, who we assumed was a 7 year old sitting on her mom’s couch. Bring it on! Haha.

We woke up at our normal time, around 7am, since our flight wasn’t until 10:45. Nice! It feels great not waking up in the dark for an early departure. Hehe. Dana and I had some morning java and we got a bit of work done before packing up and tidying the apartment before check out. 

We took an Uber to the airport, and had to put our masks on again, and we waltzed straight through security and found some seats near our gate. We were there super early, as we weren’t sure if we could make it to the lounge or not. Turns out the lounge was just for international travelers in the international terminal. So, no. We wouldn’t get to grab breakfast and water from the lounge. Too bad for us, lol.

We pass the time watching silly TikTok and instagram videos, and before we know it, it’s almost time to board the plane. We bought a ticket on Viva Airlines, and it appears to be the Spirit of South America, hehe. Bright yellow budget airplane, here we come! We were a bit worried about getting our bags stowed, so we did what I hate to see in airports and crowded the gate area, hoping to sneak on sooner than our boarding zone. Another great friend of mine did this when we were trying to fly out of Cairo together, and it worked to our benefit. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and sometimes, you just gotta be selfish and take care of you. I got a bit behind Dana and Hayden and scanned my boarding pass after them, but all the passengers were corralled in a long line waiting to go outside to the tarmac. So, I just scoot myself up to them, and we look around us, all thinking the worst about our bags. Flying budget airlines is pure chaos, lol. 

We are boarding from the front and the back, so Hayden goes to the rear door, and Dana and I board from the front. There was plenty of space for our bags, and we quickly stow our backpacks and take our seats. Watching the rest of the passengers file on and attempt to find their seats was a great reminder as to why I prefer to fly “flight leader” or in the way back of the plane, where there is less chance of dealing with this 3-ring circus. I am also thinking about how grateful I am to work for the airline I work for: mental note to remember not to take it for granted, hehe. 

The flight to Medellin is only about an hour, and we arrive on time. The landscape is very different from Cartagena, as we are now in the mountains. It’s cloudy, and feels as though it has just rained. The landscape is so green and lush, and I can almost taste the delicious coffee awaiting us. The Uber ride to our apartment was quite long, but we got to see a lot of the countryside, and it was gorgeous! I’m stoked to be here, especially after getting beat down and burned by the hot sun on the coast. I’m so ready to be in a mountain city, and I’m hoping it stays cool here. 

We get to our apartment, and it’s adorable, as always. Thanks, Dana! Hayden and I ventured out to the local grocery store to grab some goodies, and we all decided we’d have a rest day today. Rule number one: don’t go grocery shopping when you’re hungry! Haha. Hayden and I bought so many snacks! Hehe. All worth it, except for the long wait to check out. Apparently their computer systems were wicked slow, so we just had to attempt it and see what fate had in store for us. The woman in front of us took forever, but when it was finally our turn, we managed to get through relatively quickly. 

We traipse back to the apartment, and Hayden begins working on dinner. I just love traveling with a chef. I’ve only made one meal this entire time hehe. Thanks, Hayden! 

After we finish dinner, we retreat to our rooms and just get comfy and ready to watch Netflix. Dana wasn’t feeling 100%, and we all decided it was best for us to rest, as we didn’t want to wear down our bodies any more or risk anyone feeling unhealthy or over-tired. 

I didn’t realize how badly I needed a “do-nothing” day, hehe. I started to watch a series about Pablo Escobar, because, you know… lol. We’ve read and heard contrasting opinions on the infamous narcotraficante; some say it’s better not to mention his name or go on the tours, because the city is still healing and wants to forget those times. Other sources recommend the tour, and there is one neighborhood that was essentially built from Escobar’s personal money, so they adore him in that area. Hmm.. I think it best to learn about this history from Netflix. Maybe next time we can hit up a tour. 🙂

We all fall asleep early, with stars in our eyes, thinking about the adventures awaiting us tomorrow. 

Tomorrow morning comes quickly, and we wake up like clockwork at 7am! Haha, I guess we’re trained now, lol. Dana started making the coffee, and we were ready to take turns peeing in the 1 bathroom we are now sharing. So much for these apartments with private bathrooms. Dana: We need to talk about your choices hehe. Just kidding! The apartment is lovely. 

Medellin is HUGE. So we create a plan for the day and decide to Uber around, as it’s just too big to walk conveniently. We go to the center of town first, where we are warned by our Uber driver to not go down the streets behind our drop-off location. He explained that the heart of Medellin is not the safest and to be extra careful when walking around here. Yikes! I mean, I think we’ve all been to places like this, but it’s always a bit unnerving when a local tells you what it’s really like. The three of us are pretty well traveled, and we understand the mission. Keep your belongings close, don’t keep your phone out too much, and being three people, we can look out for each other. Done! I love traveling with friends :). 

The Plaza Botero is the very heart of the city, and the plaza has several statues from a Colombian artist, Fernando Botero, who exaggerates the shapes of his subjects, mostly humans and animals. Back in Cartagena, we saw so many paintings of quite voluptuous ladies, and we wondered what the story was. I finally googled it, and found out about the artist. Aha! It all makes sense now hehe. 

Dana found a neat picture of a place in the old National Palace, which has been converted into a kind of bazaar. We walked inside, and it was stunning! I really didn’t expect to see something like that. It was a decadently designed building, complete with multiple floors and chandeliers. It reminded us a bit of something we’d see in a Harry Potter movie, perhaps. We spent some time walking around and gawking at the beautiful architecture. 

From here, we decide to grab another Uber and head to the cable car that will take us to the top of one of the mountains surrounding the city. The end point of the cable car is the Arvi Park. Little did we know, this drive would be a ride to remember. 

Lorena picks up in the center of town, in the middle of the traffic. She admits that she doesn’t come to town often and is heavily relying on Waze to get her out of there. Our ride starts off just fine, but then the GPS tells her to turn left, and it doesn’t really look like a road, but okay. She must know where she is going? 

Nope! Haha. We are driving right down a pedestrian/bike lane, and on either side of us are street vendors. Lucky for us, her car was small enough to fit through, so we just kept going. We saw some local police ahead of us, and I thought they would stop her or say something to her, but they didn’t! I’m sure they were wondering what the hell we were doing there, but Lorena kept on going. Now we were in the middle of a square, with more street vendors, park benches, and plenty of pedestrians. How on earth are we gonna get out of this mess? 

Lorena spots an exit, or more realistically, a small gap between vendor carts that is flush with the actual road, so we head in that direction. As we’re passing by, some of the owners of the carts angrily shout and look at us as if we’re absolutely nuts. But we found the main road once again. Phew! We’re all dying laughing, saying this will be quite the story for the day. 

But the ride isn’t over yet! 

