El Salvador - Scaling a Rabbit

December 12-13

Hello everyone!

We’re heading into the El Salvador endgame. With the decision made that we will be leaving the country in June 2026, my mind has sharpened into making sure that I use the next six months to continue to enjoy and explore the ‘Land of Volcanoes’.

View of Cerro Eramon

View of 5 de Noviembre Reservoir

I’ve made a list of places I want to visit - or in some cases, revisit - before heading for pastures new. Many of those have recently become more accessible as my ankle has continued to heal. One of those places, and the focus of this blog, is the ‘Mountain of the Rabbits’: Cerro Eramón. 

The peak is 937m high

I’d call it a hill rather than a mountain. It’s found in the northern department of Chalatenango. One of the larger ‘states’ in the country, it hosts a wide variety of wonders, such as El Salvador’s highest mountain and largest lake.

Up Cerro El Pital, El Salvador's highest peak

Maxi and Mini enjoying Lake Suchitlan

Eramón is in the eastern part of Chalatenango, making it a relatively long drive. On a whim, I had signed up for a hike up the big hill to take in the sunrise at the top. 

Spoiler alert: I made it

Many tour companies offer trips to Eramon,
but usually Saturday-Sunday

This involved driving down to central San Salvador for an 11:30pm start. On a Friday night, having had the usual hectic build-up-to-Christmas week at work. A group of 5 of us - the others being total strangers to me - hopped on a minibus to head northeast, picking up three more people on the way.

Looks very different at 11pm at night...

It was a lot quicker than this on the way

We were headed to the brilliantly-named village of Nombre de Jesus: the Name of Jesus. From here, at about 2am, we hopped in the back of a pick-up truck, which would take us up some steep ‘roads’ - let’s just call it off-roading - to the starting point: a football pitch.

Jesus' town is in the Christmas spirit

The ride made reminded me I don't have the most maximus of glutteuses

When communicating with this company, they had suggested that people bring lots of clothes due to the cold. As we were ascending, and it is December, I had followed their advice. My hat, gloves and gilet never saw the light…or night. The fleece didn’t last long, either. Surprisingly mild, with thin clouds often separated enough to showcase a dazzling array of stars twinkling high in the sky.

What was needed was a head torch - I had visited the
recently-opened Decathlon the day before to buy one

My star pictures are always rubbish but there are
two white lights (out of 100s) if you look closely

It wasn’t an overly technical hike, with the main hold-ups being waiting for others in the group to catch up. We meandered to the ‘top’ of the hill, still blanketed in darkness, at a little before 4am.

It's not designated as a national park

Towns, not stars

From here, our guide said that another 2 kilometre hike would take us to the best spot for sunrise. This was a bit steeper and slightly more precarious, particularly the first section when descending before rising again onto the crag.

Making our way to the Peñon or crag -
essentially, the sticky-out bit just below the peak

The view accompanying an Oasis song

We arrived a bit before 5am, allowing me to have a little bit of shuteye under the stars before waking to see the sky start to change.

This was at 05:45 - sunrise was officially about 06:08

Hello Honduras!

It was a beautiful, tranquil moment. Aside from the muppet who decided to blare ‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’ by Oasis at 5:30am, just as a yellow strip was beginning to form on the horizon. Thankfully, he soon put his phone away, leaving about 20 people on the small strip of land to hear only whispers and the wind.

The most popular photo spot

The colours change drastically when zoomed in

To the northeast, you have distant mountains in Honduras. To the southeast you can see Charapastique, also known as San Miguel volcano. To the south, a small lake and the Rio Lempa. Behind the mountains to the southwest would be San Salvador - I think we were able to see its lights in the dark. To the west is Cerro Eramón. Almost 360 degrees of powerful, imposing nature.

Honduras in the distance

Hiking San Miguel is on the list, but the Friday
trip didn't have enough people this time

Golden hour light made Eramon look pretty special

After spending some time admiring the view in daylight, our group trudged down. I was running on fumes at this point, a lack of decent sleep throughout the week being exacerbated by hiking through the night. A couple of early slight slips reminded me that my ankle needs me to go a bit slower on these sections. Going slowly allowed us to see some parakeets, at least.

Can you spot the parakeet?

That football pitch is where we started - what a view behind it!

As our bus got stuck in a turgid traffic jam due to a car accident, it took 4 hours to return to the capital: a 113 km drive. This allowed me to pinch a bit more sleep, as well as be thankful that I went to the bathroom in Nombre de Jesus. It also allowed me to picture a lovely sunrise once more. Cerro Eramon is a lovely spot. It’s not one visited by masses of people, and I have preferred sunrise points in the country. Nonetheless, I’m glad I dragged my weary body up and down Rabbit Hill to take in another hidden gem from El Salvador.

Lovely sunrise

Looking slightly tired with that view!

Love you all,

Matt