January 31-February 1
Hello everyone!
El Salvador has many hidden gems, one of them being a place where you can pretty much be in three countries at once. It’s quite a rare occurrence in the world for the borders of three countries to meet, and there’s one right here. A very cool and rare opportunity.
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El Trifino. Other famous examples include Iguazu Falls, Vaalserberg and The Golden Triangle.
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It was this goal in mind that I travelled with three friends north to Montecristo, a national park in the northwest of El Salvador. If you read this blog regularly, you’ll have seen that name pop up before. I tried - and failed - to go in October 2025.
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| Looking up at Montecristo on the way into Parque el Limo |
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| Enjoying waterfalls outside of Montecristo |
It has been fairly easy to travel in and around Central America’s smallest country since I arrived here…with the exception of Montecristo. Part of the reason for this is bureaucracy, and part of it is due to the weather.
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It is part of the ‘La Fraternidad Biosphere Reserve’, which spans the three countries |
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| Montecristo was the first protected area declared in El Salvador, in 1987 |
Firstly, the park is closed at certain times of the year to allow breeding and regrowth. I like that idea. When it is open, entering this national park requires paperwork, as well as pledges to not bring things such as disposable cutlery. I also like that idea. It would be nice if at least some of the proceeds were then spent giving the road from the main gate into the heart of the park a little bit of TLC. Clearly, they don’t like that idea. This is what has scuppered me before - the road becomes impassable during wet weather.
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It’s often closed as it is a ‘biological corridor’ for various endangered species |
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| This was a bushy-crested jay
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Getting to the point of three borders - called El Trifino - involves a bit of a hike when inside Montecristo. As we wanted to go relatively early, we stayed in the nearby town of Metapán the night before, taking in its lovely square and slightly strange football stadium. Not often you have concrete walls a metre or so behind the goals…
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Last time I came, this square had corrugated iron up around it. Much nicer now! |
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| Isidro Metapán are quite a successful team,
and won this match 1-0. We missed the goal.
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The following morning was an early start to be collected by Yessica, our guide and driver. Her pick-up truck possibly could have fitted all of us inside; I opted for the traditional experience of sitting in the open air at the back.
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A 4x4 is essential - my little Yaris would not have got anywhere near the top |
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I wouldn't say it's a common method of transport, but
you do see it often enough for it to not be weird |
The park opens at 7:30. Getting to the entrance from Metapán is quick, and paperwork is easy enough with names having been submitted in advance. It’s then a little under 20 kilometres from the entrance to the main visiting area called Los Planes. Sitting in the back of the pickup allowed us to see some impressive views as we rose in altitude. When we weren't bumping too much...
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| View of Metapán from the truck |
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We stopped at this viewpoint on the way back - that is
Lake Guija, which I briefly visited last October |
Montecristo is home to a lot of wildlife. We were never likely to see a puma - spoiler, we didn’t - but did come across a group of pezote, a white-nosed coati. The raccoon-like animals were sniffing around in the brush under increasingly-sparse foliage. We stood up in the truck to see them.
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Central America as a region has more than 7% of all the species
on the planet, many of which are not found elsewhere on Earth |
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| Montecristo is said to have the most biodiversity in the
country, alongside El Imposible National Park
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It was almost at this point - specifically, about 30 seconds later - when it dawned on those of us in the open air that we had been quite sheltered from the cooling temperature and rising wind. All of a sudden, it was Arctic. This was also the moment when I realised that I had definitely not packed enough clothes. A pair of gloves would have been very much appreciated by my hands as they started turning white whilst we rattled along at quite a clip up the path. We eventually made it to Los Planes, with my teeth chattering and my brain telling me that a baseball cap was not the type of hat I needed.
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We were rising quickly - from 500 metres in Metapán to almost 1900 metres at Los Planes |
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| Near the start of our hike - it started relatively steeply |
Added to my naivety was the fact that the country was on the cusp of a cold snap. Hiking through El Salvador’s only cloud forest was therefore going to be…brisk.
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| Not wearing shorts. Fools. |
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Some of the trees are up to 30 metres tall
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The forest itself was stark yet stunning. It started with trees soaring high into the increasingly milky sky. Leaving early - we started walking just after 9am whereas others waiting for public guides left at least 30 minutes later - allowed us to have the trail and the trees to ourselves. Tranquility at its finest.
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| Common tree types are pine, cypress and oak |
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I don't think this was caused by the wind, though as you'll see
in the video below, the trees were having a good ol' time... |
As we ascended, the types of trees changed and the air became damp. Greenery was now less from foliage and more from creeping moss, which hung heavy with moisture on the trunks and branches. Yesica pointed out some indigenous trees to us as we walked onwards and upwards. Not particularly steep at this point, and still beautiful in a slightly haunting way. Also still cold whenever we were slightly exposed to the wind.
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| An indigenous tree fern |
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| Mossy |
After a while, you reach a door: Puerto Trifino. Getting to the top from here would have been very challenging without the artificial additions, specifically a boardwalk (slippery) and a couple hundred or so steps (slippery). An impressive construction considering what the weather must have been like for the workers responsible for making it. They probably had raincoats or windbreakers. I should have thought about that, this being a damp cloud forest.
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| The door to the top |
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| I read that this was built in 2011 |
After many steps, a clearing. The top of Cerro Montecristo. 2418 metres above sea level, El Salvador’s third-highest peak…and a small, white obelisk. The border. To the northwest: Guatemala. To the northeast: Honduras. For a British citizen, possibly the easiest way to get into Honduras, given their visa requirements at present.
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I think that this particular border was established in 1821 |
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| The obelisk is about 3 metres tall
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We didn’t expect a view from the top, being a cloud forest and hiking through cool weather. It was also to be expected that the wind would feel quite strong up top. Luckily, we were able to escape it in ‘Guatemala’ behind the strange monument you see below.
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| Can't see much of Guatemala... |
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| This dwarfs the obelisk a bit... |
This is the observation tower (it didn’t look particularly climbable). It was built to represent three pillars of Mayan culture, each of which are shown on one particular side: the sun, the wind and the moon. We also learnt at the top that no such hike exists to reach El Trifino from neither Guatemala nor Honduras. Seems like a missed opportunity.
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The tower is a monument to the fact that this is a
recognised UNESCO World Heritage Site |
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This stub marks the official border between Guatemala
and Honduras - it's about 20 metres from the obelisk |
After enjoying the fact that we had reached the peak, and smashing a variety of nuts and chocolate bars (breakfast hadn’t really happened), we started our approximately 6 km descent. It was close to the door that we started to come across other hikers. Quite a few groups, meaning it would have been crowded at the top. Certainly made me glad we paid a little bit more for a guide who could leave earlier.
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Other parties heading up what I read is
about 750 steps to the top |
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You can't start hiking after a certain time, as every
day visitor must leave the park by 3pm |
I wouldn’t say it was warm when we returned to Los Planes, but certainly warmer. We were pretty hungry by this point, so the sopa de gallina (chicken broth soup, served with a side of a large bit of chicken amongst other things) we were then given was timed to perfection.
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| Without the clouds, there were stunning views |
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The soup on its own was great - the huge
plate came after I took this picture |
Montecristo is an effort. An effort to get to, an effort to be allowed in to, an effort to scale. But it is absolutely worth it. Incredibly peaceful and a world away from city life. Worth the cold (if you come, dress much more appropriately), worth the sore legs the next day, and worth the wait. Count on Montecristo.
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| An amazing spiderweb that looks like a cube |
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| Total hike of just under 11km, taking just under 4 hours |
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No phone signal throughout - a blessed escape |
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| Trifino: conquered! |
Love you all,
Matt
