Costa Rica: Manuel Antonio with Under 30 Experiences

Photo credits are as noted.  Uncredited photos were taken by me.

Spending the last nine days in Costa Rica has been yet another incredible experience. I am unspeakably grateful for the people I shared this journey with, the natural beauty that was ever present, and the opportunities to try so many new things in such a short period of time. Most of all, I owe a huge thanks to Steph Ronan, my travel buddy for the trip and the person who invited me to go on this grand adventure in the first place! In recounting the journey, I'll break it into three sections based on travel companions and our geographical location within the country.

The first part of our journey was through a travel group called Under 30 Experiences (U30X), which aims to give young professionals an opportunity to leave the desk job behind for a week and experience another part of this wonderful world. I can't sing their praises enough, not only for facilitating the first leg of the trip, but for trip leaders Matt Wilson and Courtney Slade being amazing, responsive hosts and thoughtful and inspiring conversationalists.

U30X met everyone (13 vacationers in all) at the airport in San Jose (why was the first thing I saw a bag of Takis?? CJR teachers I know you'll appreciate that!) and we began our journey out to the Pacific beach town of Manuel Antonio. En route, we made two stops. The first was at a roadside stand selling delicious fruit (bought some grenadillas, otherwise known as maracuya or passionfruit, crossing one item of my food list immediately). The stand was next to a bridge overlooking a neat of crocodiles lazily sunbathing. Not an everyday sight at home...


Next we made our way to Playa Hermosa, where we were supposed to have seen a surf competition. That didn't seem to be happening, but we had a fun time letting the waves batter the crap out of us. I ended up having an hour-long conversation with Colombian-born,Sweden-raised, London resident Jonathan. We listened to the waves, decried the idea of sedating dolphins just to keep them in captivity, and shared the ways travel has enriched our own lives.

Photo by Courtney Slade

Our group ended up having dinner before rolling on to Villas Mymosa, our hotel in Manuel Antonio. Forgot to take room pictures, but this was the view from out balcony hammock. We all shared a quick drink at restaurant Mimos next door before retiring for an early wake up call.  As a fun note to anyone considering travel here, you can drink tap water all over the country! Having to buy bottled water would never deter me from going somewhere, but it's awesome not to always have to consider when and where you will buy it next so you don't run out. TP still needs to go in the trash can.

Our first full day started with a trip to Manuel Antonio National Park. You begin by walking down a gravel road, where you can see all manner of flora, as well as fauna (from sloths to hummingbirds and more). The gravel path eventually gives way to a wooden pathway through the forest, finally leading you to restrooms near the beach within the park. There were two optional hikes that our group opted to do. I followed the Punta Catedral path with a few others, which allowed us to see different views of the park and the ocean from higher lookout points. My favorite part was definitely when we had to get off the path to allow some raccoons to have the right-of-way. After climbing some rock piles and earning Steph her first war wound of the trip, we relaxed for several hours on the small, secluded Playa Espadilla Sur.

By the end of beach time, it was still only 1 PM and we were ready for lunch, so we headed to Cafe Milagro. Delicious fish tacos (among other fresh choices) fortified me for the afternoon adventure, parasailing. I am terribly scared of heights, and there were definitely some points where I couldn't look down at the boat, but the views and the new experience were well worth the fear. This was the first (but far from the last) that I noted how cool of a group I was traveling with: though barely knowing each other for 24 hours, everyone was cheering each other on and adding to the positive feel of the afternoon.  Up in the air, quasi-silence, broken only by an occasionally flapping of the parasail, the sun, and the birds were your companions in flight.

After parasailing, we caught the local bus (only costs 315 colones, or 60-70 cents) back home for showers and dinner at Mymosa. From there, it was on to Byblos, a club/bar that boasted a giant jenga set. It got intense! There's also a hilarious Costa Rican guy named ... Who will hit on all the girls in your group and  not be rebuffed even when you blow him off by telling him that you SAW him flirt with two others first.

