The party is over...

Bahia del Sol, El Salvador

April 20th marked the official end of the "Cruisers Rally to El Salvador".

On the last couple of days, we had another dinner at the nearby Acajutla restaurant, about a mile up the estuary, with the usual swim in the pool, etc., then we participated in another dinghy raftup just outside the marina, this time we drifted along through the moored boats on a flooding tide.

The culmination of the rally was a final get together for a wine tasting and Italian buffet at the Bahia del Sol estuary restaurant.  While we ate, we watched projected images of this year's rally entrants making their way over the bar at the entrance to the estuary.  Sine Timore was definitely one of the most spectacular.

At this point in time, we had been in the marina for a full month and had to start thinking about what we were going to do for the upcoming rainy season.  On the last night of the rally, we were treated to our first taste of the lightning and thunder that can accompany the summer season.  Lots of rain in a very short time and lightning that was almost continuous, making it seem like daylight outside, at around 4AM in the morning.

We had decided to move out to anchor in the estuary for a week or more, then move to another marina about 5 miles further into the estuary.  The docks at this smaller marina seem better constructed and there is a lot less current and boat traffic there.  In the Bahia del Sol marina, where we have been, it is often very uncomfortable, with the wake from passing boats making the docks very lively, especially on the weekends.  The current here is so strong that at times it seems as if we are sitting in the middle of a fast-moving river.

With this plan in mind, we got ready to move last Sunday, the day after the end of the rally.  We waited for slack tide and started the engine only to hear a loud squealing noise coming from the engine compartment.  Some quick analysis showed me that the raw water pump had seized and the belt was slipping.  Rather than miss the tide, I got right to work on the pump.  At first I though it might just be the impeller (of which I have several spares), but it was not that simple.  Even with the impeller pulled out, it still would not turn easily.  So, out came my spare pump (who says I am not prepared?) and after about an hour of moving the pulley and pipe fittings over from the old pump, I was able to install the new one and we were on our way.  Of course, now it was not slack tide any more, but at least it was in our favor for getting out of the slip at the marina.

Once we had motored over to where I wanted to drop the anchor, Sue let the anchor down and found that the chain would not come out of the locker.  The combination of our last anchorage, outside of the estuary the night before we came over the bar, and the rough ride into the estuary, had resulted in the huge pyramid of chain in the chain locker (the result of having let out 300 feet of chain at the roadstead anchorage) collapsing into a disorderly heap.  Twice Susanne had to go below and wrestle with the chain to get it freed up so she could let out the 100 feet that I wanted.  Fortunately, it was relatively easy to hold the boat in one place for this extended anchoring maneuver - all I had to do was keep the engine in gear at low RPMs, against the current.

Once we were securely anchored, we were able to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet of being out of the marina.  For the first time in a long time, we were able to sit back and enjoy a morning coffee in the cockpit without load rap music floating down from the workers maintaining the sport fishing boats in the marina.

On Wednesday, April 24th, we had the unusual honor of escorting a group of 18 kids on an all-day excursion to the local waterpark.  This is a reward they earned by attending English classes for the last year - a lot of them had hardly ever been off the small island where they live.  Susanne has been volunteering her time twice a week to help Jan with these lessons, in the hope that she will pick up a bit of Spanish along the way.

For the last three days, we took the local "chicken" bus to San Salvador (these bus rides are kind of an adventure in themselves).  We stayed at a very nice little hotel at which we had won a free night's stay a couple of weeks ago.  We took a tour of the city with a local guide who was able to give us some real insight into the recent history of the country.  The revolution was officially over in 1992 but traces still exist.  A very moving story.

San Salvador is quite an enigma.  In the middle of one of the poorest counties in the world, you find a city that seems to consist of large indoor shopping malls and American fast-food restaurants.  The US embassy here is the largest in the Americas (third largest in the world) and the US influence is very evident.  Distances and temperatures are metric, but fuel is sold by the gallon, in US dollars.  There is a huge gap between the rich and poor in the country.

