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The delightful first mechanic, Erik. More slippery
than an eel covered with coconut oil. |
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| Christmas decorations often stayed up into February |
V is for…volcanes
Honorable mentions: viaje
Had to be, really. It sells itself as the Land of Volcanoes, after all. How many there are depends on your source. Wikipedia says 22, NASA says 20, other sources range from 6 to 170.
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| Boqueron - Santa Tecla's volcano |
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| Izalco - the most 'volcano-looking' of the volcanoes |
Volcanoes dominate the landmass. They’ve made crater lakes, such as Coatepeque (see C) and Ilopango.
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| Coatepeque |
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| Ilopango |
Their characteristics mean that many of the country’s numerous beaches are ‘black’.
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| Sunset at Acajutla, in the west of the country |
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| One of the beaches at El Zonte |
They are great for climbing and even running up and along (Santa Ana and Boqueron), camping atop (Conchagua, see C), or staring at in wonder whilst your car has broken down (San Miguel, see F).
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| Running up Santa Ana Volcano in the Ultravolcanes 2025 race |
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| On Conchagua Volcano, enjoying the sunrise |
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| On a morning run with San Miguel Volcano looming |
They have fascinating backstories (Izalco). You can slide down them (Boqueron). You can go in them and climb a baby volcano inside a volcano (Boqueron).
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On the crater rim of a steaming Izalco, which used to be
known as the Lighthouse of the Pacific as it would erupt so often |
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The Rainbow Slide down Boqueron:
note that rainbow colour... |
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| Inside Boqueron |
Santa Ana is the most visited - too visited, by too many people. We would always take a private guide, Delmy, to beat the crowds and for me to practise my Spanish (see H). But it seems to be the day trip to do, particularly from the surfing spots. I hope they monitor and regulate this in the future. Or have more people selling chocobananas at the top…
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| Our final time going up the 'normal' route, in May 2026 |
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| Dad and Mum scaling Santa Ana |
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The traffic jam, caused by the public groups that come up later in the day.
There's only one route up and down on the most popular way. |
W is for…Waze
Honourable mentions: Wi-Fi, Walmart
Waze is an app that helps you navigate traffic. It is beyond necessary in certain parts of El Salvador. This is partly because of the quality of the roads (see U), and partly because of the crazy volume of traffic.
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This long line of traffic? 5:58am. It was genuinely
faster for me to cycle to school than drive,
because of this and the one-way systems. |
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| An alternative bus |
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| Traffic is insane, even after the sun has gone down |
This is quite possibly the biggest complaint that many have about this country. At first I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the roads - Malawi rarely had more than one lane in each direction, after all. However, holes in this viewpoint soon emerged. Literally, as we swerved to avoid manholes that had had their covers removed for no apparent reason.
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| This overpass was completed whilst we lived here |
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The mayor of our department posted this just over a week ago, suggesting
they want to fix the problem as it is costing a lot of money to taxpayers |
Driving is not helped by: drivers who wouldn’t get near to passing a test in other countries; an increasing number of motorbike drivers who all feel that the white lines separating lanes are in fact a lane; an at times baffling one-way system in place in many places in the city; and a chaotic and frankly shoddy, polluting public transport system. Their drivers are arguably the worst of all.
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| Other driving issues can be funny: cows crossing! |
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| Not a fan of the buses |
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That is almost 50 minutes for almost
5 kilometres. After the dentist. Delightful. |
The nadir of traffic is the Los Chorros strip that takes you from Santa Tecla towards popular places like Lake Coatepeque, the Ruta de las Flores, the country’s second city of Santa Ana, and the volcano of the same name. It is hell unless driven on a Sunday. Some people use it to commute to school. I would either move, or quit. I wouldn’t be able to cope.
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| This was also our slipway onto Los Chorros... |
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| Accidents are common on Los Chorros |
It’s a minor miracle that we had no accidents when driving. Others have not been so lucky. It seems that people who are so sweet and lovely (see P) transform into F1 maniacs when behind the wheel.
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Improving the roads...at an inopportune time. This
was on our way to an overnight camping trip. |
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This incident went viral at the start of
the 2026 men's football World Cup |
X is for…Xolotl
Honourable mentions: xahcalmōyōtl
Neither of these are Spanish words. The pick here refers to a mythological figure for the Nahua, a group of people who lived here long before any European arrival.
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| This is not Xolotl, but this is a prehispanic statue |
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| Memorial to the massacre that killed about 1,000 people in 1981 |
It’s been enjoyable and interesting to learn about the people and life before the Spanish invasion. Elements of the influences of groups such as the Maya and Pipil are still visible today.
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The pose is not influenced by indigenous people -
I don't know what I am doing there |
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Depiction of life here before the Spanish,
found in MUNA, the main historical museum |
Holding an interest in history, I probably should have gone to see more of the pre-Hispanic sites in the country. The two I saw - Joy de Ceren and Cihuatán - were intriguing and wildly different.