Later in the night, we added our fantastic dance moves to the club scene.  During a salsa song, I was focusing on my steps in our group circle when some interpretive jazz dance hands appeared around me. I spent the song laughing while salsa-ing with the only other barefoot person in the room...laughing partly because I was enjoying dancing and partly because he kept cooing at me. Yes. Like a dove. Turns out he was a Wisconsinite who really likes Latin American music festivals and making bird noises. 

#likesthatarealmostasstrangeasmilksteakandjellybeans

Photo by Stephanie Ronan

Tuesday (so much seen in less than 48 hours!) we got to go on one of my favorite excursions of the trip, which was a visit to a local school, Escuela Portalon. The school takes its name from the surrounding town, which is located about 20 minutes from Quepos (nearest transit hub to Manuel Antonio). We were able to do this because U30X is very into socially responsible travel, and has formed a relationship with the school over time. In going, we as participants in the trip had contributed to purchasing a TV and HDMI cable for the school for teachers to hook their laptops into, so that they can project presentations, videos, and more to support classroom activities. There was so much to learn about this school.

We started with a tour of the classrooms. From what we could see, there were 4 academic classrooms (we saw Kindergarten plus grades 4-6) and a computer lab. The gym/recess area was the outdoor soccer/basketball field/court and a covered area near the bleachers that was utilized for jump rope and other non-ball games.

This was the teacher's lounge:

The school kitchen:
       

And the cafeteria (one grade eats at a time):

After our tour, we were able to sit down for fruit and a charla with the principal, Jenny. Let me try to remember all the things she shared with us (some of this was shared during snack, and more during lunch):
1. Kids are in school for three trimesters (like CJR!). They just started the new school year recently, in early February. They'll have a week off for Semana Santa (week leading up to Easter) then be in school again until June 30. They'll come back two weeks later in mid-July, going more or less through the beginning of December (might have been another short break in there). Then they have off until the start of the next school year in February again. It works out well because those are some of the hottest months in CR.
2. I mentioned that we only saw a few grades. Kids attend school for 4.5 hours each day, so we saw the morning group of students, but later in the afternoon we saw the 1-3 graders arriving for afternoon classes. Group 1 is in school 7-11:30, teachers have lunch and planning from then until 12:10 (definitely saw a parent-teacher meeting occurring at this time), and Group 2 is in session from then until 4:40. Except for the kindergarten teacher, all of the teachers have 2 grade levels to teach.
3. When kids aren't in school, they are generally at home helping with the house work, playing, and watching TV. Moms in the are generally have a hard time finding work- the principal emphasized several times how difficult it is to conseguir trabajo (find work) around Portalon right now. The biggest market, for the men, seems to be related to the palm oil industry: whether collecting the palm fruits or working in a factory where they are processed and jarred, this type of work might pay around $2-3/hour. Banana plantations (some United Fruit Company holdovers) used to be a source of jobs, but the fields were used to the point of infertility and right now they're in a fallow state.
4.This school is a K-6 school. It's the equivalent of a Baltimore City neighborhood school; anyone living in the vicinity has the right to attend.  Most kids attending the K-6 program live in the nearby area, and many of them bike to schoolKids can stop attending after 6th grade, but education and transportation (public bus passes) are provided to anyone who has graduated and wants to continue on to middle and high school. There are both day and night versions of high school available, in the event that kids this age have gotten a job to support their families.
5.Family leave: *what I write here applies specifically to teachers, not sure what the laws are for non-education professionals* Moms are given 4 months maternity leave, and male teachers are also given 1 month of paternity leave after the birth. Even cooler, moms are allowed to take 1 hour a day to breastfeed for the first 18 months. There's a lot of emphasis places on family and on the child within Costa Rican society from what I can tell.
6. Jenny, from what I can tell, is the Costa Rican funding genius equivalent of my old principal, Marc Martin. More on this later, but for starters, she worked with a local foundation to get the computer lab  for their school, which was a big deal: they had to do extra work on the school to have a room that met the requirements of the foundation before they could get the computers (waterproof, temp control, etc). The kids get 4 tech classes per week. 



