Finding Tourism
Written by Bessie on Sunday, June 29, 2008 in El Salvador
Feelin' thoughtful
One really obvious thing I've noticed about living and traveling in El Salvador the last two months is that it lacks tourist infrastructure. El Salvador is to Guatemala (and most countries in CA) what visiting that big ball of twine would be to Disney Land. Ok, that's an exageration, but you get my point. There's just not the hype and industry here that tourists flock to visit, and there aren't oodles of tourists clammering to cross the border that an industry is developing. Feelin' thoughtful
Don't get me wrong, El Salvador is popular the world over with surfers, and I'd highly recommend visiting it to travelers that want to get off the path a bit and experience life and not just tourism. There's just no over-looking that it can be super hard to find the correct boat dock in town, there aren't a lot of tour operators or they've changed their phone numbers, postcards are nearly impossible (sorry fam - I'm trying!) and in general, locals are not really accustomed to seeing and interacting with tourists. In fact, everyone from El Salvador only visits places that they know people - it's rare people adventure off in their own country!
All that combined, this less-traveled path is not necessarily a bad thing. Salvadorans are a friendly bunch, and I have lots of fun memories of people here looking at us interested and intrigued rather than glaring at us or resenting how tourists have changed their formerly charming town. This trickle versus a flood of foreign tourists has generally meant that tour guides and hostel/hotel staff are genuinely warm and inviting. People have been generous with their time, information and even the use of a telephone, to help us out. When we have spent the nights in mountainous Apaneca, charming Suchitoto, and relaxing Playa El Espino, we've been surrounded by Salvadoran weekend-trippers. I feel like we've gotten a special glimpse into people's lives this way, and it's not all manicured to get our $$.
So all this talk about a lack of tourist industry leads up to us finding a super well-developed and exciting touristy outing. Not that I doubted El Salvador had it in 'em, but it's taken quite a bit of searching. We'd been hearing good things about this zip-line adventure in the coffee growing mountain town of Apaneca, and we finally got up there. Apaneca Canopy Tour was everything I'd hoped for: organized, on-time, well-staffed, and pretty fun. For those new to the zip-line experience, I'll walk you through the process:
1. Drive down a narrow road in the back of a pick-up truck (it had fancy vinyl seats) through coffee fields to the highest point they could secure metal cables.
(i'm scoring low on the fashion points, I know. I'm not a hat person.)
2. Wear this tight-fitting, flattering harness around your thighs and waist. Don't forget the hardcore gardening gloves and decorative hard hat.
4. Repeat zig zagging down the mountain-side. Here's our path:
(no Bessies were harmed in the making of this blog.)
My review: It was adrenaline-filled fun. This was my 3rd zip line experience, and although the others had more dramatic geography going for it (in Monteverde, Costa Rica), there they had us hanging on to this bike handle sort of apparatice that hooked over the cable which was sort of lame compared to this. I give these guys props because we controlled our own speed based on how hard you grabbed onto the metal cable. The hardcore gardening gloves actually had well-worn pieces of leather that the line sped against. It was totally hardcore and awesome.
Alas, it wouldn't be a cool story about the new daring thing we did without a video. Here you go, folks:
Kudos to Apaneca Canopy Tour for a rad and well put together tourist adventure. At $30/ pop it's what I hoped for.
Comments on "Finding Tourism"
haa haaaa! done & done!
Oh, trust me I'm all about the loud happy screams - how many times in life are you up high enough that no one can hear you screaming. Super cool.
You can try yelling "poochica!" People here say it all the time, and it's super fun to say. It's kind of like "Wow!"
hi guys! I'm a salvadorean girl, and I've been reading your blog entries and I find them pretty interesting :) You're right, unforutnately El Salvador lacks tourism, there aren't many places to go... Ohhh and there is a good waterpark to go. Maybe you guys wanna check it out. Is not far from San Salvador. It's a huge waterpark and is really cheap $5 entrance and $2 per parking. Their website is: http://www.termosdelrio.com.sv/ It's a really relaxing and nice place to be, I highly recommend it for you guys that are currently living in SS.
Ohhh and is so hilarious that you guys already know the word "puchica" lol... I think they say it in Guatemala too but it is a salvadorean word.
Saludos!
Water park? We're totally going there. I consider myself an unofficial Central American water park connoisseur...
This looks like lots of fun!! I parasailed in Mexico when we were there years ago. Behind a jeep. This looks like alot of fun and maybe a little safer than parasailing with mexicans I don't know driving a jeep. Good to hear from you!