We didn’t realize that the cable car we want to take is already halfway up the mountain, so Lorena needs to get us up some incredibly steep hills. She’s driving a standard, and we all know San Francisco has some tough streets to maneuver a manual car, but the streets on these mountains have nothing on SFO. Lorena’s poor car couldn’t quite get the gumption to make it up one of the steeper hills. Oh dear. So backwards we go. She tries to give the car all its go to gain traction and get us up the hill. No luck. So she backs all the way down and looks for an alternative route. Oh man. If that was me, I think I’d just park the car and cry, lol. We tried a few more times to get her car up different hills with varying degrees of steepness, and we failed a couple more times. Each failure leads us to a new hill and a new attempt. Finally! We make it! Lorena is our hero, and she pulls off to the side of the street, and we hop out, giving her all the thanks we can and we sincerely apologize for having her bring us this high. Thank you, Lorena! 

We go to the cable car station and pay our ticket, and wait to snag a gondola for ourselves. The ride is supposed to take 15 minutes to the top. Sweet! We jump in and are instantly amazed with the views. Behind us is the sweeping valley that is filled with the bustling city of Medellin, and in front of us, on the steep slopes of the mountain are tons of homes, built right into the side of the mountain. Dana has an observation that most of the homes are in rough shape, and we figure some of those people are struggling. And here we are, the “rich,” literally floating above them in a gondola. Talk about a contradiction! Our ride up took a somber turn as we discussed this. 

Traveling is such an amazing privilege, and it’s in these moments I’m most grateful for it. Seeing how other people live in different countries really puts things into perspective. We are not rich by our definition of the word, or in comparison to the 1% in the US, but we are rich when compared to the majority of the world’s population, and almost certainly compared to the people living in the homes we saw as we swung high above, admiring the landscape. It’s hard not to feel guilty at times. We discussed the different definitions of rich; that a person can be rich with money, but poor in quality of life, or vice versa. Even so, that stark contrast is a reminder not to take anything for granted. 

We pull ourselves out of the slightly depressing theme and begin to imagine what the park will be like when we arrive. It’s a long 15 minutes, but we finally get there, and as we get off the gondola, it’s quite clear we’ve gained altitude. It’s so chilly! Hehe. We expected to enter the Arvi Park and walk a few trails, but it cost $10 to get in. We didn’t do enough research, and we decided we’d skip it and just hang out in the free areas. Dana and I bought a coffee, and we added cinnamon! Such a nice touch :). Hayden got a bowl of strawberries and raspberries, with a raspberry sauce on top. Yum! We wandered about through the vendor area, and I was drawn to a copper ring with what looked like a raw emerald in it. The woman said she makes them all by hand and that it is, in fact, a real emerald. A young, raw emerald. I paid $10 for it, and it was hard for me to believe it was in fact a true emerald, but later in the day, Dana looked up how to tell if it’s a real one or not, and we did our best to inspect the stone, and we agreed that maybe it is! The raw emeralds are readily available here in Colombia, and their prices can range anywhere between $1 and hundreds, if not thousands. So, with that kind of price range, maybe the stone I have really is an emerald! And, to think I was considering buying an expensive piece of jewelry with an emerald since that is a big precious gem here in Colombia. I like my $10 raw emerald the best :). 

We head back down the cable car, and we have a good time trying to get the perfect photos and videos, although the dirty windows made it difficult. We also decided it’d be best not to ask an Uber to come up the harrowing streets Lorena had to endure for us, so we bought tickets for the metrocable, another cable car, but this one is part of the Medellin metro line. So cool! I don’t know of any other cities that have metros that include cable cars. What a fun experience! 

Once back on sturdy land, we grab another Uber to head to a hipster market to hopefully find some grub. This Uber driver was a hoot! I sat in the front, and began speaking with him in Spanish. He was trying to convince me to invest in some land of his, and to start a coffee business, haha. He explained how he knew about the entire process of coffee, from planting it, taking care of it, picking it when it’s ready, toasting it, etc. He even said his coffee farm doesn’t use pesticides or any other chemicals. He was really trying to sell it! After I declined a few times, he came back to me with the great exchange rate between the US dollar and the Colombian peso. I kept telling him how someday in the future, that’d be great, but I’m not ready just yet to invest in and start an international coffee business, lol. He was so nice, though, just excited, I think. 

Once at the market, the three of us are hangry and unable to make solid decisions. Uh-oh! So we walk around this place, which has tons of food options, and we study several menus, but none of us can really make a choice as to what we want to eat. Great. It’s now or never for food, before we start really getting hangry. With some frustration, we opt to walk back towards the apartment, as there are restaurant options there. We pop into the apartment to chug some water and to find a place that looks good. 

Dana finds one and makes a final decision. This is where we are going. Great! Let’s go before we kill each other, lol. We head over there, just a block away from where we’re staying, and it turns out to be a space with 5 different restaurants! Haha. The irony of leaving one market with several options and ending up in another. How will we ever choose what to eat?! Gah!

It takes us a while, but we do order some food, and Dana and I try two different microbrew beers. Colombia is home to 33 microbreweries! Sweeeet! The one Dana picks is called “Rosada.” “Like a rosé wine,” we wonder? It IS! So weird, yet tasty. Almost like a sour beer, in that it is fruity, but it’s sweet like a rosé wine. I have never heard of anything like this, and now will be on the lookout. I don’t think it’ll be my new favorite, but it gets points for being unique, that’s for sure.

As we’re finishing dinner, the dark clouds roll in and we know we’re in for it, lol. We finish paying, and it starts to pour rain. We carried our raincoats all day, well, Hayden carried them all day in the backpack. Thanks, Hayden! But when we stopped by the apartment before dinner, we left the bag because we didn’t think we’d need it anymore. Ooops! 

We decide to make a run for it, and are rewarded. It stopped pouring, and we made it back to the apartment with just a few sprinkles of rain here and there. Phew! What a day! 

Back inside, we start to do work, polishing up blog posts, pictures, and journaling for the day. Tomorrow we have a few things on our list of what to see in the city, and we hope the weather holds out for us. Fingers crossed!

Good morning, Cartagena! Today we decided to take it more leisurely and not put a set time on our departure from the apartment. Our main plan is to check out the Getsemani neighborhood, which is famous for all of its street art, and to revisit some places in the walled city we didn’t get to yesterday. 

Getsemani was a funky, colorful little place. We got dropped off at the far end of it, and we just started walking and exploring the side streets covered in murals. There were a few streets that were decorated with flags, umbrellas, and even kites! We had fun taking pictures and getting in each other’s way when framing the perfect shot haha. 

We even got a nice view of the castle, but we decided to focus our energies on what was right in front of us for now. Maybe later we’ll be up for a castle visit. After getting our fill of Getsemani, we walked back towards the walled city to finish what we started yesterday. We had another mission to find the perfect shot of the cathedral from a rooftop. This was inspired by a photograph in our apartment that Hayden fell in love with. He wanted to have his very own picture of the same angle, requiring a rooftop photo-op. We went to one that had great reviews, but they didn’t open until noon. It was only 10am hehe. Now what?

Smoothie time! Hayden finds the second best smoothie place in the city, as the first best was temporarily closed, and we were on our way! We get there, and this place looks fabulous! But, the woman behind the counter told us all they had were prepared eparfaits, no smoothies. Bummer! We all agree we really want a smoothie, so we duck out of there and find another option. All the way back across town haha. We make our way back, still soaking in all the colors and flowery balconies that we’re passing. Hayden and I are trigger happy with the photos, and Dana begs Hayden not to take any more pictures, as she’s the one who has to go through them and delete and edit them later. 

