So gaining valuable knowledge from some of the long timers in San Salvador (the peace corps people), we found out that for just 0.50 more, we could take an "Especial" bus from San Salvador to Santa Ana, located in Northeast El Salvador. It was well worth it. For the price of 1 1/2 double cheesburgers on the McDonald's value menu, we got a great air condiditoned bus, complete with the movie that jumpstarted Arnold Schwarzenegger's career: Commando.

We had been told that "the best hostel in Central America" resided in the town of Santa Ana, a small place called Casa Frolaz, yet all we had to go on was that it was on 29th Poniente (West 29th St .). Luckily enough, my keen eagle eyes (from my recent LASIK surgery) caught the street as we passed in the bus, so we got the driver to let us out there. We had no trouble finding the place after that, because apparently when the locals see 2 gringos with backpacks walking along this street, they automatically assume (correctly) that they are looking for Casa Frolaz. 

Casa Frolaz is owned and operated by Javier, who although I don't know what he does for a living, it must pay well because his house was amazing. He basically opened up his house as a hostel, but aside from his master bedroom and bathroom, we have full access to his house. Decked out with beautiful art and artifacts all over, you feel like you are in a museum, not a hostel. The rooms were impeccably clean, and cheap as well ($6 for a dorm room). Javier himself was great. You could always see him with a glass of beer in one hand and a cigarette in another, and while you may get a mental picture of some drunk leaning over a juke box in a dive bar, he pulled it off with that Latin American class that somehow made him look distinguished . 

Since there is not much to do in Santa Ana itself, Lyndi and I left early the next morning to Lago de Coatepeque for a relaxing day trip. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get there, and for $2US, we got to use the facilities of the local hostel on the lake, i.e. dock, foosball table, hammocks, etc. It was a very relaxing day as we swam, layed in the sun, slept in the hammocks, read, and played foosball. We went on a Friday, and since the lake really fills up on the weekends, it was absolutely dead while we were there, and we had the whole hostel to ourselves. We returned to Casa Frolaz around 5pm, and ended up spending the night eating pupusas, and drinking Regia (beer) around the dining room table with Javier and 3 other travellers. 

Next morning, Lyndi and I said our goodbyes to Casa Frolaz, and Javier, who generously gave us directions, and set us up with a reservation at our next destination, Ahuapac Hostel in Juayua .

Juayua is located along the "Ruta de Las Flores" in the mountain range Ilamatepec - Apaneca and has been named the Flower Trail due to the nice crispy weather and amazing floral scenery. The trail will take you through two departments in the western part of El Salvador: Sonsonate and Ahuachapan. We arrived on Saturday, which was great because every weekend, Juayua puts on their food festival, which is exactly like "Taste of (insert your city here)" where all the local eateries set up their own stands and showcase their food. We starved ourselves all day, and went to the festival hot, hungry, and in need of some good food.The food festival did not disappoint, as Lyndi and I got large plates of food, me settling on a sampler of carne, potatoes, conejo (rabbit), Quesadillas, and sausage- all for $5US. Add a $1US beer to the list and I was a happy camper. At the festival, we ended up running into a couple of friends we had made from Santa Ana at Casa Frolaz, so we all decided to head 20min south that night to the town of Nahuizalco, where according to the Lonely Planet guide "the night market at Nahuizalco boasts all sorts of exotic foods ranging from Iguana to snake ... Completely lit by candles, this is one experience you do not want to miss..."  Once again, the Lonely Planet didn't fail to disappoint, as we arrived to a normal night market selling the usual market stuff: hair gel, super glue, umbrellas, and tortillas. When we asked the locals (again using our wickedly awesome Spanish-speaking skills), they said they've never had iguana or snake here at the night market. Bummer. So, trying to make the best of it, Lyndi, Kevin, Nariv, Chris and I drowned our sorrows in fruit smoothies and Tacos de Conejo (bunny tacos). The night didn't turn out too bad, as we ended up eating some great food (non-exotic as it may have been), meeting some good people, and Lyndi trying to ride the Ferris Wheel that was about as tall as a GMC Yukon, and clearly made for midgets, or small children I suppose. We finished the night at the arcade in Nahuizalco, playing Virtual Fighter II with the local kids who must have been wondering why 5 grown adults were in an arcade in the first place. 

