Day 3: Exploring Santa Ana
I took an early morning uber to
Terminal de Buses Occidente so I could get on a bus to Santa Ana. I had every intention of just hoping on whichever bus was leaving the soonest, and to my luck, it was the nicest bus, which was with the company Seisbus. I paid $1.50 and because I left very early in the morning (7am) and avoided traffic, I arrived around 9am to
Francisco Lara terminal in Santa Ana.
During my ride, I looked up some coffee shops in the city I could stop at before getting to my hostel. I found Santa Ana Cafe, and I'm so glad I did because it was one of the cutest coffee shops I visited in El Salvador. From the bus station, it was only about a 17 minute walk, which was a little chaotic initially because I had my carryon luggage with me, but overall, a nice walk to the southern part of the city. I stayed for a little less than two hours, just decompressing and writing my first blog post, and then I took an uber to my hostel.
Where I stayed in Santa Ana
While being the 2nd largest city in El Salvador, Santa Ana is significantly smaller and calmer than San Salvador. It is also relatively walkable, so I didn't mind staying "right outside" of the historical center since getting there was only about a 15-20 minute walk. I stayed in a private room, with a full bed and a shared bathroom, for $11 at
Casa Blanca Tu Casa. Casa Blanca is owned and managed by two sisters, that actually live in the property. They are SO welcoming and kind. They asked about my plans and gave me so much useful suggestions. My stay also came with free breakfast, which they would cook themselves for guests :) The room itself was simple, which is what I needed since I knew I'd be out most of the day.
After relaxing in my room and catching up with friends and family at home for a bit ('I'm alive and doing well!), I walked around to find lunch nearby, and thankfully, I found one of the top 3 meals I had during my trip in Antojos Santa Ana (or Bocaditos Tipicos de Occidente, still unsure what the actual name of the place is, but
here's the location.)
After lunch I headed over the historical center to start my
Free Walking Tour. We first explored Santa Ana Chatedral, and I paid $2 to go to the top, where I got a nice view of the city. My walking tour lasted around 3 hours, as we walked around the center, got coffee, and ate dinner together. I definitely recommend doing a free walking tour, as its a great way to learn about the history and culture of the city in a condensed amount of time. Afterwards I tipped my guide and stayed in the center a bit, grabbing some snacks from the 24/7 street food stands in front of the
Cathedral. Eventually, I headed over to my hostel and enjoyed a night in.
Day 4: Driving through Ruta de las Flores
Ruta de las Flores refers to a road that connects 7 main 'pueblos'/small towns. The namesake comes from the beautiful flowers that sprout on the side of the road from November to April. The towns are small, colorful, and each have their own individual culture. For example, the town of Salcoatitan is known for their yuca dishes, and the town of Apaneca is known for their coffee plantations.
My initial plan was to take a bus through Ruta de Las Flores, and I wanted to take two full days to stop in each town. When I shared this plan with several people (my uber drivers, the women at Casa Blanca, etc.), everyone responded the same way: you will regret it. Essentially, while it is important to stop in the towns, there is so much to do right outside of the towns, from adventure parks, touring farms, and even a waterfall hike. Also, some of the best restaurants are located in between towns or off-path of RDLF, so it's better to have a car to give you the flexibility to go everywhere you please at your own time.
I rented a car from "
El Señor de los Carritos," a small business in Santa Ana, after speaking to the owner, Cesar, on Whatsapp (+503 7041-3832). I texted him when I first arrived to Santa Ana and he immediately replied, once I chose my car, Cesar came to drop it off right in front of my hostel the same afternoon. The process was fast and easy, (and you can read their
google reviews here to see I'm not the only one that agrees). I rented a Ford Escape for $35 a day, which included insurance, and gave a $100 deposit that was returned in full since I didn't cause any damage.