We get to the new smoothie place, and we’re in luck! They do have smoothies, and a whole bunch of different ones! We each order and have a seat, grateful to be sheltered from the sun and drinking a refreshing fruit cocktail. We created a game plan for the rest of the afternoon, which included walking along the wall and passing by the Gabriel Garcia Marquez house, and “las bovedas,” which used to be dungeons, but are now souvenir shops. I was especially interested to see the house because I read one GGM’s books, Love in the Time of Cholera, in Spanish, with two of my best friends. We started a little book club during covid, and we would read a chapter or so at a time and talk about it. The Spanish was difficult for me to understand at times, and the genre being magical realism sometimes threw me for a loop, hehe. But I loved the challenge of reading such an iconic Spanish Literature piece, and I hope to tackle more in the future. 

The house came up quickly, and I took a good look at it from the wall, but it didn’t look like something I wanted or needed to get closer to. Maybe I would’ve taken a tour or paid an entry fee, if such a thing existed, but I didn’t feel the draw as much as I thought I would’ve. Maybe it was the pounding heat getting to me, hehe. So we continued on towards “las bovedas.”

We arrive there, and we spot our dreaded enemy: the cruise ship busses. Oh no. This place is packed like sardines! But, it’s a neat building, and Dana requires a Colombia patch. We muster what little strength and gumption we have left and begin our search. The first store we went to, we found a super cool and unique patch! Hooray! But, Hayden suggests we look at some other stores before deciding on which patch to buy. Dana is up to going to 3 more shops, but by the time we were leaving the 3rd shop, we were committed, lol. We walked the whole length and went inside nearly every souvenir shop that looked like it might have a patch. At the end, we all felt that the first patch was THE patch. 

So back we go! Thanks to Dana and Hayden, I’ve now learned that when purchasing a patch, it’s always good to double check the spelling of the country, and to check the quality. So we sift through all the patches, but as it turns out, the first patch on the pile, in the first store we went in, was THE patch. Sweet! Totally meant to be. I also found an adorable little coin purse I had been keeping my out for since Guatemala. I guess I was meant to find one here :). Hayden also scored a little treat. Earlier in the day, I bought some typical sweets, and was given a 1.000 peso coin in change. It was soooooo neat! Hayden and I both like to collect currency, so he saw it and needed to have one too. So when Dana bought her patch, she received 2-500 peso coins, and Hayden asked her to see if they could exchange it for a 1000 coin. She lovingly told him to ask, and because I would want one if the roles were reversed, I went and asked on Hayden’s behalf. Score! One of the women working there had one right in her pocket :). So a trade was made, and a happy camper was born. Your welcome, Hayden! 

We’re about to head back to the apartment, but after a quick check-in with everyone, we realize Hayden is still hankering for that perfect rooftop shot of the cathedral. Awesome! Let’s do this. So we go back to the first rooftop bar, since they’re now open, and climb up an incalculable amount of stairs. We get to the top, out of breath and begin checking out the view. Well, it IS nice, of the clock tower, but the cathedral is barely peeking around another big building between us and the church. Haha. Womp Womp. Back to the drawing board. 

I ask one of the servers where we can find a rooftop that would have the view we’re looking for, and she gives me a name. Excellent! Off we go! We get there, I check to make sure they have a rooftop restaurant, and they say yes, but they don’t open it until 4pm! Haha what? It’s 1pm and we’re about as dead as can be, and most definitely won’t be making it until 4. Dang! I guess that perfect shot was not destined for us. 

So we walked back across town. Again. At this point, we feel we’ve covered each street at least a couple of times, haha. We grab some supplies at our favorite grocery store that looks like a target, complete with clothes, electronics, and groceries. We buy a baguette, mozzarella cheese slices, and a few other things. We’re making chicken parm, a la backpacker style! Hayden cooked some frozen chicken nuggets, and then cut the baguette into 3 sections, divided the cheese amongst the thirds, and then we added the nuggets into the sandwiches. And we had leftover ketchup from last night’s chicken nugget dinner, so we added that as our marinara sauce. Buen Provecho! Haha And welcome to a full-time traveler’s budget lifestyle! Hehe

After dinner, we showered and did a final load of laundry. This apartment has been amazing. Hot water, working washer and dryer, and just a really nice, clean, modern feel to it. It will be missed. 

Tomorrow we’re off on another jet plane to Medellin! Chau!

We landed in Cartagena, Colombia! Another dream come true! I’ve heard so many excellent things about Cartagena, and I’ve been itching to go for a while now, and I’m so glad we worked it into this trip! After El Salvador, we were supposed to go to Nicaragua, but it ended up being too complicated, lol. Either a 16-hour bus or expensive flights in and out, so the natural solution to the problem was obviously to fly to Colombia! Hehe.

We got a quick Uber ride to our airbnb, which wasn’t ready yet, so we left our bags in the apartment and walked to the walled city. There is a part of Cartagena that is surrounded by an old wall, and that’s the main attraction here. We went in search of an ATM and some food. Another typical routine of ours…cash, food, and a grocery store, lol. We found a place to try arepas, a typical food from Colombia. Not completely unlike pupusas, they are fried corn tortillas stuffed with a variety of ingredients. Delicious! And of course, Dana and I tried a local beer, the Club Colombia. We were served the coldest, crispest beers we’ve had on this trip so far. Perfect for such hot weather. Although, the wind is also brutally strong here, too, so that helps to cool off a bit. 

After a trip to the grocery store to get some staples for breakfast, we walk back to the airbnb and check out the rooftop pool! The airbnb is in one of those tall condo buildings I saw from the plane and it has an infinity pool on the roof. What?! Haha. This is awesome! We get up there, and the water is luke warm at best, and the wind was so fierce, it actually made us cold, hehe. So we didn’t stay for long, but we observed our surroundings, which were still very hazy. I wonder if it is like this all the time, or if today is just especially hazy. Time will tell!

Once back inside the apartment, we shower…hot water! Woohoo! And begin doing our work :). Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Alarm is set for 6:30am, but I’m awake before then, as has now become customary, lol. I stay in bed until just before 7, when I finally get up and put on a pot of coffee. I’m excited (anyone surprised? Haha) to try the coffee we picked up at the grocery store yesterday. It was the cheapest bag we could find, but it is Colombian coffee. I settle in and get some writing and picture editing work done while the java is brewing. As soon as it’s done, I grab myself a cup and dive in. It smells heavenly, and my first sips of the black gold can only be described as pure bliss. It’s so flavorful, with notes of acidic berries and rich chocolate. I’m in love. Hehe. 

We head out the door by 8:30 and walk to the walled city, hoping to grab a few pictures before meeting our walking tour at 10. It’s morning, but the sun is out with a vengeance, and sweat is literally dripping down my face, and I’m quite positive each one of my pores was on overdrive, lol. This is gonna be a tough day. 😅

We meet our walking tour just outside the walled city, near the clock tower. We’re early, naturally, and end up waiting quite a while before the tour starts. It’s a HUGE group, and Dana, Hayden, and I all give each other the look, thinking this isn’t gonna be good. Our guide takes us over to some shade, and begins explaining a couple of basic facts about the city of Cartagena. She has a microphone and a small speaker, but it just doesn’t compete with the busses and traffic passing us by on the road. This will be a long 2-hour tour. 