This is in addition to the other 6 classes: Spanish (reading and grammar), math, science, social studies, character education (they have monthly values, sort of like Commodore's 5 Promises: this month was the value of friendship and love), physical ed, and English (starting 2nd grade).



After Jenny was finished speaking, we met two grandparents of students who had also assisted in providing the school lunch we'd had: the grandfather had picked and cut green papayas, and his wife had cooked them into a delicious filling for tortillas. They both spoke about how much they cared about the school and contributing what they could to the center of the community, and it was a live illustration of a point that Jenny had made earlier: the kids, their families, and school personnel all really come together to create this shared success. It was beautiful to see.

We got to spend a lot of time playing with the kids: everyone found an activity to suit them, from soccer to jump rope (yay!) to wheelbarrow races. 

Kevin literally balled so hard that his shoes starting falling apart.

I started with jump rope, and while these kids were hard to leave, I also wanted to take advantage of the recess break to talk with Nathalia, the English teacher who had given us the preliminary tour. Some more of what I learned:
7. There's a national curriculum, but teachers have some latitude to adapt the lessons in the way that makes most sense for the community in which they work. There are no national exams, at least not until the end of high school.
8. She said that while drugs, crime, and violence are not a problem at her school, poverty affects the students in terms of a) how much time parents can spend with them reinforcing school concepts, and b) the resources kids have at home for studying.
9. Teachers are still hellishly busy, like anywhere else, with planning lessons, meetings with parents, grading, and everything else...just like anywhere.
10. More of why Jenny rocks: during her time as the principal, she has worked really hard to bring lots of different clubs and organizations to the school to augment student learning in after-school programs. In particular, she's brought several arts programs as well as the crown plum, the ecological program (see 11).
11. Care for the environment is a HUGE priority here. CR has developed a way to recognize contributions to this effort, through the awarding of Ecological Flags. Schools and other public institutions receive a Blue Ecological Flag. On the flag is a number of stars (from 1, the lowest level, to 5, the highest level), denoting their commitment to protecting the environment. Escuela Portalon's flag has 4 stars, probably in recognition of the fact that they are the recycling hub for the entire village of Portalon (everyone drops their recycling at the school, student Environmental Leaders (like CJR's Recycling Club) help sort it, and the government collects it once a month). Businesses have between 1-3 leaves on their green flags in recognition of the environment.

Because apparently the kids were having such a blast (or because it was hot enough that no one wanted to take us to work in the garden), our previously scheduled bout of gardening was dismissed for more play time. We did get to visit the garden, which serves to provide food for the school lunch, and is cared for by parents.

All good things must come to an end, and we eventually left to head to a waterfall in the mountains behind the school. Given the shaky state of some bridges leading to the cascade, we decided to walk what we were told was "1 kilometer". 4 of them later, we finally arrived. While the hike had been a bit grueling at points, it was absolutely worth it: the isolated spot featured a deep (we never touched bottom) swimming hole and rock "seats" behind the waterfall where we took many selfies. It was here that I again realized what an awesome group we had: it was actually kind of tough to swim through the current to the waterfall, and EVERYONE cheered for (and reached out helping hands to) EVERYONE who tried the swim. Leave no one behind ❤️. Matt and Courtney had introduced us to a group "talking point" activity called Rose, Bud, Thorn: each person shares one thing they loved about the day (rose), one they didn't like (thorb), and one thing about tomorrow they're excited about (bud). My rose for the day- and the trip overall- was definitely that out of 15 people total, everyone was genuinely a great person to be with, talk to, and have as a new travel mate.

Photo by ...whoever was holding Steph's camera

We got back from the waterfall tired but not done: we quickly changed and went to a bar called El Avion. Someone had pulled an old airplane up and down the hilly roads of Manuel Antonio and parked it on a mountain overlook. They built a bar around it, and now you can watch the colorful sunsets painting themselves across the horizon with a great cocktail in hand.