Shawna
I don't know, Shawna - if I were there with you I definitely would have done it too! That sounds like a blast!
Why am I reminded of the famous cry of Daffy, alias Robin Hood, of "Yikes, and Away!"? As an aside, as I am catching up with downloading your videos (there's a free add-on for Firefox called download helper which will capture nearly any flash video), I noticed your video of the soccer/football match is approaching 10,000 views...and the typical five star rating...wow!
The 9,486 views and counting is super exciting! Most popular video we've had ever!
Something about the 5 stars makes me think it's because the team had a long shot victory, versus people appreciating our amazing videography skills!
Thanks for copying the videos, Karl!
I totally didn't think of "Yikes and Away!" As many times as we watched that movie as a kid you would have thought that would have been my first thought! Although everytime he said that he crashed into a tree, so maybe not a good choice. :)
More videos imitating cartoon characters please.. hehehe
Well, bessie almost crashed into a tree, so we almost got there....
http://video.aol.com/video/tv-robin-hood-daffy/1853475
The link above is to the Daffy Duck/Robin Hood aformentioned video for those interested. A true classic.... "Ho, ho, very funny. Ha ha, it is to laugh.." Kyle, you should probably remember this one. :)
I really enjoyed your video, especially from somebody finds bumpy air in a plane scary. It is wonderful you can find such joy everywhere and better yet be able to share it.
haa haaaa - yeah, at least you know you're safe watching on youtube. :) Glad you enjoyed it Julian!
Hello there guys; Man!! you guys having fun. How long are you staying in El Salvador?, I just wanted to know for how long I will enjoy watching all those cool videos you guys are uploading. I heard the weather is really bad overthere, I was watching the news that there was an accident of a bus full of passengers that because of a river overflow and that flooded a street in San Salvador and that only one person survive. If you already hear "be safe" so many times that if you were paid a dollar for everytime somebody says that you will have enough money to take me along with you guys on the trip :), I will put a dollar than. You guys are my eyes watching El Salvador for me.
We'll only be in El Salvador for 3 more weeks. Then, off to Costa Rica!
That storm that caused the bus to get caught in the river was particularly nasty. We think a bolt of lightning actually hit an electricity post across the street from us.
haa haa, uh yeah, all the time it's Cuidate! Cuidate! Cuidate!
Yeah, from what I understand about the bus it drown onto a completely flooded street, and submerged the entire bus under water so quickly some 20+ people died. INSANE!
One question actually a couple of them and please don't skip one of them :). Do you guys like the salvadorian hanmocks?, Would you sleep an entire night in one of them?, Have you guys already tried "salvadorian horchata" because I saw one of your pictures in La Palma 58, that fruit is called jicaro, actually is not a fruit I don't know what is it but its seeds is called "morro" and is use to make the horchata. Well anyway my advice for people who goes to El Salvador on tourism under any sircustance don't stand under that tree for a long time it will be unpleasant if one of those jicaros end up in your head.
We passed through a town that was makes a lot of hammocks, but we haven't tried them out, yet. We would probably buy one, but we don't want to lug around too much stuff.
Thanks for the info on jicaro and morro. I had no idea that those hard green fruits produced horchata!
On the topic of horchata, El Salvador is very different than Mexican horchata. I figured it would be similar, and it is, but the horchata has more of a peanut flavor than any I've ever had in the states or in Mexico. It's delicious in it's own way, but definitely not the same as those big northern neighbors make it.
Zip line tour seemed like lots of fun.....and unlike your Costa Rica experience....no monkeys spraying the human invaders of their territory?
I was exciting to do it in Costa Rica. I guess I'll wear a raincoat when doing it there.
haa haa, I didn't get any gifts like that from monkeys - I think that was Ben. He'll have to confirm...
Sounds like a great new business possibility... Get a grant from the central government and begin the design and implementation of a tourism infrastructure complete with highway routes, scenic overlooks, bike rentals, water trips, horses, zipping, points of interest, museums, rest stops and bed 'n breakfasts, etc. etc. etc.... That should be worth a 100K salary for two plus expenses, book and movie rights and a permanent visa and driver's licenses for both of you!!! So when can you start?................. :>)....................
yeah, that's operating in the realm of "if you build it, they will come." it's possible, but not a ton of tourists visit this country. We can count the number of tourists we've encountered on one hand...
That's an awesome video. I'm so jealous. When I do my canopy tour though, you may have to teach me how to say "oooooohhhhhh shiiiiitttttt" in Spanish. :) Or at least "Whheeeeee!!" (cause I'm a huge dork like that)
by Kristine at July 02, 2008 03:31 PM