El Salvador and the lovely town of Suchitoto

 

A warm welcome
Photo: Amanda Schofield

I loved El Salvador right from the start. Maybe it was the warm welcome we received at their shiny new border crossing which included free coffee and snacks, or perhaps it was the myriad of interesting activities we enjoyed or maybe it was simply the people who were friendly, cheerful and inclusive. Thomas, one of my fellow travellers, was amused by me because I had said I enjoyed everywhere and everything we had done to that point so I had to assure him that, yes, I really did love El Salvador.

The town square

El Salvador had suffered from a civil war for 12 years ending in 1992 with a peace accord. However the United States then deported thousands of El Salvadorian gang members back to the country who quickly took control  due to weak governments and immense poverty. The country was effectively ruled by gangs, drug dealers and other criminals who made life hell  for the residents keeping them in a constant state of fear and anxiety.  Murders were prolific, on one weekend in 2019 there were 87 gang related murders, and extortion and stand over tactics were common place. When current President Nayib Bukele was elected he vowed to clean up the gangs which he has done mainly by incacerating any gang members in an enormous jail.  As of now there are over 100,000 people in jail in El Salvador.  Human rights activists are not happy about this but the people of the country are delighted and Bukele is greatly admired for his stance throughout central and south America.  Life now is safe and harmonious and the President has an approval rating of 88%.  Although, as with everywhere in the world, there is still crime it has now dropped to historic levels. It certainly felt a very safe place to be.

We checked into our hotel at Suchitoto and had a refreshing swim in the pool before walking down to the town square.  It's a really lovely place overlooked by a huge Catholic Church, Iglesia Santa Lucia, which at the time was packed with worshippers.  Families and children were enjoying time together in the square, just a really lovely atmosphere. The town is considered  to be the cultural  capital of El Salvador with cobble stone streets and bursting with colonial charm.

Left and right Cooking class at Grandma's House

Photos by our guide:

Guillermo de Leon 

Later in they day we went to a restaurant named, Casa de la Abuela, or Grandma's House, where we were to have a cooking lesson making the staple dish of Central America, Pupusa. This is a type of flatbread which you stuff with various fillings and then fry.  Firstly we had a talk from the owner telling us  the history of the building and that it really was his grandma's house, next we watched a demonstration on how to make pupusa and then we all made some for our dinner which we enjoyed eating together.  It was a great activity.

With the happy bride.  Such a special night!
Photo from Marina Weidner

Back at the hotel a few of us decided to have some drinks out on the terrace.  There was a wedding reception taking place in the restaurant on the lower level.  Everyone at the reception was dancing to the music so we did too.  After a while a man from the wedding party came up and invited us to join the wedding down stairs.  We were warmly welcomed and joined in dancing with the wedding guests to a mix of Spanish and English songs. Brilliant fun.  The last song of the night was Abba's Dancing Queen.  The bride stood in the middle of the floor and everyone, including us, danced around her.  It was a privilege to share in this special occasion.