We move on to the next stop, now inside the city walls, and again, even protected from the main street, it’s difficult to hear our guide. There are other groups near us doing similar tours, and honestly, it’s tiring to strain your ears to hear. I’m doing alright, and she asked us a trivia question about something she had just told us, and I answered and got it right! And was rewarded with a little mango candy. Hehe. Yes! And now, onto the third stop. By this point, the three of us were already discussing whether or not we’d stick it out. We didn’t want to waste 2 hours following a guide around that we could barely hear. So we stay for another two stops, and finally decide we’ll conveniently “lose” the group and go on our own self-guided wandering tour. Haha 

While plotting our getaway, we did actually lose sight of the group, and we just slowly skirted away to the opposite of the plaza we were in. Success! We all felt a tad guilty, as it wasn’t the guide’s fault, but it just wasn’t worth it to us. We hope she made out okay with her tips, despite us and some others bailing on her, since it was such a large tour group.

We walk around on our own, simply letting our eyes guide us. If we spot something interesting, we’ll head in that direction. We eventually come to a road lined with tour busses which we think must be from cruises. And sure enough, each of the busses has a sign identifying which cruise it’s from and which number bus it is. Oh god. There have got to be hundreds, if not thousands of cruise people roaming the streets with us. Hehe. I wouldn’t say that’s a terrible thing in itself, but the sheer quantity of people inundating the city sure is. The sidewalks are so filled with people it’s difficult to walk on the sidewalks without nearly tripping over someone’s feet, or being bumped into the road, narrowly missing the one brave car that has attempted to traverse the people filled streets. Yikes! 

Continuing on our stroll, we see various artwork on the streets, and start asking for prices. To our surprise, most people give us a similar price, although we know we can probably haggle and get it for cheaper. We make a plan to come back tomorrow with a game plan. Our walk takes us past beautiful colonial buildings with the most ornate balconies, covered in flowers and vines. Cartagena is such a beautiful place to just walk around and admire the colorful architecture. 

Expect for the heat. Haha. We’re good and toasted at this point, so we head to a restaurant for lunch. One of the sides that came with our meals was coconut rice, and it was so delicious! I ordered a fish fillet with a creamy garlic-lemon sauce. It was also yummy, but the sauce was all I could taste. I figured getting fish in a sea-side city would be the right choice, and maybe it was, but not with a strong flavored sauce on top hehe. 

Once we had our fill and cooled off for a bit, back out we went, iinto the sauna that is Cartagena. We had a few missions to accomplish before heading back to our wonderful apartment. I was tasked with getting a t-shirt from a specific hotel for a friend of mine, and Hayden was bent on getting “the shot” he saw on google. We attempt to find the street that would give us said shot, but it’s just not quite right. We look at the picture again to try and determine where it was taken from, but we finally decide it must’ve been photoshopped or manipulated to the point where we couldn’t take the same shot naturally. Oh well. We got really close, but didn’t quite complete the mission. Onto the next: operation find a t-shirt. We walk to the boutique hotel, which is wicked adorable, and ask for a shirt. They have plenty, and it turns out to be really cute! I’m almost tempted to buy one for myself, but we weren’t staying there, nor were we going to go to the rooftop bar, so I opted not to. I was simply satisfied with fulfilling my mission! Maybe there will be a girl’s trip there in the future? What do you say, Josie and Connie? 😁

On our way back to the apartment, we stop by the grocery store and get some goodies for dinner. We’re calling it early today. Start early, end early, haha. We take an Uber back to the apartment because we’re just not up to walking it again, and the Uber is a whopping $2. We get back, put the groceries away and take showers. Hayden made us some dinner, and we found Netflix on the tv, and put on the latest season of “You.” We didn’t know it then, but we were gonna binge it all, hehe. It was so nice to just relax and do nothing for a change. I think we all needed it after such a long and hot day walking around in the sun.

Until next time! 🤗😊.

Oh boy oh boy! Today we get to fly to a new country! And it’s new for all three of us, too! I am beyond excited to see this mystery country, as it’s been on my list for a while, but, this bed we have at the hotel in San Salvador is SUPER comfortable, I think it’s the best one we’ve had yet, so it’s hard to get out of bed. But, if you know me at all, I’m usually wicked excited to begin a new adventure….so all in all, it was pretty easy for me to get up, say goodbye to the luxiorious bed, and finish packing my bag.

Edgardo picked us up right at 4:30am, and he had a surprise for us. He found some different currencies, including some old Salvadoran colones and Cuban bills, among others. He gave these to Hayden because he knew how much Hayden enjoys collecting currencies. Awwww! And he gave me a small artisan purse, which his wife wanted to gift me, and inside, there was a small table cloth with a knit border and flowers, which his daughter had made for me! My heart immediately melted from this kind and thoughtful gesture. This is a prime example of the golden hearts of the people I’ve met and created friendships with here in El Salvador. And if you recall, Marcela wanted us to have something to remember her town by, and again, I’m reminded of the down-to-earth kindness so many of the people I met in El Salvador share. I’m so glad that Dana and Hayden not only got to experience one of my favorite countries, but were also welcomed with the same love as I was when I first arrived. 

We get to the airport, take one last group photo with Edgardo, zip right through security, and find ourselves a Priority Pass Lounge! This would mark my first time utilizing it! I got to bring Dana and Hayden in as my guests, and we had breakfast and coffee in a quiet lounge while waiting for our plane to board. It was so neat! Everything was for free, obviously, but it was so awesome to just help yourself to the mini-fridge of drinks, and to ask for more coffee. Dana and I were trying to get some work done, but I was getting distracted by all the amenities, including showers in the bathroom! Sweet! I’m looking forward to taking advantage of the lounge in my future travels. 🙂

Our first flight goes well, I got a window seat! I expected to get a drink and snack service, but I guess Avianca doesn’t do that. Lol. I am reminded to be grateful for my airline :). We have a stop in San José, Costa Rica….Any guesses where we’re headed yet? We have just about an hour, but we decide to try to and squeeze in a quick lounge visit before our flight. We rush up there and snag some pastries and a bathroom break, and fly back outta there, as our plane should be boarding by now. Well, we rushed for nothing. Haha. Oh well. I run over to the little store and grab us some waters, and an overpriced snack from the Britt Coffee Shop: chocolate covered guayba jam balls. They’re sooo good! And they come in a ton of different varieties, are all overpriced, and oh so worth it, lol. 

They start to make announcements for boarding, and we’re told we need to wear masks for the boarding process. Did we just hear that right? Did we overlook something and covid restrictions are in full effect there? Uh-oh. Dana saves the day though, by having some extra masks readily available, so I snag one, and we board the plane. Window seat again! Wooohoo! 

