Theme: Central American Adventure Tour Country: El Salvador Languages: Spanish Unit of Currency: USD (dollar) Locations: El Tunco & La Libertad Year: 2013 Bucket list: Surfing on a volcanic beach
DO: SURF A BLACK VOLCANIC BEACH
El Tunco:
- Surfing a black volcanic beach with Yo (a very good-looking native)
- Photographing the surf culture
- Hanging out with the locals
- Indulging in local beer of Pilsener and eating shrimp ceviche
- Schooling the boys on pool
- Watching the locals make jewelry and then later buying a few pieces
An Independence Day El Salvadorian Style: I underestimated how large El Salvador really is! A very rocky boat ride, 2 chicken buses, 2 bike tuk tuks, and a 3 hour truck “taxi” ride has led me to a very beautiful coastal Pacific surfing village in the mountains!
Time to rest up for the 4th of July’s festivities – a local beer, Pilsener, in 1 hand & in the other my new Sony videocamera (compliments of Guatemala)! Not to mention flip-flops, board shorts, and bikini top will be the proper attire for tomorrow!
The El Salvadorans will definitely get a taste of how this Americano celebrates the 4th of July! Sun, beach, sand, & surfing is highly on the list for this year’s celebration!
Should be an epic day! Thinking of loved ones, my best friends, and all of my American offshore friends – Have a fantastic 4th of July!
El Salvador Favorites:
1) Surfing the Pacific coast with a rather good-looking and fun surfer instructor. First off, I should state that I had no clue how difficult and dangerous this local surf spot actually was. Generally I love to take risks, and when I found myself paddling outside my comfort zone to reach the first break in waves, I realized just how big and violent these rolling thunders were!
Imagine yourself attached to a surfboard with an ankle leash, and that your mission is to successfully stand on the board once a wave breaks to shore. Ideally, we call this Surfing, but what happens when you factor in a rocky volcanic shoreline stretching for miles and 2-3 meter waves in a set of 6 waves consistently crashing into you? My end result was a rather good one, but a painful one at that. Good news is that I FINALLY stood up and could say that I battled El Tunco’s surf. Lesson I learned – even though you have a surfer instructor with a nice smile and a sweet six pack, leave the expert zone to the more advanced riders! tongue emoticon
2) Celebrating The 4th of July in a cool environment. As a girl who adores her board shorts, tank tops, flip-flops, and struts a laid-back attitude this Surfer’s paradise made the perfect location to bring in Independence Day. I could not have pictured a better place to chill out, surf, have a few local beers on the beach, and create new friendships.
3) Meeting the flamboyant and sweet locals. Each one of the residents I met I could not help to notice the positive vibes that I was getting from them. A gentleman, Horhe, told me how stoked he was to meet me – definitely nice to hear from an El Salvadorian with a chill personality! That did not stop with him, even the waiter, store clerks, and surfers made a kind gesture to approach me first and strike up a conversation. I will admit, a handful of them only spoke English, but this was another way to improve my Spanish.
The nightlife is great, it was evident with such a small surf town that I would run into some familiar daylight faces. Disco and cold pouring beer were the the highlights at one of the beach pubs, ironically this was the ONLY beachfront disco bar open! Like the locals, fellow backpackers, and travelers alike, the company was awesome. I ended the perfect day hanging out with my stellar surfer instructor, a few of his friends shooting pool, and pointers flipped back at me to become a better surfer.
