YouTube Video of El Salvador

Great shots of the undiscovered nature of El Salvador choreographed to uplifting music!

YouTube Video of El Salvador

Family fun in El Salvador

We just returned from a family trip to El Salvador. John, from the Tamarindo Touring Company is such a wealth of information about the country's history, its people and its culture. He has such a personal investment in the country and his love for it is evident. It made our visit that much more enjoyable. We especially appreciate that he made Aidan feel soooo special in so many little ways. He is Aidan's hero for getting him a REAL Corbo (machete) to take home. He also took him to get ice cream spontaneously, allowing me and Ken to have some alone time that we didn't expect to have at all! The addition of Rose to our group made it even better. What an exceptional young lady! She's the best of both her parents, I think. She was sweet and patient with Aidan, and was a valuable interpreter for me! She and John entertained Aidan for part of the evening in Apaneca so that Ken and I could have our dinner together (Papusas--delish)...again, totally unexpected and sweet.
Highlights? Everything! The beach house!! We felt like rock stars! I have never felt so pampered. John had a glass of iced tea in my hand before I realized I was thirsty. Carmen was an excellent cook. We requested local food and loved every bite. Even Aidan did!! Everyone should experience that. It's ridiculous to go to a foreign country and not immerse yourself in their food! Our fish dinner at Paradise was to die for! Our trip into San Salvador to meet up with Ken's friends was fine, but eating dinner at Benihana was a downer for me!!! All I could think about was how much better Carmen's food was compared to that!!
Jardin de Celeste was so charming and I wish we could have spent a week there!! The canopy tour was the biggie highlight for Aidan. We all loved it. Altaca, where John took us so I could do a little bit of souvenir shopping, was really interesting. I loved the murals painted on the buildings. I bought some textiles, small artwork, and jewelry.
The big highlight for me and Ken was the deep sea fishing trip. What a rush!! We were blessed with really nice weather and very calm seas. I surprised everyone and hauled in a 170 lb sailfish! It took three of the guys to get it up on the side of the boat!! Thanks to Juan, the pilot, for assisting. I didn't realize how much the boat pilot does during a big fish fight like that!!
The last two days were nice and relaxing for me. Surfing for Ken, boogie boarding, playing with the towables on the estuary. Aidan and Ken went kayaking as a father-son bonding thing, which was fine with me! I just wanted to spend another day laying like a slug next to the pool! The last night we had a big bbq and invited the people that had been helping to take care of us the whole week, and their families. They enjoyed looking at pictures of the week, and the kids had a great time playing. We definitely want to come back to El Salvador. It's a beautiful country, the people are gracious, the food is outstanding, and there is so much to do, see, and learn about! Next time I want to do more sight-seeing of historical places in addition to some of the adventure type activities. We'll plan for 2 wks next time. One week went by much too fast! Hopefully we'll be planning our next trip for the year after next!!

'The best day...of my whole life'

(Editors note: Our guest blogger, Paul, visited El Salvador with his family and traveled with Tamarindo Touring Company during Spring Break. Although Paul's days of writing school essays about 'How I spent my vacation' are over, he offered to share his story about 'The best day...of my whole life.' )

There we were, in front of the boat that we were going to be on for the next 8 hours deep sea fishing in El Salvador. I was extremely excited for this. It was the first day of our week long vacation. I was completely wide awake, even though it was early in the morning. The boat was pretty big, it was two levels of white deck and had some couches and chairs on the inside. We started to take off and I was even more excited sitting in the front with the wind in my face, hoping to catch a bigger fish than the family record which is 62 lbs. I had no idea how lucky I would get.

It started with the mahi mahi. The boat was trolling 7 lures and I was designated to bring in the first fish. We were about 1 hour into the voyage and I heard a loud zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!!!!! noise and I knew we had one. They strapped me into the fighting chair and gave me a pole, with a reel as big as my face. I started cranking and I was surprised how easy it was. Then I saw the fish come out of the water. It had a giant flat yellow face and was the biggest fish I had ever caught by far. Captain Lucio, Captain Beto and John all yelled at once the Spanish name for the fish…..DORADO!!! Beto gaffed the fish and brought it safely into the boat and I got a few pictures with my new personal record. John estimated this fish to be about 30 lbs!

Not too long after we put my fish into the boat freezer I heard the familiar zzzzzzzzzzzz! My brother Michael had one! This one was gonna be bigger than mine the second I saw it come out of the water. It was a mahi mahi as well and as soon as they saw it, the guys yelled…Dorado. But unlike with my fish, Beto did not gaff it right and the big guy got away. Michael was sad but quickly got over it when we heard the line zip again and this time it was my dad’s turn, our third mahi mahi! This time we actually got it in and I was amazed, this thing was easily twice the size of mine and it weighed in at about 70 lbs, this was starting to become a very good day!

