17 April 2007 | ElSalvador
Linda
Our 11 day stay here in El Salvador has been quite eventful to say the least. There never seems to be a boring day on the boat or when visiting a new place. The first few days were spent cleaning up the boat and arranging for our cleats to be replaced (eventhough one was bent Stan decided to replace both spring cleats with new stainless steel ones) and Johnathon and Christina tackled some of their school work on shore under the palapas.
We celebrated Easter Sunday with the other cruisers, it was a great potluck lunch/dinner.
I've lost all track of time and couldn't believe it was already Easter Sunday.
Last Friday was the big day to move Impossible over to the fishing docks where the old cleats were removed and new ones welded on. Right next to this marina there is a large fishing fleet (large boats that catch little crabs) with their own loading docks and repair facilities. We tied up next to a big, stinky fish boat and about five hours later we had beautiful new stainless cleats welded on. The only problem was that by the time the job was finished it just turned dark out so going back to the mooring buoy was quite the adventure! But we did make it in time for movie night. Some cruisers organized a movie and potluck dessert night in the open air restaurant.
Saturday was spent with me doing more cleaning indoors (had to take a lot of stuff out of cupboards the day before while the welding was going on, just to make sure the heat didn't get through to the inside) and Stan spent all day topside cleaning off the decks where the work was done.
Sunday we did more cleaning (it sounds like a lot of work but in this heat everything takes twice as long) then had a nice dinner on shore with some other cruisers. At dusk the lightening started, then the power went out. I announced that we should get back to the boat before the rain started because all the hatches were open etc. etc. But of course no one in my family listened to me, when the lightening and thunder were nearer I said it again then we could all hear the rustling of the mangroves. We (the other cruisers as well) all ran to our dinghies when it just started to pour. Just try to imagine trying to find your way in the pitch black back to our boat (luckily Christina remembered to grab a flashlight before we left the boat) with the rain pouring down, interspersed with bright flashes of lightening that illuminated everything. Stan kept telling Johnathon to either speed up or slow down, Christina repeated his instructions (Johnathon always drives the dinghy), I was worried sick about our computer that was near an open hatch and Johnathon was just laughing away thinking that it was all brilliant fun. Needless to say we got back to a lot of wet bed sheets, pillows, floors, counters, but luckily nothing was damaged. By the time we had all hatches and port holes closed, and wiped up all the water the rain stopped and the stars were out once again. By the way this was our first rain since leaving Ensenada last December!
Monday we took a van tour with another British couple up into the mountains. We first stopped at a little community within a coffee plantation. An earthquake in 2001 devastated this area and some cruisers along with the locals rebuilt the community. They built 16 new homes. It was quite the bumpy, steep road to get here, and it was interesting to note that the cruisers made this journey every day from Las Barillas. We then went to a volcano crater lake. Apparently the sulphuric mud is therapeutic and Stan and Mauricio (our guide) filled up two water bottles with this yellow mud like clay (for my facials!). It was interesting to see a little elementary school right there within the crater. I took some pictures of the kids and met with the teachers. From there it was a short drive to a nice mountainside town named Alegria. Lots and lots of flowers here and it was quite clean and had a nice terraced center plaza. We went to a restaurant for lunch that has the most amazing view of the largest valley in El Salvador. Not only that it was also a nursery/garden with the most amazing collection of tropical plants - we just loved it! It also had a large collection of birds in cages. All kinds of tropical birds, parrots, toucans, macaws, finches, budgies, doves. Behind the nursery we discovered dozens upon dozens of cages all with a beautiful rooster in each one along with another cage section for hens and their chicks. Stan thinks these were bred for cock fights. The temperature up here was just perfect, coffee plantations everywhere too.
We also managed four trips into the nearby town. One day last week we also went on a walk into the nearby jungle to visit a family who live there all on their own and who have 'adopted' a family of spider monkeys. I'll let someone else describe this visit.