Unknown El Salvador
El Salvador - Epic Journey 2016-18 Part IV
Palomino
It's been almost three months since we started organizing and building the house. Our permit to stay in Colombia is expiring and we are also absolutely ready for a vacation. Working every day from morning till night is hard, even if it is like paradise here, where the fruits fall into your mouth, or as they say here: we live at the teat of mother earth. We also work here on Saturdays, at least until two o'clock in the afternoon. After that, we usually have enough to organize so that we can continue working on Monday without interruption. We try to reserve Sunday as a day off, if possible. We then do what we should have done long ago: To explore the beautiful Palomino and the surrounding area, the jungle-like forest of the Sierra Nevada as well as the wide rivers. But still: The time is ripe for a vacation!
After a lot of thinking and comparing airfares, we came up with the idea to take a bus from El Salvador to Guatemala. We don't know El Salvador at all and Guatemala we have visited about six years ago and it stayed in our good memories (see Guatemala January - March 2011). El Salvador is the neighboring country of Guatemala and currently has the cheapest flight offer. By bus, it is only about 5 hours to Guatemala.
The trip is booked and we set off. But we are not in a hurry. The whole thing should take one month. Before we take the flight to Santa Marta, two hours away from Palomino, we visit Minca. The village surrounded by nature is located 600 meters above Santa Marta. The forest around Minca is full of plants and animals, mainly birds, of all kinds. One can hardly get enough of walking there.
Taganga is the next place we visit, just outside Santa Marta by the sea. The pure opposite. The small fishing village, today very touristic and apart from the Tayrona National Park the most known place in the area, is hot, barren, and absolutely waterless. A desert area where only cacti and scrawny trees grow. The wind sweeps the fish from your fork while you are eating, but you are still grateful for the cooling. We visit our old friend Miguel, enjoy a beautiful sunset, and move on to Santa Marta.
Unknown El Salvador
We sit together in the spacious hotel room, eat bananas, and chat. Alex asks us if we would like to visit his aunt and her family. "Otherwise no one will believe that I met Swiss people," he adds with a laugh. The aunt lives in southeastern El Salvador on the border with Honduras. He shows us pictures of the vast landscape and the Sapo River. It looks beautiful. We don't want to miss such an opportunity and we agree. Immediately he calls his aunt and tells her that he met two Swiss and would now like to invite them to her place. "You're kidding!" the aunt says incredulously. We have her approval. Early the next morning, the journey is to begin. On the flight from Santa Marta to Bogota, we were only allowed to bring one carry-on bag. Our small luggage is comfortable to carry and quickly ready for the trip. At half-past seven in the morning, Alex is standing in front of the door. We take the bus to San Miguel and from there to Corintho. Arriving after a four-hour bus ride, we take a break, spontaneously visit an ancient cave and eat delicious tacos with soy meat. Finally, we take a moto-taxi over the last few hills out into the countryside. Here is the end of the line. We continue on foot over hill and dale and after an hour we reach the house of the aunt. She comes to meet us and greets us warmly. We sit down and rest our tired feet.
Vor dem Lehmhaus wimmelt es von Küken und Hühnern. Im Schlafraum vergnügen sich die beiden Jüngsten der Familie in der Hängematte sitzend, spielend und über die Gaukeleien von Tom & Jerry lachend.
In the kitchen a big fire is burning, well-fed with wood by the eldest daughter. On the table is a bowl full of soaked corn kernels next to the meat grinder. They are crushed into a coarse pulp with this, then ground into a fine corn dough on a stone slab with a wall stone. They are crushed into a coarse pulp with this, then ground into a fine corn dough on a stone slab with a wall stone. Tortillas are formed and baked in the pan over the fire.
Soon the men return from the fieldwork, the father of the children, as well as uncle and grandfather, and the two older sons. When the younger one, about 8 years old, spots us, he makes big eyes, backs away, and slips nimbly like a cat behind the next screen. During the next hour, I meet his staring eyes again and again, when by chance I look in his direction, and each time he slowly slips back behind the wall, where he can no longer be seen.
The aunt laughingly tells us that we are the very first foreigners in her house since she was born here. Tourists are also rare in the area, the last time a Spaniard had been in the area was about 15 years ago to help them through his organization. The state often forgets about this area, they are glad for the help of the NGOs. So, about 4 years ago they received an electricity connection, some solar panels, and the first and only road to Corintho was built.
They tell us many things and want to know even more about us. The mood is relaxed and we laugh a lot. The little ones know no shyness and explain all their toys to me.
They have a whole bucket full of them. The 8-year-old has also become somewhat accustomed to us in the meantime. Soon we go to sleep, all in the same room, each in his hammock.
The following day we wake up refreshed. Curious, we set off in the direction of the river. On the way, we pass the house of the uncle and his family as well as that of the grandparents. We stop at both of them and are accompanied to the river. They show us the fruit trees, let us taste sugar cane sticks, and explain to us how to preserve corn and beans.
We enjoy the time we are allowed to spend with the family and are extremely grateful to Alex for inviting us here, even though we hardly know each other.
Guatemala
We still like San Pedro very much, which has changed little in the last 6 years, and time flies.
Epic Journey 2016-18
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Epic Journey 2016-18
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