El Salvador

Whatever we did the previous week was overshadowed by our recent trip to El Salvador, which was wonderful.

Here are a few pictures of where we went and what we saw.

I will just comment now that I will recommend the Arbol de Fuego hotel in Antiguo Cuscatlan as a great place to stay in San Salvador.
Here is what our breakfast was like the last day we were there. I am not sure why Calla looks so funny, and Jack commented that he really was a lot more excited about the trip than this picture shows!

We saw a lot (way more than in Honduras) of women (only) carrying loads on their heads. We saw full 5-gallon water jugs and many other loads. A friend here says they carry up to 100-lb loads, but that it doesn't hurt them, because they build-up to it and are strong. Whatever the case, it is impressive. They use a small towel twisted to make a "rope" and then lay it in a circle on their head to place the object upon it. Totally impressive and these pictures don't do any justice at all to the loads. Although the one where they are carrying loads of wood on their head, totally amazing.

We went on a tour of a mangrove (mangales) estuary at a place called Barra de Santiago. It was very cool. These mangroves are different than ones you find in the US. Much taller, different species (about 5 here) and smaller leaves, though some were as broad as Floridian mangroves. Still have the cool roots that are used to absorb water but also to provide air to the plant, since the stagnant water is pretty anerobic. They'd die otherwise. The guide (Alessandro) and his father Juan Alberto (on the right) took us into a protected area to see crocodiles (we didn't see any. We saw a lot of birds and 4-eyed fish, though. I posted a video of the trip (a la African Queen--without the danger) at the following YouTube site.

A sort of panoramic view of the beach looking towards La Libertad and towards Guatemala. The beach was outstanding and we all loved it. We saw more actual marine life here, living than at any other beach, except maybe the tidepools at Monterey, CA. The water here is WARM unlike our beloved California Pacific ocean. Swimming there will never be the same! Note the coconut palms, the shacks and fishing boats--Even some people in chest deep water and waves fishing with nets.

Here are some fellows "fishing" for shrimp and crabs. The nets are used to collect shrimp and the two young fellows in the boats put out crab traps to collect small black (more expensive) or small(er) blue crabs. They are a little larger than the palm of an adult hand. The blue ones are a bright metallic blue on the undersides of the arms and belly. Pretty neat. Water here is about 50cm deep. In some places it is only about mid-shin deep where sand bars occur. The water is salty but the estuary has 2-3 rivers that run into it. The "barra" is open at a point where sea water comes in. The tides then, fill and drain the estuary twice a day, so a lot of material moves in and out of here. The small, palm-treed city with some nice touristy hotels (allegedly a 5-star hotel) are behind us...we never did see any really touristy--nice, swanky hotels...we did see primitive housing and a pupusaria.

Lots of people rode around in these pick-up truck converted taxis. At least it is a safe way to travel quickly!

The San Salvador, El Salvador Temple was within easy driving and seeing distance from the hotel. Just to see it provided some comfort and ease for us. At night it was lit up beautifully. At least from the roof of our hotel (where this was taken), the temple does look like a stand-alone bldg in the middle of the jungle. However, what you can't see (even if the picture weren't cropped) is the huge mall next door to the temple. It is on a hill and the area is totally covered in trees, so despite the huge, bustling, traffic and city beneath the trees, the temple really stands as an oasis, in many ways. It is also a very elegant building and is certainly a gem in San Salvador. Ranae did a session at night, in Spanish, I and Jack did baptisms (for about 1 hour--I was the baptizer for a group of youth from about 1.5 hours away). It was rejuvenating, as we hadn't been since last November.