Travel Guide - El Salvador

The smallest and most densely populated country in Central America, El Salvador is chiefly remembered for the vicious civil war of the 1980s, when streams of harrowing news stories brought this tiny country to the attention of the world. For a decade, atrocity followed atrocity in a seemingly unstoppable sequence.

Then in 1992, with both sides having fought each other to a standstill, Peace Accords were signed, and the attention of the world's press moved elsewhere, leaving behind a brutalized country faced with the immense task of rebuilding itself.

Tourism in El Salvador has lagged behind that of its Central American neighbours. Despite its compactness and considerable natural beauty, many would-be visitors are deterred by the half-remembered headlines and the country's reputation for violence, danger and difficulty. Its geographical position doesn't help, either: tucked into the Pacific underbelly of the isthmus, El Salvador is easily bypassed. Those that do make it here, however, are well rewarded by the sheer physical beauty of the place, with lush Pacific lowlands sweeping up through fertile hills and coffee plantations to rugged mountain chains. Almost every journey in El Salvador yields photogenic vistas of the majestic cones of towering volcanoes , while some of the secluded pacific beaches are as fine as any in Central America.

Travelling around El Salvador is a lesson in humility. Contrasting with the vibrant colour and sweep of the landscape, the overwhelming evidence of the endemic poverty and social divisions that sparked the Civil War in the first place hits you right between the eyes. As El Salvador enters its second decade of peace it remains a country painfully divided between haves and have-nots, and the full benefits of redevelopment projects and an improving economy have yet to trickle down to the majority of the population. From the muddy shanty towns of San Salvador to the broken-down shacks in the countryside, many people live in squalor, eking out a living selling fruit, sweets, household goods and sundry odds and ends on the street. In addition, the ever-growing population - at 6.2 million, the densest in Central America - is placing unprecedented pressure on the country's natural resources , with rampant deforestation a particular problem. And while political violence is now a thing of the past, civil violence has grown to alarming proportions. Guns are common, and people use them, while recent years have seen an increased number of kidnappings of prominent businessmen. The casual visitor is unlikely to be directly affected by this, but you can't ignore the underlying sense of tension.

The best time to visit El Salvador is during the dry season from November to February. Though temperatures reach a high of around 30°C - and in the coastal lowlands, it feels much hotter because of the humidity - it's easiest to get around at this time and even the back roads are accessible. Towards the end of the dry season, in March and April, temperatures increase to around 34°C and, in the lowlands, can feel unbearable. During the wet season - May to October - the heat and humidity are temporarily relieved by daily downpours, though these rarely last for more than a couple of hours, and there are spectacular lightning storms in the mountains around San Salvador. Travel is difficult, as mud roads in the back country become impassable. Sometimes, between September to November, El Salvador is affected by the tail end of hurricanes out in the Pacific; when this happens, as occurred during Hurricane Mitch in 1998, the rain can last for days, and cities begin to flood. Whatever the season, the climate is coolest in the mountains , where temperatures are moderated by altitude, being far fresher by day and cool at night.

San Salvador is a frenetic and polluted city whose sometimes tangible sense of menace often creates extremely negative first impressions among visitors. Things are improving, however: the city authorities are making a determined effort to clean up the Centro Histórico, while all the central parks and plazas have received a makeover and extra police have been deployed on the streets. San Salvador also offers a thriving nightlife, along with facilities unavailable elsewhere in the country. For beaches, swimming and sun you don't have to stray too far from the capital, to the crater lake of Ilopango or, an hour's journey away, the small Pacific coast resort of La Libertad . Also within easy reach are the small Maya ruins of San Andrés and Joya de Cerén which, although they pale visually in comparison to sites in Guatemala - El Salvador was at the furthest fringe of Maya culture - are nonetheless important. The World Heritage Site of Joya de Cerén, in particular, gives the most complete picture yet of what daily village life was like in Maya times.

Western El Salvador is the most relaxing and perhaps most scenic part of the country, with the lovely old colonial city of Ahuachapán making a convenient entry point from Guatemala, and the laid-back city of Santa Ana making a good alternative to San Salvador as a place to stay a few nights. In addition to the Maya ruins of Tazumal there is the exquisite cloudforest of Montecristo , bursting with exotic plants and wildlife.

For something slightly more energetic, the nearby volcanic peaks of Izalco, Volcán Santa Ana and Cerro Verde provide good and varied hiking, while nestling at their base is the magnificent crater lake of Coatepeque , whose deep blue waters are perfect for snorkelling, diving and swimming.

Refined cooking is not one of El Salvador's strong points, although there are a few exceptions, with gourmet cuisine available in San Salvador and smart restaurants serving excellently prepared local dishes in the provincial cities. Most local people, however, eat in comedores , the ubiquitous café, where you can get a nutritious and substantial meal for around US$2-3. The cleanliness of these places varies, as does the quality of the food; if in doubt, choose one that's busy.

The main meal of the day is lunch - look out for comida a la vista , basically a cheap and cheerful set lunch served up at comedores across the country. Generally, unless it's a fiesta, people don't eat out a lot and places close relatively early; around 9pm. Only in the cities, and mostly at weekends, will restaurants be full and stay open late.

