run away if you spot a snake called a timbo

Unfortunately we left El Salvador yesterday, our favorite country of the trip. We're spending our last four days in Antigua, Guatemala, once the old capitol. Because of its history the city is filled with ruins of many old churches and colonial buildings, and, it's surrounded by three volcanos. It's also the most touristy place we've been; the advantage of this is that we think it will provide an easier transition back into gringo life. We also have more money left than we anticipated, so we're spending a little extra on our hotel for some serious style.

We ended our time in El Salvador with a bang. In Juayua we did go on the tour to the waterfalls I mentioned; these were amazing!!!! At the time of the hike it was pouring down rain and somewhat chilly, so our drowned-rat appearances provided some entertainment for the locals as our 13-year old guide led us down the street. Salvadoreños do not like the rain. The waterfalls ended up being a series of five which all formed into crystal-clear pools perfect for swimming. We have some awesome footage of Chris jumping 15 feet from one of the falls into one of the pools. I'm a little chicken about those sorts of things. I know, I know, I need to grow a pair.

The last town we visited was Tacuba, another quaint mountain town located next to Parque El Imposible (which, by the way, did use to be imposible to navigate through due to its steep nature). The night before our visit to the park we went to the bar owned by the town tour guide, Manolo. He was quite a trip, a very hyper character who spent the evening rambling and dancing to Tears for Fears and other 80's music.

We met some very nice young Brits and afterward remarked that they were some of the few travellers we've met on this trip that we liked well enough. Odd, huh? In preparation for the trip I aniticipated that many of the other travellers would be fairly cool. Instead we've encountered many with a sort of liberal "missionary" attitude. Meaning that these individuals want to press their liberal idealism onto these Central American cultures. Top 3 liberal missionary comments from other travellers on this trip:

#1. "Why can't these people prepare their food differently?"
#2. "We should just force them to recycle..."
#3. "They should just solve their problems with gun violence with pacifism..."

Wow. Of course the planet is better off if we all recycle. Of course I wish
there was a simple, nonviolent solution to gun violence. I agree in principle with these ideals. However, I cannot believe that some people are arrogant enough to waltz into a country for the first time and think that they have the cultural supperiority to make these claims. If this trip has taught me anything, it is how LITTLE I truly know.

That was my rant for the day. Back to Tacuba. We went on a six-hour hike through El Imposible. It was incredible! One of the most magnificent things about the vegetation of El Salvador is that it changes drastically in a matter of meters. We started off hiking through coffee plantations and all of a sudden were surrounded by pine trees and then by cacti and then later by tropical palm trees. At one point our guide Maximo (employed by Manolo and thankfully much more mellow) spotted a small, grey snake called a timbo and said "cuidado! muy peligroso!" (Caution! Very dangerous!) He proceded to tell us that some hospitals didn't carry an antidote to its venom and there had been several fatalities from the snake. Damn, we had been so very close to it. Chris and I spent the next hour or so a little paranoid. Just a little.

The hike was amazing. We stopped at a high, 365-degree viewpoint, where we could see the Pacific ocean, the criss-cross patterns of the coffee crops, insane valleys and jagged peaks, and even some mountains in Guatemala.

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If you didn't know, we are planning to arrive back in Portland on the night of the 21st. Cheers!