El Salvador – Time to Visit!
About 8 years ago, I was getting my hair cut and talking about my cruising plans to visit Central America. The lady said, “Oh, well — you can’t go to El Salvador. It’s one of the most dangerous countries in the world right now.”
I’ve gotten dire warnings like this before — in fact, plenty (Zimbabwe, Tangiers, various “sketchy neighborhoods”) — and while I always did proceed with caution, I still proceeded.
Given we still had all of Mexico to cross before getting to El Salvador, I didn’t pay much more attention to it, except to notice the increase in asylum seekers who were from there.
Fast forward to 2021/2022, El Salvador was back in the news — its infamously brutal CECOT prison, and their president’s propensity to lock people there for life.
However, plenty of cruisers were comfortably coming and going. In fact, we got one particularly strong recommendation to go while in Huatulco, Mexico, so off we went.
Our first stop was the obvious one, Bahía del Sol. Obvious because all cruisers in E.S. go there, and most sing its praises. It’s a bar entry, meaning we have to time it with the tide and have a guide to follow the ever-shifting path through safe water. Once inside, we received a warm welcome, a fruity NA cocktail, and completed a very easy check-in.
We celebrated Christmas there, and my mom came to visit. We were all struck by the discrepancy between El Salvador’s reputation and the El Salvador of today.
Let’s take a few minutes and go through a bit of El Salvador’s turbulent past.
For nearly 50 years (1931–1979), E.S. was plagued with military dictatorships and constant instability. This of course led to severe socioeconomic inequality, which added fuel to their civil war, fought for 13 years! The good ole U.S. of A. stuck its nose in here and provided over ONE BILLION DOLLARS of funding, supporting the brutal right-wing military and death squads’ training. Following the declaration of peace in 1992, the newly established government did little to rebuild society. The newly declared “peace” also meant that the U.S. could begin returning imprisoned Salvadoran gang members who had embedded in Los Angeles gangs — MS-13 and Barrio 18. They found their country to be the perfect breeding ground for crime, violence, and exploitation.
Thirty years of near lawlessness ensued. “Normal life” was virtually impossible. Gangs demanded payment for crossing neighborhood streets, took control of local buses, extorted and stole from businesses and individuals, and inter-gang violence literally bled into everyday existence. Anyone who dared defiance, or simply couldn’t pay the “tax,” faced losing a finger or hand, seeing their moms or sisters assaulted, or being forced into the gangs themselves. This is the period when E.S. gained its reputation as the world’s most dangerous country.
After eighty-seven murders in a single weekend in 2022, President Bukele declared a state of emergency. He suspended many civil liberties, wiped out the Supreme Court (corruption), and launched a massive military crackdown. Some 92,000 people went to prison — purportedly a brutal one — but the remaining 6.3 million people breathed a collective sigh of relief. Finally, after 50+13+30 = 93 years of horrible strife and violence, El Salvador was free to live and prosper.
Four (just four!) years later, we sailed into their bay. We found a people so welcoming, joyful, and proud. Everywhere we went they wore blue and white to show national pride; they were celebrating and vacationing with friends and family (granted, it was Christmas and New Year’s). We met people who had fled years ago and have since returned to buy property and start businesses. Nearly all hail President Bukele for saving their country. I’ll touch on the “nearly” part a bit later.
So — mom came for the holidays, met all the cruisers, swam in the Pacific Ocean for the first(?) time. We rented a car and toured a famous coffee plantation and swam in a gorgeous waterfall. We sampled many pupusas, which, OK, whatever. She missed out on the American thrift stores Harry and I discovered later, but she did get to experience the impressively cosmopolitan city of San Salvador (along with its crazy drivers).
After she left, Harry and I set out on more adventures. One of the pluses of E.S. is that it’s a tiny country — very easy to explore. We toured a rum distillery (Cihuatán), then joined in on a weekend of revelry in Suchitoto, where we met a local historian and artist, who invited us on a tour of the city to learn more about its history and take in the beautiful art and architecture. While hiking to another waterfall, we happened upon a lively barbecue with family and friends just celebrating life. Once they found out I spoke Spanish, they would not take “no” for an answer – a table and chairs appeared out of nowhere, plates were piled HIGH with food, and multiple types of beer were offered. Harry had to hold his own Spanish-wise as I got into a deep conversation with Alfonso. We both extolled the seemingly impossible turnaround for E.S. Four years ago, a BBQ like that wouldn’t have been possible; had they tried, someone likely would have died leaving home. But the recent abolishment of presidential term limits, continued suspension of many civil rights, and many other smaller incongruencies keep him cautious. We agreed that this new democracy is fragile and should be treated with great care to avoid spiraling into an authoritarian regime like their Central American neighbors.
Back on Solla Sollew, we were itching to move along. The next logical step was to fully check out of E.S. and head straight to Nicaragua, but a marina listed in a very old cruising guide had me intrigued. It was located far up a river on the southern end of the coast and more importantly, was within walking distance to a monkey reserve. Harry desperately wanted to see monkeys, and this seemed promising. But no one we knew had ever been to the marina, and the phone numbers no longer worked. I persisted, tracked down a working WhatsApp number, and made arrangements with a panga captain to guide us over the bar and up the river.
Puerto Barillas had been a yacht club / marina in the early aughts. For obvious reasons, they couldn’t operate for several years, but had recently reopened for business. They were THRILLED to welcome us, their first cruisers in memory, to enjoy their beautiful pools, showers, and gardens. They even comped us 2 nights in their amazing cabins back in a wooded grove. We toured a local artisan chocolate farm (wow!), but most importantly: MONKEYS. The Puerto Barillas Monkey Reserve houses around 50 wild spider monkeys, who live completely free and are only cared for in the form of protection of their grounds. Visitors can hand them bananas and mangos from the surrounding trees – but only some are brave enough to approach. The rest leap from branch to branch and scamper around using their incredibly strong tails like a 5th limb. We could’ve stayed for hours, seeing their goofy personalities, letting them play with our hair, and dutifully handing over bananas. Pure magic.
Our final stop in E.S. was brief, but we had to officially check out, and chose to do so from the island of Meanguera (preferred over the industrial port city of La Unión). We enjoyed our final Supremas (local beer), and I had another long and lovely chat with a guy about the honor and pride of Salvadorans. He told us that we wouldn’t be as safe in Honduras and Nicaragua, and that we probably shouldn’t go… 🙂
One Comment
Steve Williams
Really enjoyed reading about El Salvador and seeing all the photos!