Photo by Tiffany Yu on Steph's camera

After a few drinks and one of my favorite bus rides in history (we met one of Sean's, the lone Canadian's, fellow countrymen on the bus to a first date with a Costa Rican girl, and gave him a raucous cheer to send him on his way- I told you this was a supportive group!) we ended back at Mymosas for a low-key night of dinner and drinks in Maddie and Lisa's room.

Our last full day with the group started with two excursions, surfing and ziplining. Because Steph and I were already planning the latter for our next phase of travel, we opted for surfing lessons with Jhonny and company. It was a fun experience, with a 10 minute bootcamp in the sand before getting on our boards and hoping for the best. It was not easy! At the same time, I did eventually manage to get up and stay standing for about 2 seconds...given that I didn't think I'd be able to stand up, I exceeded my own expectations. That said, it wasn't really my cup of tea, so I spent the second hour hanging on the beach and getting to have more in-depth conversations about life, work, and travel with Tiffany and Courtney.

Both surfing photos taken by Tiffany Yu

From surf lessons, six of us scurried to catch the bus into Quepos: we wanted to see the town, some people needed souvenirs, and I was a gal on a mission to visit a bookstore Matt had told me about. I'd shared some of my social enterprise 5-year plan with him, and he recommended that I check out Jaime Peligro Books, a co-op bookstore. I was actually able to meet and speak to the owner, and we exchanged email addresses to be able to continue the conversation for later, which was great.

For our last night, we kicked off the celebration with a sunset boat ride. Besides the melting sky and lovely companions in conversations, we were able to see some brown-spotted dolphins swimming with the boat, and it took me back to my beachside conversation with Jonathan the first day. It was a profound moment for me; it felt like a sign of reassurance and a light beckoning me to continue on the path I choose for myself, meandering as it seems, and I'm feeling another surge of extreme gratitude just thinking about it again.

After the boat ride, we had dinner together at Mimos, complete with a last round of Rose, Bud, or Thorn. I know he wasn't looking for recognition and will possibly be embarrassed, but Matt showed what a great guy he is (not that we had any doubt)- the restaurant was understaffed, and since he's made friends with the owners and staff by eating there for working lunches during his residence, Matt pitched in and started waiting tables too. No words for how cool that was.

I met some more new friends, Jaymin and Zach, who joined the conversation and the flashtat movement (pictures are worth 1000 words right?). The rest of the night was spent hanging out and enjoying the company of our group.

Costa Rica

Steph and I are heading to Costa Rica on Sunday, and I can't wait!  I'm hoping to do a little more reading about the country and it's history before we go, but in the meantime, here are some of the things I'm most excited about:

Foods to Try

1.  Lots of rice, beans, meat, and plantains

2. Guiso de maiz (corn stew)

3. Elote (corn on the cob), patacones (giant tostones), empanadas, ceviche, tamales

4. Grenadilla and guayaba, because I can't get them here

5.  Zapotes- look like an avocado, but sweet orange-red insides

6.  Manzana de agua (deep red, juicy, pear-like fruit)

7.  Arreglados- meat puff pastries, Pati- meat pie

8.  So many delicious desserts (made of chocolate, sugar, coconut, in general) and sweet breads, queso blanco desserts

9.  Horchata, refrescos, cervezas Bavaria y Imperial, guaro (liquor)

On the Itinerary:

1.  National park, volcano, and waterfall hikes

2. Beaches (and possibly surfing)

3. Local markets, small towns, fresh foods

4.  Salsa dancing and zip lining

5.  Yoga, hot springs, and chocolate

Lodgings:

Villas Mymosa (Mar 8-12)

Arenal Backpackers Resort (Mar 12-16)

Hostel Urbano (March 16-17)

