We’re going to be in El Salvador for 2 weeks this summer starting and ending in San Salvador. As yet we haven’t set a schedule or made any reservations. We’re pretty sure we’re just going to take the bus everywhere and stay in hospedajes (more or less large homes that are setup for guests).

While we are there, we hope to see Suchitoto, La Palma, the Ruta de Las Flores, and then go to Honduras to visit Gracias and Copan (ruins). Those destinations aren’t set in stone, but that’s what Nikki thinks will be fun. Around the Ruta de Las Flores there are two national parks I’m interested in seeing: Parque Nacional Cerro Verde which includes views of several volcanoes and some natural flora and Parque Nacional El Imposible which contains the broadest selection of native plants and animals in a country that is only 6% forested and only 2% of that is old growth. Between Cotton, Indigo, Balsam, and now Coffee the country has apparently been turned largely into agricultural fields - which is fine, people need to make a living, but it will also be nice to see and photograph some of the native plants.

The other requirement we have is that we want to be back in San Salvador on the Friday night before our Sunday trip in case something goes wrong we want to be close to the airport - not in Honduras!

The tough part is that there aren’t any guide books specifically about El Salvador - just the information from complete “Central American” guides which are solid, but leave a little to be desired when it comes to the details of one country. For example, we basically can’t figure out how long it will be to ride the bus to La Palma (in the north) and then from La Palma to Gracias. Maybe the ride is so inconsistent that nobody knows how long the ride is until the end, but even an estimate would be handy.

El Salvador and Honduras Proposed Itinerary

Head immediately to Suchitoto where we stay Saturday day through approximately Monday or Tuesday. Then, go to La Palma for a few days and then Gracias over the middle weekend. At that point we would head to Copan for a few days, and then back to the “Ruta de Las Flores” in El Salvador and finally back to San Salvador. If we go to Ahuachapan (top of the Ruta de Las Flores) via Santa Ana then we would spend our time in that area heading closer to San Salvador ending in Sonsonate at only 1.5 hour bus ride from San Salvador - that makes me comfortable about getting to our flight home.

There are many parts of the trip that need to be ironed out like where to stay along the way and what sites to visit, where to eat, and how to get around. For some of these issues we hope to just make it up as we go along as we did in Cafayate, but it’s also nice to have a little bit of a plan. We’d hate to get somewhere and be told “sorry, that hotel has been closed for a year!”.

So, I put this out for two reasons - first just to get the thoughts clear in my head and provide a starting book-end to what will surely be many posts about our trip. Second, I’d love to get some advice on the subject and I’m not sure exactly where else to turn! Lazyweb, please help me.