Santa Ana and home

1/7/23

Ai ai ai, solo cinco dias mas hasta voy a estar en Gales uno vece mas! Que peña!

After taking a long bus back to El Salvador, stopping for border crossings and for a flat tyre, I arrived in the evening and went in search of food. I wondered to the main square where many locals were chilling out. This is apparently a new thing since the government declared a state of emergency and locked up anyone they thought may be dodgy (dangerous and involved in gangs). Before this, the square was a potentially dangerous place that the general public could not enjoy. I ended up in a generic restaurant overlooking the square and ate a pizza with a cardboard base. Then I headed back to my hostel to chill and sleep. On my way to the hostel, I asked a guy hanging about on the street how much a taxi to the airport would be, some two hours away. He quoted me $50, which was actually cheaper than a supposed shuttle!! (Tourist transport isn’t really a thing yet in El Salvador!) We exchanged WhatsApps, and the plan was in place for heading home!

2/7/23

Today, I had arranged to do the famous ‘seven waterfalls’ walk in a nearby town, Juayua. I planned to get the bus there and headed to the bus station early. When I asked for the stop for the place I was going, I found I couldn’t say the name of the town! A kind, old man in the nearby market read it from my phone, and told me how to say it and directed me onwards. When I arrived at the correct stop on the bus station, the bus had already left, early! The other bus drivers pointed me in the direction of the route, and after I looked confused (and probably mildly stressed), one of them started walking me in the right direction. They seemed to think I could still catch the bus. After their direction, I continued down the road, only to see the bus number that I needed! I hailed the bus and off we went! I would make my waterfall walk tour after all!

In Juayjua, I met my guide, Yemenis, and then went to grab a coffee while we waited on one other person. It was a Canadian girl, and once I returned and she arrived, we set off into the forest. It was pretty, although there was a large pack of dogs at the house we passed on the way, two of which liked to start fighting at any given moment. We were given helmets and then set off down to the river.

We arrived at the first waterfall after maybe twenty minutes to find we were the only ones there. The waterfall was huge! We wondered, swam, and stood under the full force fi the water. We went by six more waterfalls, scrambling up some with ropes that Yemenis had secured first, tying to a sturdy branch. Then, we did a natural mud mask before continuing onto some pools built at the bottom of some other waterfalls. We swam through a partially submerged tunnel through the rock, connecting two waterfalls and their plunge pools together. It was glorious. No tourists seemed to make it to these pools, and we floated about with a couple of local families.

Afterwards, we walked back via the farm, thanked 6emeis, leaving leaving her with her family, before heading for a lunch of enchiladas in a local cafe. Then I said bye to the Canadian girl, who was staying in Juayua and went to catch the bus back to Santa Ana, via a local market. The rain poured on the drive back. The roads became rivers, and peoples clothes became saturated. It was nuts!

On arrival in Santa Ana, I was in dire need of a cute coffee shop! I walked back from the bus station, stopping at various supposed cafes along the way to find they were either permanently closed or closed because it was the late afternoon. Eventually, I found one that did the job. The security guard kindly got me on the WiFi, and I sat in the AC with an iced coffee and a cake. Afterwards, I wandered back to the hostel after listening to a Christian kids acoustic band play in the square.

Back at the hostel, I found a comfy armchair and read my book, while a couple of others played pool. I joined in the conversation eventually, and when I did, the guys understood why I was quiet. I only had one travel day left, and I didn’t feel ready to leave.

3/7/23

My final day in six months, six months exactly!

I had booked a morning walking tour to see what sights Santa Ana boasted. Before I went out, two sisters, who were cleaners at the hostel, offered me a coffee, which I accepted, and then we got chatting in Spanish. They were massive hype girls and were bigging me up – it was very cute, and I left feeling good!

When I arrived at the tour meeting point, there was just one young guy there. He introduced himself as Alex, the guide, and said there were a couple more coming. An Aussie couple (though the girl was from ‘London’) rocked up, and then we were off. We heard about the history of El Salvador, how wealthy the aristocrats were, making their money from selling coffee to ‘the West’ and spending their money on building exclusive theatres for only themselves. In more recent times, gang crime was out of control. Locals couldn’t walk in certain areas, nor could they walk through their local park or town square for fear of being caught up in something, or worse, attacked. It took 87 people being killed in a short space of time at the beginning of 2022 for the government to take action and extreme action at that. The government declared a stare of emergency, which meant that the army/police could stop and search anyone they wished to,and if they seemed suspicious, they could lock them up until their case was discussed in court. Since they’ve locked up so many people, it’s a long wait for court dates. While this is crazy and inhumane for these people, the cititzens that remain in their hometowns can finally live without fear and enjoy their public spaces and not have to worry about their sons who go and play football with some older boys a couple of times and then end up in a gang! It is only now that tourism has started back up in El Salvador, which makes it an interesting time to go before it becomes filled with resorts!

We learnt various other things on the tour and swung by the markets to try some local food, which were scrummy. We went on the roof of a gothic church, which I found very cyclical as I did the same on my very first day of travelling in Quito way back in January! After the tour, the Aussies had to catch a flight, but I wanted a good coffee, so Alex offered to walk me to a recommended cafe.

When we got there, he figured he wanted coffee, too, so we went in and ordered. The coffee was glorious – they even had a flat white! We chatted, and then the owner, Will, got talking to us, too. Alex and Will talked about how to market things to tourists and give tourists a better experience by providing tours to places that they wouldn’t necessarily find alone. It was interesting to hear their thoughts and ambitions. I made a coffee, and we ate some chocolate before I had to head off back to the hostel to collect my stuff and wait for my taxi.

I said bye to the sisters and then headed out where my ‘side of the road’ taxi man was waiting (Uber doesn’t exist here!). Because of the national state of emergency, I was told that everywhere was very safe and therefore taking a taxi as a solo woman wouldn’t be an issue. It was not! The taxi driver was lovely! We had some tunes on, and we chatted a little before I took a nap. He shared his bright pink sugary rice paper with me, and we stopped for my final hit of pupusas before he dropped me to the airport. The only downside was that we arrived at the airport very early due to lack of traffic!! And just like that, my six month trip was done!!