On the plane, I commit to going through some photos, and nearly catch up to current times, lol. It’s tough work! Traveling with Dana and Hayden allows me to see the insider’s perspective on this kind of lifestyle. To document everything is hard work! Taking the pictures, going through them and deleing unnecessary ones, editing some, putting together an album with descriptions, writing blog posts or emails, posting to instagram and maybe TikTok lol. Truly, a mound of homework awaits us at the end of each day, but it is always made better by some beer and friends :). That’s been the routine this whole trip…Go out for the day, and come home to the apartment and take care of business, whether that’s documentation, or research for next steps, or booking accommodations or flights. 

Soon we hear the announcement that we’re about to land! Ooooo! We’re getting so close! I can’t wait! Everything looks hazy, and it’s hard to make out the city, but it almost looks like Miami…lots of tall white condo or apartment buildings, I’m guessing. The pilot told us it was a warm 92 degrees….yikes! Haha So far you know we traveled south from El Salvador to San José, and we’re landing somewhere that maybe sort of looks like Miami Beach. Where are we? 🧐🤔😍

Today, we woke up and went straight to the breakfast that was included in our hotel. So good! Beans, eggs, plantains, cheese, and tamales. Oh, and of course, coffee! 

We had time after breakfast to get some “work” done and make some plans for our next steps. That time passed by quickly, and Edgardo arrived at the hotel, and off we went towards Suchitoto! But not before stopping at a gas station to get some coffee, water, and a Kolashanpan, the local soda of El Salvador. Hayden made the mistake of telling me he likes to try local beverages, so, being the good friend that I am , I couldn’t let him leave El Salvador without trying it! Lol. No surprise to me, nobody liked it. Hehe, Don’t say I didn’t warn you! 😅. However, we did decide it was better than the banana juice soda from Honduras. Sorry, Honduras! Hehe.

We continued on our way to Suchitoto and arrived in the town center while mass was going on, so the town square was nearly empty. It was nice to walk around without too much hustle and bustle. We find a little coffee shop and grab some drinks, and again, I make Hayden try a local drink, but this time it’s Horchata. It’s not his favorite, but that works out for us because Dana and I like it, and it becomes our post-coffee dessert. :). We enjoy some conversations about how Italians and Salvadorans talk a lot with their hands hehe. I don’t think I’ve ever learned so much from a short 15-minute conversation, lol.

As we were finishing our drinks, Edgardo asked about how to get to the waterfalls nearby, but the waitress told us there wasn’t any water since we were in the dry season. So we decide it’ll be better to skip the “water” falls and just go to the lookout to see Suchitoto Lake. Before we drive over there, we wanted to walk around the town just a bit. And we find a place to get chocobananos, and these ones were massive! It took us a while to eat them, but we enjoyed every minute of it. Once we had our fill and taken our pictures, we piled back into the car, and onwards we went to see the lake lookout. 

Something that struck us about the lake is how undeveloped it is in the sense of tourism. It’s absolutely beautiful, and it reminds us a bit of Lake Atitlan. However, besides the town itself and the waterfalls, there aren’t many attractions in the area. Part of me loves this, as it’s not overrun by tourists and feels more local, but if the local population could benefit from tourism, maybe it would be a good thing? Tough conversation, and maybe there is no great answer, but it’s something I think about a lot when I’m in El Salvador. I wish for nothing less than the very best for this beautiful country, which has left such a loving and lasting mark on my heart. I have so much love for this place, and I am forever grateful for all the experiences and adventures it’s offered me over the years, and of course, for all the wonderful people I’ve been blessed with meeting and befriending. ❤️

Next stop is Cihuatán Ruins, and I’ve never been there before! Hooray for a new place! It’s not a far drive from Suchitoto, and soon we’re pulling into the long dirt driveway of the archaeological site. We are required to have a guide in the park, and we’re all a bit nervous as to whether or not we need to pay for the guide or not. I ask her, and she says no, that the guide is included with the entry fee. We’re unsure if, at the end, there would be a moment where a tip would be expected, but we go ahead and rush through the site. It’s a rather large area, and there is a lot to learn, but we still had another two stops to make, so we didn’t want to get too carried away there. The big pyramid is front and center and is covered in a lot of grass. I’ve come to really appreciate these kinds of ruins, as it shows what happens over time to such magnificent structures. Sometimes, I imagine iconic buildings today being uncovered thousands of years in the future, such as the Eiffel Tower, and what that might look like after being abandoned and left ot nature for so long. 

This ancient city had 2 ball game courts, one of which was under construction when the city was abandoned. In the acropolis of the site, they found a female skeleton, next to the most famous artifact found in El Salvador, the dog with the wheels. This piece is so important because for a long time there was a belief that the Maya never invented the wheel, but in reality, the wheel was not as useful to them for carts or work implements, due to the landscape, but rather, the wheels were used for children’s toys. 

Our guide also told us they think this city was a city of just women. I’d like to know more about this, as it seems pretty rare. The name ‘Cihua’ means woman, or the feminine, in Nahuat. And ‘Tan’ means next to, and it just so happens there is a mountain nearby that has the shape of, and is called the sleeping woman. Here is born the belief that the nahuat name of the city comes from the proximity of the city to this mountain.

The larger ball game court has an annex that contains a room, a temple, and a temezcal, or a steam spa. An interesting arrangement that hasn’t been found in many other, if any, other sites. I’d really like to spend some time reading about this site, as it is quite large, and I’m extra curious about the all female city bit. As we rush through the site, trying to hide from the beating sun, we come across a group of people sitting in a circle. They’re students learning the ways of the ancient Maya and are training to become Mayan priests and priestesses. Sweet! They want to rescue the indigenous culture and promote it, and although they’ll never be true Maya ‘tatas’ or ‘nanas’ (wise Mayan elders), they will be contributing to the survival of the culture and the Mayan cosmovision. Just love this! 

On our way back towards San Salvador, we pull over on the side of the road to grab some fresh coconut water. I had been telling Edgardo that I used to love getting one on the way to or from the airport, and he knew we’d be leaving so early tomorrow, that the likelihood of finding a coconut vendor would be next to none. So, eagle-eye Edgardo spots a coconut stand, and we all get out and ask for 3 coconuts. Hacked open just a few feet from us with giant machetes, and the water expertly drained into a plastic bag by a woman directly in front of us, I ask myself, “if this isn’t living, then what is?” Hehe. There is nothing more refreshing than fresh coconut water. It’s so tasty and filled with so many electrolytes that after just a few sips, it’s as if my body has been completely recharged. Nature’s miracle! And not to mention the coconut meat, which is dense and nutrious, and fills you up with just a few bites. Back home, I’m sometimes swayed to try a coconut water for sale in a grocery store, but I’ve decided it’s never worth it. Nothing will ever come close to a fresh coconut. That’s something worth traveling for. 🙂

Our next stop is a quick jaunt through the Centro Historico of El Salvador. We hoped to make it into the El Rosario church to see the beautiful colors inside, but alas, it was closed. We figured being Sunday, it’d be open, but it wasn’t. Womp Womp. So we head over to the cathedral, which, according to google, is also closed. But, we’re in luck! We walk in, and I explain a bit about the iconic San Romero, and there near the altar of the church, on the right, were two giant paintings of him. How cool was it to San Romero there, watching over the congregation. 