The more we went out to sea, the more that we were amazed with this country. The water was completely calm with hardly any waves at all. You don’t even find this level of calm water in a small lake back home in Indiana. The other thing that amazed me was the sea turtles. They just sat there with no worries at all. I spotted them one by one and as we were sailing out, I counted 80 or so. But sea turtles were not the only animals out on the sea, there were dolphins, and in gigantic quantities. Hundreds of dolphins and I am not exaggerating at all. They were swimming all around the boat and we just could not get enough of them, we watched them and got lots of pictures for at least an hour, they were on all sides of the boat. It was I sight that I will never forget.

The dolphins came and went all of the time. But about 6 hours into the trip we saw huge numbers of the, not your typical bottle nosed dolphin, but the rare spinner dolphins. They are amazing not only because they are a sure sign of big fish, but that they do a corkscrew motion as they fly spinning into the air, this technique is used to corral all of the little fish into one area, but where there are little fish, there are also AMARILLO!!!! It was amazing, I didn’t know what I was in for when I caught a yellow finned tuna on the line this little sucker fought. Beto and Lucio and John shouted Amarillo….. and then to my surprise, my dad had one too! It was a double header with Johns’s favorite fish in the sea!! Yellow finned tuna. After I got this one in, everyone was extremely excited. But before we had time to put our heads down my dad had another one, and he was a fighter.

No one knew what kind of fish that this would be, but when this giant pointed nose came out of the water followed by a sail, we had a pretty good guess. It was a sailfish, and a big one at that. This definitely topped our family record and maybe even doubled it. It fought for a while and could barely get on the boat. It took two grown men to lift it up so we could get a picture with this monster. It was 150lbs. After that, we decided that we should head back, we were already late, but then we heard the sound again zzzzzzzzzzz ! It was Michael’s last fish and we could somehow tell that it was going to be big. We knew that because Michael couldn’t reel the wild thing in, in fact, it looked like the reel was stuck in place. He could not get it to budge. It seemed to be stuck in place. But when the fish wanted to, it could take off and go forever if it wanted.

Michael couldn’t reel it in so I tried. I used two hands on the reel and got it to budge a little, inch by inch. Just when it was about to break the water, it went off again like a speeding bullet. Eventually we saw it go to the surface and realized that it’s head must have been the size of the entire sailfish. It was a Marlin! The guys shouted Marliiin!!!!!! And the kids were kicked off of the deck. With a wild animal like this, you had to be careful. MY dad took the chair.

It had to have been the longest fight that I have ever seen. My dad was in a constant struggle with this thing. He would pull way up and then lean down and reel it in. It must have taken 20 minutes when we finally got it close to the boat. It was 400 lbs which is at least 5 times bigger then the old family record. I doubt we will ever catch a fish that big ever again. When John tried to grab this thing, it speared his arm and his arm was covered in blood. We got about 100 pictures of it and then let it go.

Later on we found that we had been gone 2 extra hours. It was the best day ever. I told my dad, ”if our vacation had stopped here, this would be the best trip ever.” Total we caught 2 mahi mahi 2 yellow finned tuna, 1 sailfish and one giant marlin. I counted 126 sea turtles and tried to count the dolphins but there were just too many. This definitely was the best day of the trip of my whole life.

Tourism helps on many levels!

There is an ongoing debate on the effects of tourism on developing countries. Global travel has certainly exploded over the past few years with many vacation travelers searching out undiscovered destinations and alternatives to a typical vacation such as adventure tours, vacations with a purpose, volunteer vacations, vacation with a heart, etc. Many of the 'undiscovered' destinations unsurfaced are in developing countries. Is tourism good for developing countries? Does it ultimately help the indigenous people or does the tourism industry tend to reward only the wealthy investors from developed countries?

Tamarindo Touring Company has invested a lot of time and money create viable and sustainable jobs in El Salvador.

I recently read an article featured in Tourism Review that discussed community-based tourism entitled: A misguided quest: Community-Based Tourism in Latin America. This article concludes that; 'it is working with mainstream tourism to strengthen links between tourism and local people – often indigenous populations who are located in disadvantaged regions and have vulnerable livelihoods.' Obviously, that is the approach we at TTC have taken, but what are your thoughts?

El Salvador Tourism Video

Just came across this video on El Salvador on YouTube. Thought it was pretty decent. It is hard to imagine all these beautiful places in one small country -- but even this video doesn't capture all E.S. has to offer. My only complaint, the video does not give justice to the great food we experienced in El Salvador!

Dispelling the Myths about El Salvador

#1 Myth: El Salvador is a dangerous country.

El Salvador, like every other country, has it's challenges. Crimes related to gangs are on the rise in cities like San Salvador. Gang related crime is also on the rise in many U.S. and European cities, but does that keep travelers from visiting those cities? No, it does not. Using common sense and taking simple precautions when traveling anywhere are always advisable -- just as locking your doors at home and while driving in a car are advisable even if you live or drive in a safe areas close to your home. The important fact on which to dwell is that crimes against tourists are nearly non- existent in El Salvador. When traveling to El Salvador, if you are staying in San Salvador, it is imperative to know the area of town in which you are going to stay. It is also not advised to explore the city of San Salvador by foot. The hotel concierge is a great resource for sightseeing information. There are many beautiful, upscale, and safe areas of San Salvador -- but you can not assume you can walk from one area to another. Traveling with a tour guide or by taxi is recommended.