El Salvador: San Salvador

San Salvador, the capital city, is laid out along a lengthy x axis. We were at 61st Avenue with a good deal of the sites to see being located farther east around 10th.  We arrived and immediately set about figuring out a working solution to the bed bug problem. We sent out all clothing that we planned to wear yet to the laundry- Jamie's research showed that some time in the dryer might be enough to kill the little buggers. We bought new pajamas to wear while those were washing (for this, we journeyed to the largest mall in Central America, which was built around an old mansion on the property- fanciest Starbucks ever!- see above). We figured it we kept the old clothes and luggage isolates, we could deal with that when we got home. The good news is that, while we did have our luggage on the bed at one point, most of our clothes never touched it, and we figured it out early enough where we might not even be carrying them with us, but we don't want to chance it. Sorry mom and dad, I owe you a new suitcase!!


After a night of bug-free sleep, we were ready to do some sightseeing, and set out for the National Museum...which was closed because it's Semana Santa, the Holy Week preceding Easter.  Instead, we headed downtown and checked out the National Cathedral.  They were finishing a procession for the Stations of the Cross, after which we say and talked about religion, motivation, and dreams for a while. The biggest takeaway was when we arrived at this question, which I will strive to ask myself regularly:  *What is it that I truly want, and am I doing the logical things to arrive there?*

From the church, we made our way into the nearby streets, some of which had been blocked off for the "alfombras". Meaning "rugs", this is the word for giant sawdust or salt images that are made on the sidewalk. The materials have been dyed various colors and are then laid out, either in patterns or in pictures showing Jesus and his life.  They might be as big as 20'x20'.  We also took some time to walk up and down observing the multitude of street stalls that had been set up to sell fruit, hotdogs, clothing, shoes, purses, bootleg DVDs... You name it and it was probably for sale somewhere.

We returned to the hotel to freshen up and later headed to the Iglesia El Rosario. An unassuming building externally, it was designed so that the light flowing into the building illuminates the rainbows of stained glass within. We also saw the end of this church's procession, and witnessed them bringing in their tableau of Jesus as he was entombed.

Next, dinner time! While I thought that I had given our cabbie the address of a buffet place full of El Salvadorean treats, we instead pulled up to one branch of San Salvador's seafood chain, El Beto.  Fortuitous coincidence, as there wasn't much else in the neighborhood. The taxi took us to the correct address, which was the one I intended to give- appears that the place we wanted to visit just doesn't exist :(

But El Beto's knows how to do their seafood. We feasted first on fried balls of yuca and shrimp, followed by seafood-filled ravioli served in squid ink. Mmm. Fig pie was my takeout dessert, also amazing!

Saturday we spent lounging around the hotel. I enjoyed the sun, free time to read, and just the overall sensation of not having to do anything at all!  To be fair, almost everything in town is closed for Holy Week, so I also didn't have much of a choice :) This is definitely something to keep in mind for next year- what will be open if I'm traveling over this same week again? Reminded me a lot of being in Morocco for Ramadan; it's a different experience because you get to see the religious aspects that are important to other cultures, but it may limit the day-to-day things that you could experience during another time of the year.

Easter Sunday started with another yummy breakfast buffet and more poolside relaxation. Everything in town had been closed for the past two days, and Easter was no different. A long, rambling walk in a nearby residential area confirmed that: the only signs of life were at churches and private homes.   Oh, and McDonald's and the ES version of Starbucks, called Mister Donut. Had to stop there and get some alfajores, a cookie sandwich with guava paste in the middle and covered in powdered sugar. Mm!!

What are two girls to do but day-drink by the pool with tostones? So that's what we did, and ended the day with back-to-back episodes of Game of Thrones- Happy Easter indeed!

The last morning opened with one more breakfast buffet, followed by a trip to the closest supermarket.  It's just fun to see what kind of stuff you can get in other places.  All week we had noticed Salsa Inglesa (aka Worchestershire Sauce) as an important condiment...still, I didn't think it would warrant a whole shelf at the grocery store!  After that, it was one more stop for alfajores to take home, then time to taxi to the airport.

