October 27
Hello everyone!
After ten interesting and energy-sapping weeks of term, our school has a two week break. Time to explore!
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| Ziplining in the hills near Apaneca |
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| One of many painted murals in Apaneca |
There are many options around the region. The Caribbean coastlines, the different food options in different parts of Mexico, seeing sloths in Costa Rica…
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| An example tour of Central America - it misses out a lot! |
None of them yet. One reason for staying in El Salvador for these two weeks is Hannah’s arrival on the first Monday of the break. We wanted to use this time to get her settled and sort out the house. Probably wouldn’t be fair on her - or the dogs - to immediately head off to a different country.
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| Important sights, such as the local pub, need to be explored |
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| Maxi and Mini quite like staring at the neighbours |
This was balanced by my need to get out of the city. We decided to do a two-night trip to the west. Without really researching, I had booked a place in an inland town called Sonsonate.
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| It's a little over an hour to get to Sonsonate |
There isn’t much in the town itself, aside from a complex road system. There was some nice food, such as the steak at La Pampa. Covid and sanitary living is still taken very seriously here, as evidenced by the fact that the food was delivered in cling film.
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| This was our meal on night two - six different, delicious pupusas |
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| Steak at La Pampa, which came wrapped in cling film |
It was also far hotter than I thought it would be, making us very thankful for the air conditioning in the AirBnB. Less thankful for the fact that the owner didn’t respond when we couldn’t find the code to open the front door. Turns out we did have the code but it was hidden in the depths of the app.
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| A stunning view from our AirBnB neighbourhood |
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| Mood when we were 'locked out' |
Sonsonate is towards the bottom of a trail known as Rutas de las Flores: the Flower Route. This consists of a collection of towns and beauty spots along RN8, a road heading up from the beach towards Guatemala. It’s name comes from the beautiful flowers which bloom in the dry season, between November and February.
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These are the six main stops, from Ahuachapan
in the north to Nahuizalco in the south |
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| Lovely hydrangeas were a common sight in towns |
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| A multitude of colours |
The route isn’t that long, meaning you can go to the different places in any order. We decided to spend much of our first day in the village of Apaneca, about an hour north of Sonsonate. The drive up, often lined with trees and weaving around to offer views of distant volcanoes, was a treasure in itself.
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| One of the twenty or so volcanoes in the country |
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The dogs love a drive - they enjoyed it less when we bought
furniture which forced them to lie on the floor! |
Apaneca is a pretty village, with dashes of colour on the walls and floors adding to its calm charm. Being late morning on a Thursday, it was probably a lot quieter than it would be on weekends, when people come to escape the city bustle of San Salvador or Santa Ana.
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| Apaneca is almost 1,500 metres above sea level |
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| This tree, dominating the main square, is enormous |
Less calming, and at the same time amazing, was ziplining down a nearby mountain. This is a popular thing to do in Apaneca, and I can certainly see why. The bumpy drive up showcased many of the flowers, such as the beautiful red-pink ones in the picture below.
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| The truck ride took about 15 minutes to go up |
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| Not sure on the flower, it sounded like 'camarron' |
From the top, you can zip down 13 wires. The first five are short, designed to get you used to the technique and the speed.
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| One of the earlier zip lines |
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| Technique: probably lacking |
The sixth one suddenly shoots you over 400 metres across, taking you out of the trees and showing you incredible views of the surrounding landscape. Breathtaking. Also impossible to take a photo as you need two hands on at all times.
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| One of the zips is a 125 metre drop in 280 metres: rapido! |
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| Can you see me in the picture? |
The reason for using two hands is to control speed and direction, so you don’t start spinning around. This happened to me twice, with the second time being when I stupidly tried to pose for a photo.
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| Stunning views from some of the zip stations |
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| I started doing a 360 soon after this |
Apaneca is a bit of an adventure playground on this route. Another option - slightly more sedate - is a laberinto. If you’re thinking that sounds like labyrinth, you’d be spot on. A large hedge-filled maze on the edge of the city, with your mission being to get to the centre.
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| The labyrinth |
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| The maze was created about 10 years ago |
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| The maze was built by planting over 2,000 cypress trees |
Being situated on a hill adds to the challenge, particularly for two hot, tired dogs. It was relatively easy to find the middle…but then we really struggled to get out. We ended up using an emergency exit in order to finish.
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| It's total area is 45 sq m |
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| Lots of ups and downs! |
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You ring a bell in the centre. One person thought
that was unnecessary. I rang the bell anyway. |
Apaneca is a lovely spot and was a great way to start our road trip. The Ruta de las Flores has started to bloom and has started to show us both a different side to El Salvador.
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