After the center, we went up to Los Planes de Renders for a view of the city and the volcano, and well, one last pupusa dinner! Woohoo! Hehe. I loved the pupusas here, and we had a good time relaxing after another long, full day. The t-shirts the staff were wearing were epic, and I decided I needed one, lol. The front was simple, with just the name of hte place: Boomwalos, but the back of the shirt said “I ❤ pupusas,” with the heart being a pupusas split in half, to create the heart shape. So when we went to pay, I asked to check out a couple of sizes, and I snagged one. So happy! “A mi me gustan las pupusas….” 🙂 

Before heading back to the hotel, we wanted to stop by a supermarket, and Edgardo brought me to the one I used to walk to all the time from Fundahmer. It was such a blast from the past walking inside hehe. Our goal was to just grab a couple of Cadejos to sample and head back to the hotel to get some work done. We have an early morning tomorrow and a flight to a surprise country! Hehe. Any guesses where?🧐🤔🙃

We woke up early so that we could snag some breakfast at the hostel. I was expecting the somewhat traditional hostel breakfast of some white toast, a couple of jars of jam, peanut butter and if we are lucky, Nutella. At least that is what I’ve seen when I’ve stayed at hostels in the past. However, we were all pleasantly surprised when we noticed a waiter serving another group of people staying at the hostel. We had to wait a few minutes while the server prepared our meals, but we were given two pupusas, a piece of quesadilla, a Salvadoran cheese-bread specialty, and a cup of cinnamon coffee. Yum! The best way to start the day.

Edgardo arrived early, and we weren’t quite ready, so he waited for us outside the hostel. We tried to hurry, but we ended up walking out right on time at 8:30. As soon as we exited the hostel, I saw Edgardo standing next to the car, and was sooo excited! It’s been at least 5 years, if not longer since I’ve seen him. We gave each other a giant hug, and I introduced him to Dana and Hayden. Hooray for friends!

Our first stop would be the Tazumal Ruins, a little ways outside of Santa Ana. My friend Marcela, who I met while I was living in El Salvador, was coming to meet us at Tazumal with her husband and their 7 month old baby, Adrian. I couldn’t wait to see them, and to meet Adrian for the first time!

We hit the road and are moving at a good pace, but eventually we hit some traffic…of course, lol. I text Marcela and let her know we might be a bit later than expected, and she also said they ran into traffic. Oh good! Maybe we’ll arrive at the same time after all! :). Before we know it, we’re entering the street for the ruins, and I’m getting excited, as we’re able to see the ruins right from the street. I’ve been here before, but I can’t help but feel the excitement of exploring ancient Mayan ruins every time I go. Nerd! Hehe. The entrance fee is $5 and off we go to see our first Salvadoran ruins.

I explained to Dana and Hayden that these ruins look a lot different because when they were discovered, there wasn’t a great way to protect them or to restore them, so they were covered in cement. It gives the pyramid a smooth look on the outside, very different from most Mayan ruins. However, it’s almost a glance as to what they may have looked like in their prime. We’re so accustomed to seeing unadorned, rocky pyramids, when in reality, they would’ve been magnificently ornate with colors, smooth surfaces, and sculptures.

We walk around a bit, bummed by the barrier rope they’ve put up, unable to get up close and personal with the ruins. I don’t remember climbing the big pyramid before, but there was a section I climbed once in the past, which was now completely blocked off. Dang! Honestly, it’s probably best for the preservation of the ruins, but it’s always fun to get to hike the steps and walk in the footsteps of the ancient Mayan elite. We take our pictures and goof around for a bit, waiting for Marcela and her family to arrive.

As we’re ready to leave the ruins, Marcela calls me, saying they’ve arrived! OMG! So excited to give her a big hug! Their car pulls up, and she’s in the backseat, taking care of the baby, so it’s a couple of minutes before she actually gets out of the car, but when she does, we give each other the biggest hug we can muster! And I again introduce Dana and Hayden, and Marcela takes Adrian out of his car seat. What a freaking cutie! I’ve seen so many pictures on facebook, but dang, is he just the cutest little thing.

We decide to grab a coffee and visit for a bit before deciding what’s next on this list. Our original plan was to visit San Andrés and Joya de Cerén, ending up at the hotel in San Salvador. But, after talking with Marcela and Balmore, her husband, we decided it’d be better to go to “La Ruta de Los Flores,” or the Flower Route. This route passes through several cute colonial towns that offer a lot of typical Salvadoran food and picturesque central parks and churches. With a confirmed plan, we pack up our things and begin our journey to Ataco, the first of the towns.

Ataco is as adorable as ever with its colonial buildings, cobblestone streets, and murals of wide-eyed cats and people, an exaggerated art style the town is known for. The Central Park is small with a lot of trees, and all around the park are restaurants and food vendors. I want Dana and Hayden to try all kinds of typical food, so we begin our hunt. We found “riguas,” a sweet corn and cheese treat, more sweet than savory, which Dana ended up loving! We also found Salvadoran empanadas, which are made with a plantain dough and filled with beans or cream, and then fried and covered in sugar. Delicious! Dana and I tried a local coffee of the day as well, and after a quick look in the church and a walk around a couple of streets, we were on our way to the next town, Apaneca.

Apaneca is smaller, and we were going to just get out and talk a handful of pictures and move along to the next. But, as we were walking, we noticed a sign for rolled ice cream! We were after this in Copan, but the store was closed, so of course we had to go check it out. It was down a beautiful street with a gorgeous view of a hill in the background. We make it to the ice cream cart, and we start asking about flavors. Hayden asked for chocolate-krispy, I asked for mango, and Dana wanted avocado, but he only had a tiny bit left. So, he offered to make it for us so we could try it. How nice! And all of a sudden I realize he’s wearing a Boston Red Sox hat! Awesome! He said he almost didn’t wear it that day, because sometimes the “B” can be confused for the number “18” which is a gang symbol. That makes me sad, but I’m glad he did feel safe enough to wear the hat, and it made it that more special that we were eating the rolled ice cream at his place. Marcela asked for a mango one as well, and Balmore got a mangoneada, a frozen mango popsicle placed in a cup filled with lime juice, spices similar to Tajín, and maybe “chamoy,” or a tart berry syrup. So delicious! And worth trying if you find yourself in Central America. 🙂

We chatted with the ice cream man for a bit, and then walked over to the church to take some pictures and to sight see a tad more before headed towards the next town. 

Next up on our list was Juayuá, which is known for the food festivals they have every weekend. Cannot wait to see what they have to offer! We park the car and walk just a short way until we can see and smell the food festival. We walk down one length of it, checking out all the meals and what they come with. The majority of the food stalls are serving HUGE plates of food: chicken, beef, or mixed with rice and beans, veggies, salad, tortilla, avocado, etc. Everything smells incredible, and we all agree to do a once over before deciding where to grab our lunch. On our way down the second line of food stalls, we see a street dog with an entire to-go container in his mouth. HAHAHA. It was epic! And Hayden got it on film lol. I’ve never seen anything like that. We all had a good laugh, and continued on our merry way. 