 

In the older part of town, where you find the national palace and liberty square, there sits the most fabulous church we have ever seen (and we have seen a lot of them).  It looks very nondescript from the outside, but is the most original, futuristic design on the inside - breathtaking!  Pictures cannot do it justice.  One of the most sobering elements about it were the bullet holes in the door - just another reminder of what when on here not that long ago.

We visited several museums and the botanical gardens - all quite interesting.

Upon returning to the boat, we found it still safely at anchor in the estuary.  Our batteries were 100% full in spite of the fact that we left the fridge and freezer running, one fan blowing in the salon to circulate the air a bit, and the anchor light on full time (it is not automatic).  We had closed everything up in case of rain but there apparently was none while we were away, so the solar panels did their job admirably.  Note: Believe it or not this is the first time we have ever left the boat at anchor overnight and we were very concerned.

In a couple of days, around the start of May, we still plan to move the boat to the other marina.  We are a little concerned about the depth of the water further up the estuary but have been assured we should be OK if we stay the center of the channel all the way up - not many sailboats venture up that far.  We have checked it out via dinghy but it is not the same...

{GMST}13|42.5|N|89|12.0|W|San Salvador, El Salvador|San Salvador, El Salvador{GEND}

Life in an estuary

Bahia del Sol, El Salvador

Our current location at Bahia del Sol resort is in the Estero Jaltepeque.  Most of the rally activities take place in and around this interesting body of water.  The estuary is made up of over a dozen islands and has many miles of twisting, turning waterways among the mangroves.  On the east end, the estuary joins the Rio Lempa, El Salvador's longest river, which we visited last week.

Since we have been back at the resort, there have been several planned activities, usually about one a day, which keeps us pretty busy...

We had lunch a couple of days ago at one of the nearby estuary restaurants.  They only open on the weekends and are popular with the locals.  The fair is basically fish and shrimp.  All of the cooking is done on wood fires inside a metal shed attached to one end of the restaurant, all suspended in mid-air on stilts.  At low tide, which ranges from 5 to 7 feet, these places are high and dry on a bed of mud.  At high tide, they are in the middle of a saltwater lake.  Eating, drinking and swimming are the order of the day.  We all took a local panga to the restaurant so nobody had to drive their dinghy home afterward.

 

 

We spotted some pretty cool looking little jellyfish washed in on the rising tide...

Yesterday afternoon, a few of us took our dinghies on a bit of an estuary tour, braving the shallow water on the mud-flats on a rising tide and then cruising through some tight passages through the mangroves.  At times we just rafted up the dinghies and floated along with the current, solving most of the worlds problems as we went.

Today was a day of learning.  First, we were given some lessons in "net" throwing by a local expert (who also happens to be the pilot who led us over the entrance bar a few weeks ago).  This is a lot trickier than you might think.

This afternoon, Susanne has taken the dinghy over to Jan's house on a nearby island to help her with teaching English to some children (and a couple of adults as well).  Jan Turner is a Canadian ex-sailor who also sponsors the wonderful chicken dinner benefits at her home every Wednesday.  This is the second Monday that Susanne has done this and she really seems to enjoy it, learning as much Spanish as she is teaching English.  I am particularly proud of her as this has finally motivated her to learn to drive the dinghy by herself.

Tomorrow I believe there is to be another dinghy raft up, and another chicken dinner at Jan's house on Wednesday, etc., etc.  The rally is officially over on the 20th of the month and Sue is busily browsing the web to figure out what we are going to do once all of these daily activities are over.  I think I hear Guatemala calling!

{GMST}13|18.05|N|88|53.54|W|Bahia del Sol, El Salvador|Bahia del Sol, El Salvador{GEND}

Mountain high

Bahia del Sol, El Salvador

A three-day tour of El Salvador...

We left Bahia del Sol on Saturday morning, riding in a mini-van with another two couples, a guide and a driver.

