October 18-20
Hello everyone!
What you are about to see is Plan C. A lovely Plan C, but not the intention of how we would spend the first part of our two-week break.
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| Cascada el Limo |
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| Dinosaur bone sculpture in the Geological Museum of Parque el Limo |
Plan A was to visit parts of neighbouring Honduras. When we drove through Honduras to reach Nicaragua two years ago, there was no problem with getting into the country. Since August 2024, however, it has become more difficult for British citizens to enter Honduras, needing a visa that is not easy to acquire. It made me realise how lucky I am that I rarely have to jump through so many hoops to simply enter a different country.
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Screenshot of pictures of the facility where
I went to get a police background check |
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| The list of documents required for the Honduras visa |
I could have got the visa but our plan was scuppered by the fact that no major car rental company will allow you to enter Honduras from El Salvador with their car. Visiting potentially majestic places such as the ruins of Copan and Lake Yojoa is thus on the backburner.
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| This dog seems sad that we couldn't go to Honduras |
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How I initially felt that Plan A fell through, before
quickly parking it and moving on to Plan B |
Plan B was therefore hastily created. This involved heading north to one of the places I desperately want to visit this year: Montecristo National Park. This biosphere contains the only cloud forest in the country, and is said to host a plethora of wildlife.
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A Google Image search of Montecristo
National Park. Looks nice, eh? |
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| What I imagine Montecristo looks like. This is in Parque el Limo... |
It is also said to be difficult to get to, with its entrance road being far, far higher than the nearby town of Metapán. That makes for a steep climb up to the cloud forest - over 1500 metres.
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| Metapán is red, Montecristo is blue. Parque el Limo is yellow... |
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| View of the highlands from Metapán |
We had already been told in advance that we would need a 4x4 with ‘double traction’, hinting at the state of the road. We had organised visiting with an external company, who then informed us shortly before we left Santa Tecla that Montecristo was…shut. For the foreseeable future. A lot of rain had fallen in the previous week. Visiting Montecristo is thus also…on the backburner.
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| Birds like this one can see Montecristo from the sky! |
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| The clock has stopped on Montecristo...for now... |
We asked the company whether there were any other options that were available and open. They responded with a place I had not heard about before: Parque el Limo. A little bit of research uncovered…very little. A geo-touristic site with a museum and a waterfall.
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| A field in Parque el Limo, with a waterfall in the distance |
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| No, I didn't break the law - this was a turn-off for a private property |
The research seemed to suggest that Parque el Limo was quite close to Montecristo and still quite high in comparison to Metapán. We were assured that we would be able to make it, so set off at 7:30am in a truck with huge wheels.
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Note that Parque el Limo is almost in the dark
green part...which we knew was very high... |
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| Path: muddy in parts |
We made it…most of the way. Caution tape straddling a bridge - and this after a fair bit of muddy driving - meant that the last section needed to be done by foot. It quickly became clear that it was going to challenge all of us. Partly to see if it was worth it for the others to try, and partly because I’m that type of person, I hauled myself up the incredibly steep and occasionally scree-slippery road the other side of the bridge. If it could talk, my ankle probably would have screamed at me.
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This was the first section, just after the bridge.
I'd estimate the gradient to be 15-20%. |
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| Cows couldn't really have gone up or down... |
A 20+ minute slog (why I didn’t leave the drinks with the others is…well, hindsight and all that) got me up to a quaint house with what looked like a restaurant. A couple were having breakfast, their table overlooking a beautiful view of the countryside. They said that they had slept up here and were about to hike to the aforementioned waterfall with a guide. It turns out that you need a guide to go, so I tagged along with them. Not with the donkey.
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| Seemingly far away from civilisation...but with a large TV |
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Metapán is famed in El Salvador for its milk products. This donkey
had been carrying a large barrel of milk before stopping here. |
More than one waterfall, as it transpires. This first one had a fun offshoot to the side. The water wasn’t too cold. I didn’t swim as I knew the others were waiting for me at the bottom of that steep road.
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Our guide leading the charge across
one of several rickety bridges |
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| Waterfall #1 |
The second waterfall - accessible with slight risk on narrow rocks unless you want to get your feet wet, which I didn’t - was also a joy, a cacophony of noise and a cool, refreshing mist emanating from its cascades.
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| Not Montecristo levels, but some pretty wildlife on the way |
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| Waterfall #2 |
That museum I mentioned was also at the top of the savagely steep road. The lady of the house strolled down with the key to open it up so I could go inside.
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| The lady opening the museum |
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| It seems that a lot of discoveries happened in 1979 |
Metapán is located in the oldest geological zone in El Salvador. They have found fossils from the Cretaceous period, making them more than 150 million years old. They also have a fossilised crocodile head…
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This was a large mollusc, with the whole animal apparently being
as large as a bus. It was found in Morocco, far from her. |
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| If you see a crocodile... |
Having taken an age to safely get myself down (at one point I had to briefly descend on my bum), I found the rest of the team and returned to Metapán. This small town was a pleasant surprise in itself, with a lovely square and excellent food.
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| The church was constructed in the 18th century |
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| Steak, chorizo, beans, guacamole...yes please! |
I enjoy planning trips. I particularly enjoy carefully planning something and seeing it work successfully. I do equally, however, take great pleasure in the trips that need a Plan C. We will get to Honduras. We will get to Montecristo. I’m glad I got up to the top of Parque el Limo and was able to savour Metapán.
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| Sun setting in warm Metapán |
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| Standing at waterfall #1 |
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| "Change your life". Certainly changed our plans for this! |
Love you all,
Matt