I think if I came again, I would do it a little differently: not over Holy Week, staying in a different beach town, and in San Salvador maybe choosing a different section of the city that would be more conducive to seeing historical sites and/or going out at night.  I also wish I would have done a little more research into the country's history and used that to spark more interesting conversations with the people I met.  Next time!  All in all, I enjoyed El Salvador though and am glad we came!

El Salvador: El Tunco

El Tunco is a beach town in the department (~state) of La Libertad.  We'd heard a lot about it being a favorite of surfers, but Rosie also warned us that it was a rocky beach. We arrived at our next B&B-ish place, the Qi-X Surf Shop and Eco Lodge. We had reserved the suite, which turned out to be a giant room atop the general hangout area. Our room had a giant rolling panel on two parallel sides that could be opened to let the air in and give you a view(of the pool and reception area on one side, and of the lagoon leading tithe ocean on the other. There were two beds, cushioned benches, and a hammock.

We threw our stuff down and started walking the path to the beach. After we rounded the bend in the lagoon trail, we walked the beach trail for no more than 20 feet before coming to a  bright blue tarp set up by three women who were selling plates on fresh-caught raw seafood. We had to try it all: black clams/conches, oysters, and shrimp cocktail(which was not raw). All delicious, and coupled with local Pilsener beer, a breeze, and surfers to watch for entertainment? That's the life.

We walked down the beach and came upon the strip of surf shops, restaurants, and hotels that made up this section of El Tunco.  Not much tout, but they all had beer, food, and an ocean breeze, so we hopped our way along the coast for the next few hours.

Eventually, we were ready to head home and shower. We walked up the main street  and came to the highway connecting us with other beach towns.  We walked along as darkness fell, only to arrive at the apparently locked front gate of our lodge. We cut down another beach path and had to convince another hotel type place to let us out their back gate so we could get on the lagoon path to the back entrance of our place.  Picturesque, relaxing, and sunny, convenience is not to be had cheaply in El Tunco.

The next morning we woke up and hit the beach. Rosie had the right of it, lots of rocks and black sand. Turns out the more resort-style beaches are further south on the Costa del Sol.  We frolicked in the (big) waves, and it was a lot of fun but also enough to convince us that we didn't want to battle surfboards, the undertow, and the waves all at once- no surfing lessons for us. After having an early lunch (garlic lobster for $16), we returned to relax at the hostel. I think I read in the hammock for the next 6 hours straight, which made my day.  We left again to pick up dinner and spent more of the night relaxing at our place.

The next morning, we woke to find previous suspicions confirmed: the scourge of bed bugs was upon us. We had noticed some bumps the day before but weren't entirely certain what had happened. We hastily packed and decided to head to San Salvador early.

El Salvador: Santa Ana

Stepped off the plane and into a hot box.  El Salvador's 90 degree heat made itself felt immediately as we entered the airport.  After the shortest customs and immigration lines ever (wahoo!), Jamie and I were on our way to our first of three stops, Santa Ana.

We stayed at a small B&B located less than 10 minutes (by car) from the town center. Villa Napoli is owned by a friendly and very accommodating woman named Rosie.   Staying at Rosie's place really did feel a bit like being at the house of a relative: she wanted to make us feel comfortable, asked about the things she could do to make our stay better (nothing, because it was already so pleasant), and her husband and son were equally generous with their time. Alfredo offers tours of various sites in the area, and climbed the Santa Ana Volcano with us.  As if all this wasn't enough, all of the decorations at Rosie's are handmade AND she uses all recycled materials.  If you ever find yourself in need of hospitality while in Santa Ana, El Salvador, Villa Napoli is the place to go (you can find it on bookings.com or hostel world.com).

Our first afternoon in town, Rosie showed us the town square, the Cathedral (beautiful church constructed over 100 years ago, and home in past years to big socialite weddings from what I gathered: Rosie talked of huge red carpets that newlyweds would walk on from the steps of the church and across the town square right into the casino (which is synonymous here for a dance hall, not a gambling establishment) for their reception).  Unfortunately, the local theatre (an impressive building itself) was being renovated or restored, so we weren't able to go inside.