Must-Stop Breakfast
On Thursday morning, my fourth day in El Salvador, I woke up bright and early and headed out to my first stop at Ruta de las Flores, Ataco, where I had breakfast at Cafe Entre Nubes, a must stop! This restaurant had a large back garden where I wandered around for 20 minutes after breakfast. I ordered the plato tipico, and paid around $5 with hot chocolate included.
Coffee Tour: One of my Favorite Parts of the Trip!After breakfast, I headed over to a coffee tour in
Benificio San Pedro, right outside of Apaneca. The last bit of road to enter the farm is a bit tough, but I'm glad I stuck through because this tour was one of my top 3 favorite activities in the whole trip. (If you do not have a car, you can also do a long walk from the town, about 30 minutes.) I had to email them (info@sicafe.com) in advance to schedule the tour. I paid $30, and after about an hour and a half walking around the farm and learning from Jose, the expert quality control staff member, we went over to the tasting room where we tried different coffees. While I am a self-proclaimed coffee snob and came in with some knowledge of speciality coffees, I was exposed to a whole new world thanks to Jose! I had so much fun and I enjoyed seeing the farm. While there's many other coffee farms, I'm happy I stumbled upon this one, as I was super impressed with the tour, and this beneficio is one of the highest altitude in El Salvador (which means better quality coffee).
After my coffee tour, I headed over to Juayua, which many consider one of the main towns of the ruta. I walked around for an hour, enjoying the art, street food, and coffee (I'm at my 4th cup at this point) from this super cute, small coffee shop,
Bloom Cafe.
"Farm to Table" Dinner
After Juayua, I stopped at an even smaller town in the outskirts, San Jose La Majada, to visit
Granja Don Alvaro, a family farm and organic restaurant. You drive in and immediately see all the cows, ducks, horses, pigs, and donkeys. In the front of the farm, they have 6 tables. When I arrived, there was 2 other families dining, but it still felt so peaceful and isolated. Everything in the menu is made from ingredients from the farm itself; they pride themselves from being an "ecological farm that seeks to self-sustain through cultivation and production." It was truly a beautiful experience, and it was even better due to the beautiful volcan view from the farm. I ordered the chicharrones plate for $9, and it was definitely the best I have ever had.
The beauty of ruta de las flores is enjoying the small towns at your own pace, and finding a few fun activities to do in each or in between. For many people, this includes visiting Cafe Albania, the famous adventure park with the rainbow slide and the largest labyrinth in Central America. As a female solo traveler, I learned a long time ago that I was not going to truly enjoy my trips if I became obsessive about hitting every tourist spot. I did not visit, although I wouldn't be against it in the future.
After dinner, I would stop at miradores in the middle of the road before eventually just heading back to Santa Ana, and that concluded my Ruta de las Flores experience :)
Day 5: Volcan de Santa Ana
After a very restful night, I woke up bright and early to drive over to the Santa Ana Volcan Trailhead. My host at my hostel, prepared me a wonderful "desayuno tipico" before I headed out. The drive itself was about an hour, with a lot of turns because of its mostly through a mountainous area.
Once arriving to the trailhead, I paid a $2 parking fee (its per vehicle) and was met immediately by a group of guides. Technically, a guide is not mandatory, but it is highly encouraged. A private guide will cost $35, (keep in mind there is also a $6 park entrance fee), and to join a group, it will cost between $3-5. I waited a few minutes as more people trickled in so I could form a group, and eventually, 8 of us ended up agreeing to go with a guide for $5 each. If you plan to do Santa Ana, it is recommendable to arrive anywhere between 8am to 10am, if you intend to go with a group. A lot of hostel groups arrived right at 9am, and you can join those groups as well.