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| Joya de Ceren, the 'Pompeii of the Americas' |
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| Cihuatan, a much more common style of ruin |
Obviously the impact of the Spanish arrival was devastating - often terminal - for most indigenous groups, though the Maya were long gone by the sixteenth century. It has resulted in beautiful architecture, if nothing else.
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| Artwork at MUNA |
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| El Salvador's National Palace |
More recent history is also tragic, in the form of the Civil War and gang takeover. The former is most evocative in the northeast of the country, where the El Mozote massacre happened. Seeing the seemingly never-ending list of names of missing in Parque Cuscatlan in El Salvador is also sobering.
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| Going into guerrilla tunnels in Perquin |
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| A lot of names. A lot of missing. |
Most countries have dark periods of history. I feel that El Salvador is coming through the other side, with the caveat of how the gang problem has been dealt with (see B). But for a small country, a lot has happened in this area. Removing words that start with X is one of them.
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| Hopefully this era is now firmly in the past |
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Dressing up 'Salvador Style' for Independence
Day celebrations in school |
Y is for…yaquear
Honourable mentions: yucca
This isn’t a Spanish word, either. Not one you’d find in the dictionary, at least. I’ve found out that it is Reggaeton slang for ‘dancing in your own style’. But it gives me a chance to talk about Reggaeton, and therefore music.
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Not much ukulele, this time - here I am playing
drums to help with an IPC Entry Point |
I’ve tried to get into Spanish language music. I think Bad Bunny is alright. But I like to listen to it on my own terms, and not have it blared at me from every other shop, market or bus.
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| Bad Bunny in his super Super Bowl show |
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| Buses pollute music as well as gas |
Nightlife, live music and dancing until dawn have not really been my thing for the last 10+ years. Other people will have far better ideas and thoughts about clubs and bars. The one bit of live music I went to see was an ABBA tribute band, and Hannah also went to see Ricky Martin. Yes, that Ricky Martin. Livin’ La Vida Loca and all that.
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| Republik Bar was the place for tribute acts |
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| Hannah knew 2 songs |
As the country’s reputation and safety grows, more international acts will come. Shakira came in February. I didn’t go as I couldn’t justify spending just under $100 on a ticket to essentially write a blog about seeing a famous singer, when so many people here worship her.
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| Shakira did a Central American 'residency' here in 2026 |
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Indoctrination into loud music is young, here: this is a
Grade 5 party that they have for finishing primary school |
Arguably preferable to the dum, dum-dum-dum, dum noise of every reggaeton song, mind. In small doses, fine. When it’s hard to escape from, it becomes annoying. Definitely showing my age, here!
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| Music not playing loudly in the pub, for a change |
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| On a boat, so away from music, in Suchitoto |
Z is for…zapote
Honourable mentions: zipline, Zacatillo
One thing that has surprised me is the new foods that I have discovered in El Salvador. I’d never heard of guayaba (different to a guava), ayote, chayote, jocote or zapote before. The latter has orange flesh around a shiny, dark stone, and can taste like a fig. Great when ripe, horrendous if it’s turned.
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| Elote loco: crazy corn! |
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| Zapotes at Santa Tecla's central market |
Many of these would be found at our weekend market put on by the Ministry of Agriculture (see M), though other new flavours such as alguashte (ground pumpkin seeds that can be eaten with fruit) can be found elsewhere.
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| Pan de Muerto - always looked forward to this in October and November |
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Not everything new is nice - I'm not a fan of micheladas, particularly
ones topped with prawns so that the fishy juice drops into the beer. |
New tastes have not been restricted to fresh produce. I relished any opportunity to have sopa de tortilla, and enjoyed stuffing myself with chicharron. I didn’t enjoy tamales as much, possibly scarred by my first experience of them when I only learnt after finishing that you’re not supposed to eat the banana leaf that is wrapped around them.
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This is actually sopa de gallina (chicken soup),
which we had after scaling El Trifino in Montecristo.
Out of shot is a massive piece of chicken. |
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| Fried pork belly or rind: tasty, but so dry! |
Of course, I cannot mention new food without giving a shoutout to the humble pupusa. The joke here is that you can keep any Salvadorean onside by saying how much you like pupusas. You’ll probably be asked if you’re here long enough.
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Frijol y queso (beans and cheese) is the standard - this
was before starting a volcano hike up Picacho |
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| This is how pupusas are made |
They’re good, particularly after a run (see Q) and when you need some sustenance. They are not the best thing you will ever eat in your life, but they’re good.
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| Three pupusas, all the trimmings: muy contenta |
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| Rum cocktails on a rum tour in Cihuatan |
We'll miss the food, we'll miss the people, we'll not miss the traffic. We've had a wonderful four years in El Salvador!
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| The sign at check-in in the airport |
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| Adios volcanoes |
Love you all,
Matt