Our next stop was a fresh pupusa dinner at Las Palmeras.  If you haven't heard of pupusas before, they are kin to arepas (see my Colombia posts).  These delicious corn tortillas can be filled with any matter of stuffing and then are cooked to perfection with a crispy outside, yet still tender within.  They are also served with tomato sauce and picked vegetables.  Rosie brought us to Las Palmeras because they still cook pupusas in the traditional way, on a clay surface above a fire.  I decided to the two varieties: cheese&shrimp and "revueltas" (beans, cheese, and chicharron) because at $0.80 each, why not? The meal was complete with a "licuado de fresa", or fresh strawberries blended into juice. A full meal with fresh flavors for only $3.20 total= win!

By this point, the dark night sky (at only 7:30, because Daylight Savings Time is not observed here) plus the travel made me feel like it was time for bed.

Th next morning, we arose to a fresh cooked typical breakfast on the patio: fried black beans, eggs, rolls, yogurt, fruit juice (real stuff!), and coffee.  We packed our bags and along with Alfredo and Simon, a British gentleman also staying at Rosie's, we set out for Volcano Santa Ana.  From Santa Ana, we had to drive something like 45 minutes or an hour to where we parked our car. One thing I noticed as we drove was the incredible variety of flora here...it ranges from the tropical plants I expected like palm trees, but you could find coniferous plants- we saw several variations of pine trees- and some deciduous trees that you would find just as quickly at home.  I also realized that the smell of a fire in hot weather always reminds me of Latin America.

One other thing I noticed on the drive was the men employed to clear brush on high mountain roads.  They were all wearing uniform neon vests as they worked, so it seemed official. I find myself wishing I'd asked who hired them to do the work.

A short hike from the car brought us to the ranger station, where we paid a park entrance fee and waited for the guide and tourist police who were going to accompany us.  And then we waited some more...finally, they arrived and we were underway. The hike was about an hour am a half to the top (we covered 1800 meters, the volcano is actually around 5362 m from base to caldera, but we had already climbed quite a bit in the car).  Strenuous at parts and flat in others, we moved from a jungle path where we were surrounded by trees, to a more exposed area above the treeline, to a final rocky barren path leading to the summit.

Totally worth it!!! Besides it being my first volcano, looking down onto the turquoise blue sulfur lake was really striking in contrast to the gray and brown volcanic rock all around it (I was hoping for someone as knowledgeable as Jon Zerbe to tell me more, but no such luck).

After the descent, we headed for Lago Coatepeque, one of the top six places to see in El Salvador, according to Simon's guidebook. And I understand why- serene and beautiful, it's set in a valley surrounded by a few volcanoes. And as the late afternoon sun hits while you're enjoying fresh-caught garlic lime shrimp and a local beer on the pier of a small restaurant, there's no other place you'd rather be.

After a slight mishap with keys being locked in the car (aw, shucks, we had to have another beer on the water), we headed home for showers. A relaxing night followed, complete with a delivery dinner from Rosie's husband Frankie's family's restaurant.  I tried, for the first time in my adult life, rabbit.  It was just like the dark meat of a chicken- yum!

I went to sleep for a brief nap; Simon, Jamie, and I had all decided to wake at midnight to see the Pink Moon.  As any of you who also observed will have noticed, it wasn't pink. For us it was a reddish gold moon.  Fun fact- if you took a picture that wasn't completely still, the color of the moon didn't show up.  That is to say, it looked just like a regular picture of the full moon.  However, the animals of Santa Ana were going crazy- dogs howling and barking, cats...doing whatever is louder and more strident that meowing.  Truly a cacophony out there.  Shortly, I was back in bed to a sound sleep, even with all the ruckus.

Our next morning featured another breakfast, but this one on the poolside terrace.  After that, some reading in the hammock and packing, and we were on our way to the next stop- the beach at El Tunco.