After paying $5 to the guide, we walked a steep 10 minute trail to the park entrance, where we each paid $6. There's a mini food stand here too, and I used this as an opportunity to buy more water and an apple for the hike. The hike itself took about an hour and a half to reach the summit. On the way, there's 3 main "miradores," so my group stopped for a few minutes in each to take pictures. I was probably the youngest i in my group, and we were all from different countries, so it was nice to get to know everyone. My guide Leonel was awesome and very attentive. At one point, I slipped, and he had a first aid kit with him which helped with my bruises. Through speaking with him, I learned that all the guides at the trailhead work together, and they even have walkie-talkies to speak to each other to make sure no one is missing, every hiker is doing well, any emergencies pop up, etc. Because we started a bit early, we did not really bump into many people going up (most people start the hike after 9am). The actual hike was definitely not a walk in the park, but it was definitely not as bad as I thought it would be. As a mentioned in my previous post, completing a hike is much more dependent on someone's support, not someone's physical ability. My guide and group were going at a good pace, and no one was racing or pressuring for a faster pace.
The summit! What a wonderful reward. Santa Ana is El Salvador's largest volcano, and there's a beautiful crater lake to view when you reach the top. Once on top, we saw a few other hikers taking pictures. There's even a man who sells ice cream and chocobananas at the summit (he does the hike daily with all his ice cream, and he's pretty famous in El Salvador because of this!) I grabbed a chocobanana for $2 as a treat for reaching the top. We ended up staying here for a good 15-20 minutes, just chatting as a group, enjoying the views, and taking pictures.
On the hike down, we encountered the bigger wave of hikers who started a bit later than us. I'm really happy I reached the trailhead at the time I did, as it allowed for a quieter, more peaceful hike up. After an hour or so of going down, I eventually reached my car, where I said my goodbyes. While there's guides at the trailhead everyday, Leonel's whatsapp number is +503-7542-8956. He can help with coordinating a guide if you prefer to plan ahead!
Lunch with a View
Driving from Santa Ana to the Volcan, you pass by Lago Caotepeque, a volcanic lake and a popular get-a-way spot for locals. While I did not originally plan to stop at the lake, during my drive to the trailhead, I noticed there was a couple of restaurants on the side of the mountain road that had a beautiful view overseeing the lake. I decided that on my drive back to Santa Ana, I would stop in one of them for lunch. I ended up stopping in one of them, of course, ordering pupusas and enjoying lunch with a great view. Lunch ended up being $3.50, with horchata included :)
Day 6: Returning and Going Out in San Salvador
After arriving to Santa Ana, I returned my car to Cesar, whom inspected and saw no damaged, so he returned my $100 deposit. I then went to the bus terminal, where I got on the first bus back to San Salvador. I ended up reaching San Salvador at around 6pm. I took a $2 uber from the San Salvador terminal to my (original) Airbnb, where I fully intended to get ready to go out after getting some food from UberEats delivered. After eating, I ended up knocking out. The hike, while not very tremulous, still left very tired, so I accidentally skipped out on a Friday night out.
However, on Saturday, being my last day in El Salvador, I was convinced I needed to go out, as most of my days were mostly full of daily activities and not a night-life. During the day, I went over to the beach again, but this time to the Puerto Libertad area. There's a huge fish market, where you can get a bowl of pulpo ceviche for $5 (my fav!). I then walked for probably a whole hour, just passing by the different restaurants and bars. I eventually enjoyed a drink by the beach and starting talking to those around me, and the rest of the early afternoon was mostly me just enjoying the beach with new friends.
To my surprise, one of my friends from Houston happened to be in El Salvador at the same time, without us planning it. I took the bus to meet up with her in El Tunco, where we enjoyed drinks together. I eventually got a ride with her and her family back to the city. Her family was so kind and drove me to my Airbnb, so I could get ready, because we agreed to go out together at night.
We went out in Santa Tecla, an area with an open air market that ends around 10pm. We grabbed food and some micheladas. At 10pm, we went into a bar called Hard Bar Discoteca, which was initially supposed to be the "first stop." The music was so good, and everyone was dancing, before we knew it, we ended up spending the whole night here.
Now, it worked out for me that my friend, that had a local family, was here so I could go out with them, but I really mean it when I say that I would've 100% come here alone as well. People were so welcoming, and I definitely danced all night. This night concluded my El Salvador Trip, as I had a 8am flight the next day.
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