We decided to eat at the place with the tacos, and Dana and I ordered a Suprema…gotta try out all the local beers! Hehe The food was delicious and we enjoyed the ambiance of the food festival with the music, the smells, and all the people watching. As we were eating, we were talking about our next stop. We were interested in going to the waterfalls that were nearby, but we ultimately decided not to go. It would require getting a mototaxi or maybe a 4by4 vehicle and then a bit of a walk, and we weren’t prepared nor did we want to get into the water. So instead, we decided to go find some “Colones,” the old Salvadoran currency, as we saw some at a vendor stall as we entered town. Hayden and I both like to collect currencies from different countries, so we walk over to the guy and check out his stash. He wanted $5 for the 1 colón note. We thought that was a bit high, but they also don’t make them anymore, so they’re gonna be more money, either way. Hayden wasn’t satisfied, so we haggled a bit, and I asked, what if we bought 2 notes, and he dropped the price to $8, and we walked away. As we were walking away, the man dropped it again to $7 for two notes. Hayden and I thanked him and continued walking away. As we were leaving, we chatted and decided we’d regret it if we didn’t go back, so we got our $7 together, and went back and bought our colones. Mission Complete! Haha

After this grand moment, we got back in the cars and headed towards Nahuizalco, where Marcela is from. This will be our last stop of the day before going back to San Salvador. When we get to Nahuizaco, Marcela brings us around to the church, and then to a small artesanias store. She wants to gift something to each of us… What a sweetheart! Hehe. She’s so adorable, and thoughtful, and kind. We all tried to say no, but she insisted, saying this is her town, and she wants to treat us to a little something to remember Nahuizalco. She is planning on coming to the US soon, and I can’t wait to take her around and be her guide, and go on all the fun adventures! 🙂

We walk around the park, admiring the Valentine’s Day decorations, and I am keeping my eye out for pupusas made out of yuca, which you can only find in this town. Marcela took the initative and found me 3 pupusas de yuca. Again, she’s so sweet! I make Dana and Hayden try them, and they both agree that the yuca pupusas are their favorites! Sweet! I’m so glad I made them try them, and so grateful for Marcela for finding them! Thanks, girl!

We’ve finally come to the point that we have to say goodbye. I really don’t want to leave, as this whole day has been a dream. I felt like I was transported back to when I lived here, and I just ate up every minute of it! After lots of big hugs, we finally did say our goodbyes and see you soons. 

On the drive to San Salvador, I chatted with Edgardo, reminiscing about the good times in Fundahmer, and remembering certain delegations and community members, including don Pedro, who passed away a couple of years ago. We both remember him during the employee meetings, nearly or completely falling asleep, and then being asked if he had anything to add, and abruptly waking up and responding with an involved, but yet generic response. We laughed a lot and Edgardo made a comment about how beautiful it is to be remembered by others when you pass on, leaving your mark behind. Don Pedro, you certainly did this! 🙂 RIP, dear friend.

Needless to say, returning to El Salvador after all this time has been just phenomenal, and I need to come back again soon. These couple of days are not enough, but I am so grateful for every minute I have here.

We woke up early this morning in order to get to the ruins right when they opened, all of us tired after having a rest day and staying up later than usual. Oh well, time for some coffee and leftover baleadas, heheh. We totally took those home with us!

We got ready quickly, preparing for an early arrival at the archeology site to beat the crowds. We had a plan for how much to pay for a Tuk Tuk, which our airbnb host told us: 15L/person, or 45L total. We decided that if the driver asked for and pushed for 60, we’d be okay with that. We start to walk towards the town square, and a Tuk Tuk beeps at us, and we ask him his price to the ruins, and he immediately says 15. Perfect! It was so nice not to have to haggle! Wow! We love this place! Lol. We jump in and away we go! We bop around the cobblestone streets, and before we know it, we’re arriving at the ruins. YAY! So excited! This is my first ruins visit since I joined up with Dana and Hayden and a new site for me! I always wanted to visit Copán while I was living in El Salvador, as it was “only” a 6 hour ride from San Salvador, and now it’s finally happening! 🤗

We pay our entry fee, and take a quick walk through the free museum, and scurry down the stairs and towards the path to the ruins. As we’re walking we hear that crazy screaming child sound, and we knew we’d be lucky enough to see some more Macaws! And we spot them high in the tree, and we notice that there is a mandmade nest there. Cool! So we continue walking, and we see signs about how they are rehabilitating the Macaws, who are born on Macaw Mountain, and moved to the park where they adapt to the local Macaw population, and once they’ve fully adapted, they are released into the wild. We also read a plaque that Macaws are monogamous…awwww hehe. 🥰

We walk through the park entrance, and we see and hear a ton of these birds. Sooo cool! Apparently it’s feeding time, and there are multiple perches filled with fruit and at least 3 birds on each perch! Wow! We got up close and personal with them, and we felt so lucky to be in their presence! 

As we continue down the path, we start to get our first glimpses of some for the ruins! The first notable pyramid we see looks like its been refurbished, and boy is she beautiful. We have a great time walking around with nobody there, the only exception being the workers who are raking up the fallen leaves. I am again in my element, and so excited to see the stelae with such detailed carvings, and even some red color left! Wow! I don’t think I’ve seen any maya ruins still stained with colors. We quickly hurry to the biggest pyramid and get shots with nobody else in them, and check out the ball court. So cool!

I love gazing at the hieroglyphs, and one particular pyramid has the longest Mayan inscription found to date. Around 1,800 glyphs! Most are difficult to see with the naked eye, if not impossible, but a few were notable! Sweet! The entire site is comprised of the ceremonial center, the acropolis, and a couple of residential areas for the nobles and the elites. Something interesting is that the elites and nobles buried their loved ones next to where they lived and not in a communal cemetery. I was also super intrigued to see the ancient stone structures of the residential areas, as it’s the first I’ve seen seen at any archeological site. Awesome! 🤩

It took us around 3 hours to walk the entire area and get our fill of the site. By the end, we were all ready for a smoothie, and we called our old pal, Wilson, the Tuk Tuk driver. He was so kind to us, giving us all the tips, and he didn’t try to charge us the “tourist tax,” so we agreed to pay him double for our ride back to town. Pay it forward! 🙂

We find “the best smoothie” spot in town, San Rafael Cafe. We show up and realize it’s quite fancy and is probably more expensive. We get the menu, and we start to get carried away, dreaming about what to order, and thinking if we don’t have enough cash, we can pay with a card. But that’s just the hunger and heat talking for us, lol. We cool our jets and decide to JUST order smoothies, and we’ll try to find food elsewhere. I got a dragon fruit or a “pitaya.” So yummy! And while we were enjoying that, we looked up a restaurant that came up yesterday. It is on the central square and overlooks the park. Awesome! The food looked good online, so we meander over there.

