After our Honduran Interlude, we made it to Central America’s smallest and most densely populated country, and the only country in the world named directly after Jesus Christ – ‘El Salvador’ translates to ‘The Saviour’ in English.
We didn’t actually fly into El Salvador though, contrary to the title of this blog post, we just caught the ‘chicken bus’ over from Honduras. But ever since listening to London indie rock band Athlete’s song lyrics to the aptly named ‘El Salvador’ on my bus journeys to school all those years ago, humming along to the lyrics “Fly to El Salvador, I don’t know why and I don’t know what for…”, I’d always had an urge to go to the place, to find out what the “what for” in the song was they were always singing about actually was.
Due to its location, conveniently situated on the ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’, the country endures frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions – similar to it’s cousin nations throughout the Central American region. Hurricanes are also a regular occurrence, frequently sweeping in from the Caribbean. However, Salvadorians don’t let these often unexpected and un-preventable events quiet their vibrant culture, they take it all in their free-spirited stride.
Despite El Salvador’s tarnished reputation (along with Honduras) as one of the most dangerous countries in Central America, we actually thoroughly enjoyed our time there and found the locals to be both friendly and welcoming. We based ourselves in the Pacific coastal town of El Tunco (‘The Pig’ in Salvadoran slang, ‘pig’ in actual Spanish is ‘cerda’, so there you go) named after the pig-like rock formation found along its black sand beach. Originally a quiet unassuming fishing village, it gained notoriety in the 1970s and 80s as a popular surfing destination due to its consistently good waves and is now a top tourist destination in Central America for the surf-hungry, and others who are simply chasing that laid back surfer vibe. We tried our hand at surfing the pretty gnarly waves during our time, checking out the wonders of Tunco Caves at low tide, and yes, of course I found some chocolate!
Early one morning while Sam was still napping in the hammock at La Guitarra I took a wander down the Rio Grande beach towards Playa El Tunco. Feeling the cool sand between my toes was a luxury, before the sun had a chance to warm the black sands of the beach to a fiery lava like temperature that results in the highly entertaining ‘sand dance’ for anyone who has ventured out without their flip flops.
It was during this morning wander that I came across Arcangel Zamora setting up his small stall – Cacaomiel – serving delightful little pots of perfectly blended cacao, honey and coconut oil. Arcangel explained to me he had a smallholding of cacao trees slightly inland and that all the chocolate he was selling was made using beans from his own trees and honey from his own bees – two perfect medicinal products blended together with coconut oil to offer a multitude of benefits for the human body. I couldn’t resist so I picked up a couple of tubs to try out and take back to our cabin – the perfect morning pick me up. When we came back a little while later the stall had gone, presumably because the location would now be too warm, this just added to the mystery and magic of that morning moment discovering cacao on the beach, the only lasting memory being the final smears of honey blended with cacao that we managed to eeke out of the tubs over the next week, it was only a shame we were not staying longer.
Did I find my “what for” from Athlete’s song lyrics, you might be wondering? Yes, yes I did, in many different ways. We found relaxation listening to the rain drumming on the corrugated iron roof of our accommodation during a rain storm of biblical proportions, we found our surf feet (almost!) once the storm had cleared, we found calmness in the Tunco Caves, we found new friends (and a couple of old ones we’d met from our journey so far).
And I found tranquility, peace and just the right amount of magic in a fresh morning walk at sunrise, where I discovered the mystical medicinal products of Cacaomiel on the cool sands of Playa El Tunco, because let’s face it, chocolate is always my “what for”.
The Adventures of Elle Coco 