Once you leave the city of San Salvador, you will find the country to be much less chaotic and the pace of life much slower. You will also discover that the Salvadoran people very kind and helpful. It is highly recommended to venture out of the city and explore some of El Salvador's beautiful nature areas and attractions; El Impossible, Monte Cristo, Apaneca, Suchitoto, Morazan, Joya de Ceren, National Volcano Park, Ilopongo Lake, El Pital, the beach areas and estuaries -- and all of these areas are quite safe. Infact, El Salvador was the first, and continues to be the only, Central American country that has established a System of Tourism Safety (STS). At a January 2008 meeting of the Central American Council of Tourism (CCT), it was determined that the System of Tourism Safety developed in El Salvador would be adopted throughout the Central American region. This system provides trained tourism police in the popular tourist areas.

In El Salvador, many businesses employ armed guards to protect their property and patrons. This can be unnerving at first since most travelers are not used to seeing this type of security in other countries. This seems to be a result of cultural traditions mixed with the need to employ people who had developed few skills during the civil war years. Most often you will find these guards very friendly and willing to help you in any way. At worst, they are reserved, but are never threatening.

If you don't speak Spanish, driving in El Salvador -- or any Central American country -- can be quite challenging as most people in the rural areas do not speak English and you will not find street signs in English. In the rural areas, often times the roads are not well marked. Getting lost or disoriented in any foreign country can increase your chances of falling victim to a crime. It is advisable to hire a tour guide for your adventure travels throughout El Salvador.

Unbelieveable Deep Sea Fishing!

Just returned from a fabulous family vacation to El Salvador. The highlight of our trip was the day we spent deep sea fishing. Even better than we ever dreamed it could be! We caught over 600 lbs. of fish! This is no fish story. We reeled in a 400 lb. marlin, a large sail fish, several yellow fin tunas, and more! We even found ourselves in the midst of a huge group of spinning dolphins. They were everywhere. This was the first day of our trip. My son said; 'Dad, if our trip ends today, this will be the best vacation ever!' Thank you Tamarindo Touring Company for an unforgettable trip to El Salvador!

Yet another myth about travel in El Salvador

# 3 Myth: El Salvador has little to offer for an Adventure Traveler

El Salvador may be a small country in acreage, but it is packed full of sites that are suited for adventurous travelers. Here is a listing of some of the most wonderful adventure in El Salvodor and the location where you can enjoy them:

Deep Sea Fishing - The Pacific Ocean provides miles upon miles of undisturbed waters
Kayaking - Pristine Estuaries
Sailing - In the Golf of Fonseca
Hiking - El Imposible tropical forest, Monte Crist cloud forests, Volcanoes (25), and other scenic areas
SCUBA diving - The Pacific Ocean and Volcanic Lakes such as Ilopango
Surfing - Punta Roca and El Sunzal are two of the most popular places to catch the waves. Punta Mango is accessible only by boat and boasts tremendous surf.
Biking - In mountainous areas such as El Pital or through rural areas on back roads in Apaneca or Morazan
Zip Lining - In Apaneca coffee country
White Water Rafting - Lempa, Sumpul, Guayjoyo, Bandera and Paz Rivers

There are many artisan communities to visit, and interesting and significant cultural and historical sites throughout the country. In San Salvador, there are a number of museums including the David J Guzman Museum of Anthropology, the Tin Marin children's museum, the Museo de Arte Marte displaying a huge collection of International artwork, and several history museums. If traveling to Morazan, the Museum of the Revolution is a popular attraction.

With over 200 miles of unspoiled coastline, El Salvador is a beach lovers perfect destination.

More Myths about travel in El Salvador

# 2 Myth: Contractible diseases are common in El Salvador

The Center for Disease Control (CDC ) lists a number of vaccinations/precautions travelers should take before traveling to El Salvador. It is always good to consult your primary care physician before traveling to any foreign country to discuss the recommendations. Your physician knows your baseline health and can help determine whether you would benefit from these vaccines or not. Some countries seem to elicit more concern regarding these warnings/recommendation than others. For instance, I have heard for years that you have to be careful when traveling to El Salvador because of all the diseases you can contract there. The warnings/precautions/recommendations are the same for El Salvador as they are for all other Central American countries, the Caribbean Islands, Mexico -- including popular areas such as Cancun, Puerta Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas and Mazatlan. When people travel to these areas, they don't often consult the CDC guidelines. I imagine they are familiar with these destinations, have had friends and family that have traveled to these areas and have not heard of many -- if any -- instances of malaria, dengue, or other ailments mentioned on the travel sites. It is my opinion that once more people become familiar with El Salvador, the concerns about these diseases will be less. Pack your bug spray and avoid mosquito bites -- that will be your best safeguards against contracting arboviral (transmitted through insect bites such as mosquitoes or ticks) diseases. Consult your doctor before traveling and you will be able to make a well informed decision that will be best for you.