Our first stop was only about 2 hours away (would have been a lot quicker except for road construction around the city of San Salvador), at the archaeological site of Joya De Ceren.  This is a unique look at how the early Mayan people lived, preserved by layers of ash laid down by a series of volcanic eruptions, very similar to what happened to Pompeii in Italy.  What makes this different from other Mayan ruins is the fact that this is not some center for government or religious ceremonies or palaces for the rulers - just a town for regular folk leading their ordinary humdrum lives.  It is a world heritage site as a result.

Moving on a few miles we came to the aforementioned more typical pyramid structures found at the site of San Andreas.  This site is quite extensive but only about 5% has been excavated to date.  Interesting by nothing so impressive as Chichen Itza or Palenque in Mexico.

We made another stop in the afternoon at the volcano complex at Cerro Verde where we were given a tour of an orchid garden and took in the views of one of the nearby volcanos.  This time of year it is often cloudy and views are sort of hit and miss - we are told that the rainy season is the time to visit as the air is much clearer (sounds wrong to me but what do I know).

After a quick visit to the city of Santa Ana (nice cathedral and such), we travelled to the small town of Ataco, where we spent the night.

Susanne and I got up early Sunday morning to take a short hike up to the viewpoint at the cross overlooking the town, then found someone to sell us a cup of coffee.  The town was very quiet until about 9AM when people started to set up for a local food festival - this takes place every weekend in this town and the nearby larger town of Juayua, which was to be our next stop.

When everybody was finally awake and ready to go, we were driven to the town of Juayua where we had lunch at the Gastronomic Parade - they have everything from fried chicken to fried iguanas and it was an extremely busy place by noon.  We did the typical tourist thing and rode on a little train through the streets of the town, complete with accompanying commentary, in Spanish of course.  It is interesting to note that while these towns are very touristy, there are virtually no non-Salvadoran tourists about.

In the afternoon, we had a longer drive north to the El Pital national park, stopping only once along the way to view a field of black rock left over from some recent volcanic activity.  They call it the Black Jewel.

El Pital is reportedly the highest point in El Salvador, reaching a height of over 2400 meters.  We stayed in a rustic log cabin pretty much right at the top (the very steep road up the mountain required a change of vehicles to something a little more robust).  It was much cooler at altitude and we were all very happy to get some relief from the heat and humidity of the coast - at night is was actually "jacket" weather.  In a lot of ways it reminded us of spring in the Rocky mountains in Alberta.  Some of our fellow travellers wanted to stay longer here but in the end they decided they could come back another time on their own.

On our last day, we started out with a hike down a steep mountain road for about 8 kms to the shores of the Sumpul river.  Along the way we visited a couple of flower farms - flowers are grown for resale in the city.  There was also a lot of other agriculture on these mountain slopes - lots of cabbage and avocados.

There is a park at the river which for some reason was closed, so we were forced to pay a guy who had some land next door, to let us use his path down to the river itself.  As this is still the dry season, the river was quite small, with a lot of big rocks to walk across.  This river represents the border between El Salvador and Honduras.

 

On the way back to the hotel for lunch, our mini-van did not show up and we had to hop in the back of a passing pickup truck to make the uphill trek - an adventure in itself.

After lunch, we had a long drive back to Bahia del Sol, passing through rush-hour traffic in San Salvador along the way.  We were back on the boat around 8PM on Monday evening.

Tuesday was another of the group activity days organized for the rally.  We took our dinghies up the estuary about a mile to another hotel, where we had food and drinks and pool competitions.   Sue and I won a night's stay in a hotel in San Salvador!

Yesterday, Sue and some of the other cruiser women took a taxi to San Salvador where they spent the day fabric shopping.  Somehow Susanne managed to get one of her ATM cards "retained" at the bank machine and eventually had to pay $17 to get it back - I thought those cards were supposed to let us take money out of the bank, not the other way around.  Just to add insult to injury, the bank in question was Scotiabank!

{GMST}14|19.97|N|89|9.12|W|El Pital, El Salvador|El Pital, El Salvador{GEND}
{GMST}13|52.0|N|89|51.09|W|Ataco, El Salvador|Ataco, El Salvador{GEND}