Just a side note: if you DO want exotic foods, the food festival at Juayuaruns every weekend, and according to the locals and Cesar, the owner of Hostel Ahuapac, on Sundays of the festival they serve things such as snake and lizard .

The next morning, we left Ahuapac Hostel, and headed to the small town of Tacuba. Anyone who has picked up a travel guide and turned to the pages about Tacuba, El Salvador has read one name: Manolo. Manolo has basically put Tacuba on the map for tourism, due to his famous tours around and in El Imposible National Park. (The park surrounds the area of Ahuachapan, and is a tropical forest that was declared a National Park in 1989.) Everyone in the tourist industry all over El Salvador knows Manolo, and I do mean everyone. He is actually so popular as a tour guide, that even to this day, there is some guy in Tacuba who is claiming to be Manolo. The real Manolo hasn't found him yet, but if you do go to Tacuba, just go to Hostel Mama y Papa, which is Manolo's house and Hostel, run by him and his mom and dad.I will say, that when we arrived in Tacuba, our expectations about the trips and tours were pretty high, and let me tell you, Manolo did not disappoint . We got to Hostel Mama y Papa around 12:30, to watch the Euro Cup Finals (Spain won), and Manolo's dad told us that Manolo would be back around 5 that night, so to just make ourselves at home. There are 6 tours to choose from, and Lyndi and I decided to do the waterfall tour, seeing as that we love jumping off waterfalls, and this one didn't just take you to 1, it took you to 7! We were stoked. We let Manolo know when he got back, and the next morning, we set off with Cody, another traveller, to do some waterfall exploring. 

Now any guide can take you to the different spots, and say "here's one waterfall, and here's where you can jump in", but Manolo had such a knowledge of the area, showing us different plants, animals and trees as we walked through the tropical forest and followed the river to the waterfalls. Any question we asked, he had the answer, and he answered each one passionately, as if he took a great pride in the area that he lived. When we got to the different waterfalls, fun would be an understatement as we jumped anywhere from 4meters to the final jump of 12 meters, right next to the 60m waterfall that concludes the tour . We finished the tour with an uphill hike through the tropical forest and through a coffee plantation that led us back to the road home. 

A lot of people call Manolo "Crazy Manolo", and they are right, but crazy in a good way. He and his family make you feel right at home from the minute you step foot in their home, and from the first time Manolo meets you, he's talking to you like he's known you for years, slapping you on the back, joking with you, yet when it comes to the tour, he still maintains that high level of professionalism you definitely appreciate- especially when you are jumping in a cavern off a waterfall 10m from the water. Like I said before, the guide books definitely put this guy high up on a pedestal, but he lives up to every word of it. Oh yeah, and one other thing, if you're ever there, ask him for some "Chicha"- it's an indigenous drink made of fermented corn, sugar, and ants. Yeah, ants.

I'm sure Lyndi will say this as well in her blog on El Salvador, but it's sad that this country gets such a bad rep. Even on current blog sites, everyone warns of this dreaded country of crime and murder, but from Lyndi's and my experience, that's not so. In fact, ironically about half of the peoples comments i've read that talk about the dangers of this country, HAVENT EVEN BEEN HERE. But I guess their cousins roomates best-friends dogs groomer knows best. Sure it is dangerous, but you take the necessary precautions like you would in any other C.A. country, don't walk around at night, keep valuables safe, etc. The fact of the matter is this: this country is beautiful, with some of the most friendly and helpful people i've met not on this journey but in my life, and with mountains, waterfalls, food festivals, great art and music scene, and killer surfing- it boasts just as much as the other C.A. countries. And if that doesn't draw you in, I need only say one word: Pupusas.