Friday i went with a friend from NYC now living here to the volcano in Guazapa, where we hiked with her family. Our guide was an ex comandante, and he showed us craters from the US-made bombs that drove out the town that once lived up there in the hills, and the foundations of the destroyed homes and churches, and the holes in the roadside where families would hide from the armed forces and death squads that terrorized the area. He showed us the guerilla encampments that sprang up once the guerillas took the area, and the cemeteries where many comandantes were buried. It was a very cool experience; my friend's uncle, who lead the expedition, is a school administrator in San Salvador and takes groups of students up there all the time, maintaining the historical memory of the war. Our guide explained how the area was repopulated after the war, and the guided hikes are one of several efforts help support the community. The hike itself was pretty intense; we started out around 8:00 AM and got back in the van (microbus) around 1:30. We hiked way up to an amazing panoramic view and stopped to swim in the river on the way down. It was lovely.
Saturday we headed out to El Zonte. We had lunch in the port at La Libertad and bought sandwich making materials which we ate down on the beach that night for dinner so that the hotel/restaurant folks wouldn't kick us out for bringing our own food. We spent sunday morning on the beach and headed back around noon. My sunscreen had spilled in the bottom of my bag, however, and even the early morning sun was enough to absolutely roast me. Luckily aloe grows here. Still i think soon I'll have an antire new skin. Maybe a new face.
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