Paige R. Penland - Explorers Guide El Salvador: A Great Destination

This is the first edition of El Salvador: The Explorers Guide. The book covers the entire country, at 21,040 square kilometers (8123 square miles), about the same size as New Jersey or Israel. It is bordered by Guatemala to the west and northwest, Honduras to the north and east, and the Pacific Ocean to the south.

PRICES

Remember that prices rise and quality fluctuates, businesses close and new options open, long before the guidebooks and Web sites have time to update their information. Its always worth asking fellow travelers and people working in the tourism industry about hotels, tour operators, taxi fares, and other information.

LODGING PRICE CODE

Cost of lodging is based on an average per-room, double occupancy rate during peak season, December through April. Note that peak surf season runs March through October, filling surf lodges opposite the usual Central American high season. El Salvadors 18 percent hotel tax and gratuities are not included; note that paying cash sometimes results in taxes being waived.

Outside major cities, and particularly along the beaches, Ruta de las Flores, and El Pital Highlands, prices rise between 10 and 30 percent on weekends and holidays, when you should have reservations. The beaches get busy during the Christmas holidays and particularly Semana Santa (Easter Week), when hotels fill weeks in advance.

RESTAURANT AND FOOD PURVEYOR PRICE CODE

Most restaurants offer a range of menu items, often including much less expensive set plates at lunch, or pricier steak and seafood dishes if youre in the mood to splurge. The following prices are based on the cost of a dinner entre with a non-alcoholic drink, not including the recommended 10 percent tip, sometimes included in the bill. Meals served are abbreviated in the listings, breakfast (B), lunch (L), and dinner (D).

KEY TO SYMBOLS

While Ive marked my favorite hotels, restaurants, and destinations with a , you may find your tastes are different from mine.

Other symbols used include:

The kid-friendly symbol appears next to hotels with special appeal for families.

The umbrella symbol indicates businesses with pools.

The hot water symbol denotes hotels with hot showers, though these may be heated with machines; see Bathrooms and Showers, later, for information on using them.

The air-conditioning symbol appears next to hotels with climate control.

The gated parking symbol indicates gated or guarded parking. Most will allow non-guests to park for a small fee, space permiting.

The WiFi symbol denotes lodging that offer wireless Internet or data ports. Some luxury hotels charge a fee for Internet access, but most hotels offer free service.

I had an enormous amount of help on this book. Special thanks go out to my mom and stepfather, Wanda and Bob Olson, both of whom helped with research; my sister Beth Penland, who proofread and wrote the Literature and Music sections, and in Oak Ridge, Cher Morrison, Mark Quist, and Brittney Miller, who kept me going. Thanks also to Kim Grant, Lisa Sacks, Kermit Hummel, Erin Greb, Sandy Rodgers, Doug Yeager, and the crew at The Countryman Press, for believing in this project.

In El Salvador, special thanks go out to John Kim for helping me every step of the way, Fatima and Fatima, Alvero Calero ( calerophotography.com ) for his remarkable photos, Benoit Dagenais, Eric Keller, Eric Joo, Francesco Pilenga, Risa Fujimoto, Carolina Vides de Palomo, Dan the Man, Manolo Gonzlez, Csar Magana, Robert P. Broz, Roque Mocan, Pascal Lebailley, FUNDAR, the Ministry of Tourism, and Omar Egan, Roberto Palomo, and Guillermo Nasser of La Charamusca ( www.lacharamusca.net ).

T he Mayans called it Cuscatln, the Land of Precious Things. They must have been speaking of the magnificent volcanoes, today cloaked in coffee and cloud forests, so many filled with sparkling sapphire lakes.

Or perhaps they were referring to El Salvadors long, pearl gray beaches, which fringe its epic shore. While the waves are most famousPunta Roca, El Sunzal, La Flor, Mizatatheres much more to be found along the Pacific. Massive mangrove wetlands and ceiba rainforests surround the starry bays, where sea turtles nest and migrating birds rest before continuing on their way.

Today, the Pacific is lined with great hotels, tiny fishing villages, and festive surf towns, though plenty of wilderness remains to enjoy. The mountains, as well, are home to Spanish Colonial cities, with their fine churches, food festivals, and cheerfully painted adobe homes, many now filled with art galleries and restaurants. The precious things are still revered, of course, and pretty tourist centers invite Salvadoran families and curious visitors to holiday next to hot springs, waterfalls, and rushing rivers.