Once at the restaurant, Dana and I decided to have a passion fruit juice, but as it turns out, there was no electricity, so they couldn’t run the blender. Bummer! Guess we’ll have to settle for a beer! Haha, booo hooo. Just kidding. It was great. We also order “gorditas,” which are similar to pupusas in that they are stuffed corn tortillas, but these were filled with chicken, beans, cheese, avocado, and onions, almost like a sanwhich. And they were fried, so the outside was quite crunchy. Score for another local dish! I’ve had gorditas in Mexico, and they’re basically sandwiches, so this was a fun new variation to try.

Hayden had a hankering for heladdooo! And he found a cool place called Maya Helado Rolls, so we go there….only to find they’re closed! Oh no! They have pictures outside, and its literally sheets of ice cream rolled up. It looks so cool! But why are they closed? It dons on us that there isn’t any power… We had stopped by a souvenir shop to find Dana a patch, and they didn’t have power either. Ahhhh, ok, so it must be a town-wide situation. That’s when we start to notice the generators on the sidewalks, lol. So we figure the ice cream shop closed due to that? Either way, we walk away, disappointed, and head back to chill at the apartment. Wait. Will the apartment have power? Ugghh. Haha

Nope! Ahh, oh well, lol. We checked the laundry we started earlier, and it appears that the power cut out at the beginning of the cycle. Dang! The sheet of laundry soap has started to dissolve but not completely. And the clothes are wet. Do we hand wash them or do we just hang them up to dry? It was just a load from the previous day, so they weren’t really that dirty. Thankfully we did the majority of the laundry yesterday.

With no power, we have no AC, and no WiFi. So, no getting work done, and with the afternoon heat and full bellies, we decide to play a game of cards to entertain ourselves, and we agree the loser will drink a nasty local banana juice soda lol. We all tried this drink, as it is a local Honduran soda, but we all detested it. The stakes are high for this card game! Hehe. We have a great time, and around 4pm, we decide to start packing and to shower before we lose daylight.

Right around 5:15, the power comes back on! Yay! Now we can make some coffee and get some work done. Yes! We spent the rest of the evening working away, still trying to figure out what’s next after El Salvador. Where will we end up? The options that came up were Nicaragua, México City, Colombia, and Belgium!

The next morning, I woke up earlier than my alarm, did some work on my volcano blog post, and just enjoyed some time in bed. I heard Dana and Hayden, so when my alarm actually went off, I left my bedroom and saw Dana already making coffee! Score! We woke up with plenty of time to pack our things and ease into another shuttle day, this time to El Salvador! Wooohoo! Allegedly, it would be around 5 hours, but given our recent experiences, that’s just never the case.

Once we had a delicious breakfast of a banana and some breakfast oat cookies, we tidied the space and got our bags together. We left the airbnb with extra time to stop by a small store to spend the rest of the cash we had. Our choices? Very important and necessary items: water and Oreos! 

We head to the meeting spot, and we’re half an hour early. We were told to show up 10 minutes before, and the last shuttle picked us up right around then, so we didn’t want to chance it. Well, 10:00 came and went and nothing. 10:15 and nothing. Around 10:20, Dana sent the shuttle company a message, and we were told that the shuttle was coming, but it was delayed because some people coming into Copán didn’t have any money with them to pay the entry fee for Honduras. Seriously? Well, what can you do? Haha

The shuttle comes around close to 11, so we’re already an hour behind. We’ll see how long it takes us to actually get to El Salvador. 😅 I asked our driver if we were picking up any other people, and he said just one more person. We all thought it would be this guy, Fredo, who we met on our shuttle into Copán. He was going to San Salvador, where we wanted to go initially, but the website said the shuttle was full. So we checked the shuttle to Santa Ana, a city in western El Salvador: wide open. But Santa Ana is on the way to San Salvador, so we assume this shuttle stops in Santa Ana first before continuing on towards the capital, lol. The shuttle must pick up passengers in Santa Ana, otherwise, why weren’t we able to book through to San Salvador? 🤔 So, our guess was correct, and we picked up Fredo at his hotel. Interesting, but we loved knowing it would only be the 4 of us, as our previous shuttles had been filled to the brim. We also expected to breeze through the borders being a smaller group. We never did ask if our driver would be picking more people, hehe. It’ll remain a mystery!

The Honduran-Guatemala border was only about 15 minutes away from Copán, and we get there just in time. Right after we got in line, there was a huge group of people who filled in behind us. It took roughly 30-45 minutes to exit Honduras and enter Guatemala, all in the same building we did on the way in. Easy Peasy!

Back on the road again, and it would be just under 2 hours before reaching the Guatemalan-Salvadoran border. This shuttle ride made me feel carsick…not as bad as the first one to Lake Atitlan, but it wasn’t great either, lol. Luckily, I was able to sleep a bit, and when I woke up, we were fairly close to the border. Yay!

The Guatemalan side of the border was straight forward, we just walked up to a window and the guy checked and stamped our passport. Awesome, back in the shuttle and onwards to one of my favorite places….El Salvador! 

The shuttle stops right on the border and an immigration officer asks to see our passports. Ok, cool. We expect to continue further and go into a building to get stamped, or scanned, or something. But we don’t! Thats all she needed, just to see the exit stamp from Guatemala, I guess. We made it! We’re in El Salvador! Woooohooooo! My first time in 5 years! I’m embarrassed I haven’t made it back sooner, but I’m here now, even if its only for a short time.

From the border we drove about 1.5 hours to our hostel in Santa Ana. I realize I’ve never actually stayed in Santa Ana before, maybe nearby, but I never really visited the city. Cool! 

So we check into the hostel, drop our bags, and head out for food. We got a recommendation for a pupuseria, but it didn’t open until 5. We had 2 hours to kill, so we decided to go to the main square and see the cathedral. Whomp Womp. It has so much scaffolding, it looks like a metal facade. 🤣 Too bad! I was really looking forward to seeing it, since I never had. Oh well, I’ll just need to come back, hehe. 

We walk around a few streets, just meandering and hoping to find an artisan market so Dana can find a patch, and so we can find some smoothies to tide us over until dinner. No luck on either end, so we look up a second place that one of the hostel workers gave us. Before we got there, we found a cute cafe, so we just went here instead. 

We got the menu, and I saw a couple of things I’d completely forgotten about: budín and arrayan! So naturally, I ordered both of these, but it turns out they didn’t have arrayan….a local fruit, which I ordered as a smoothie. So I got maracuya, or passion fruit. Not a terrible runner up, hehe. 

We sat here for almost an hour, battling hanger and sheer exhaustion. We NEEDED the pupusa place to open up, lol. The budín saved us a bit, but right at 5, we decided to walk over and get ourselves some much needed and desired pupusas. I simply could not wait! I haven’t had a real pupusa in 5 years! 

We ordered a variety of pupusas, some rice and some corn, and went to town. Dana and I had a Pilsner, of course. Hehe. Next up will be a Suprema, and then hopefully Cadejo :).

On our walk back to the hostel, we were a much merrier bunch, calling out the dog poop on the sidewalk, and the death holes, which were just gaping holes in the sidewalk, waiting to sprain or break an ankle lol. We stopped by a small artisan shop, and Dana found a patch! Sweet! So back to the hostel we go, to do some work on our next steps and to catch up on the day’s writing and pictures. Until next time! Chau!