Locally produced coffee is very good, usually drunk black and strong at breakfast and with an afternoon snack of tamales . In small villages it will be served lista , boiled up with sugar cane and surprisingly tasty. El Salvador's abundance of tropical fruits go to make delicious juices in the form of jugos, licuados and frescos. Jugos are pure juices mixed with ice, most commonly made of orange, papaya, pineapple and melon. Licuados (sometimes called batidos ), blend the fruit juice with sugar, ice and sometimes milk, while frescos are a fruit-based, sweet drink, made up in bulk and served with lunch or dinner. Unless you ask otherwise, sugar will be added to jugos and licuados . Horchata , another favourite, is a rather heavy milk drink with a base of rice, sweetened with sugar and cinnamon.

As in Nicaragua, another country pulled apart by a decade of civil war, travelling in El Salvador brings you into contact with some of the most engaging and interesting people in the region. With a well-deserved reputation for hard work and business acumen, the Salvadoreños (or guanacos , as they're often affectionately described) - predominantly mestizo - live life with a vigour that's hard to match. That said, however, as the people here slowly find ways to come to terms with their brutal past and uncertain future, some residual hostility to foreigners - particularly Americans - remains, and initial reactions to tourists can be, on occasion, cool. If you persist, however, in the face of what may seem like outright hostility, and make an effort to speak Spanish, you will find that people begin to unbend and bring you into their lives. They may or may not be willing to talk about the civil war. Many aren't. What is important now is the future, and this Salvadoreans approach with sardonic humour, designed to lessen the travails of daily life, the corruption of politics and everything else that seems insurmountable.

The smallest and most densely populated country in Central America, El Salvador is chiefly remembered for the vicious civil war of the 1980s, when streams of harrowing news stories brought this tiny country to the attention of the world. For a decade, atrocity followed atrocity in a seemingly unstoppable sequence.

Then in 1992, with both sides having fought each other to a standstill, Peace Accords were signed, and the attention of the world's press moved elsewhere, leaving behind a brutalized country faced with the immense task of rebuilding itself.

Tourism in El Salvador has lagged behind that of its Central American neighbours. Despite its compactness and considerable natural beauty, many would-be visitors are deterred by the half-remembered headlines and the country's reputation for violence, danger and difficulty. Its geographical position doesn't help, either: tucked into the Pacific underbelly of the isthmus, El Salvador is easily bypassed. Those that do make it here, however, are well rewarded by the sheer physical beauty of the place, with lush Pacific lowlands sweeping up through fertile hills and coffee plantations to rugged mountain chains. Almost every journey in El Salvador yields photogenic vistas of the majestic cones of towering volcanoes , while some of the secluded pacific beaches are as fine as any in Central America.

Travelling around El Salvador is a lesson in humility. Contrasting with the vibrant colour and sweep of the landscape, the overwhelming evidence of the endemic poverty and social divisions that sparked the Civil War in the first place hits you right between the eyes. As El Salvador enters its second decade of peace it remains a country painfully divided between haves and have-nots, and the full benefits of redevelopment projects and an improving economy have yet to trickle down to the majority of the population. From the muddy shanty towns of San Salvador to the broken-down shacks in the countryside, many people live in squalor, eking out a living selling fruit, sweets, household goods and sundry odds and ends on the street. In addition, the ever-growing population - at 6.2 million, the densest in Central America - is placing unprecedented pressure on the country's natural resources , with rampant deforestation a particular problem. And while political violence is now a thing of the past, civil violence has grown to alarming proportions. Guns are common, and people use them, while recent years have seen an increased number of kidnappings of prominent businessmen. The casual visitor is unlikely to be directly affected by this, but you can't ignore the underlying sense of tension.

The best time to visit El Salvador is during the dry season from November to February. Though temperatures reach a high of around 30°C - and in the coastal lowlands, it feels much hotter because of the humidity - it's easiest to get around at this time and even the back roads are accessible. Towards the end of the dry season, in March and April, temperatures increase to around 34°C and, in the lowlands, can feel unbearable. During the wet season - May to October - the heat and humidity are temporarily relieved by daily downpours, though these rarely last for more than a couple of hours, and there are spectacular lightning storms in the mountains around San Salvador. Travel is difficult, as mud roads in the back country become impassable. Sometimes, between September to November, El Salvador is affected by the tail end of hurricanes out in the Pacific; when this happens, as occurred during Hurricane Mitch in 1998, the rain can last for days, and cities begin to flood. Whatever the season, the climate is coolest in the mountains , where temperatures are moderated by altitude, being far fresher by day and cool at night.

San Salvador is a frenetic and polluted city whose sometimes tangible sense of menace often creates extremely negative first impressions among visitors. Things are improving, however: the city authorities are making a determined effort to clean up the Centro Histórico, while all the central parks and plazas have received a makeover and extra police have been deployed on the streets. San Salvador also offers a thriving nightlife, along with facilities unavailable elsewhere in the country. For beaches, swimming and sun you don't have to stray too far from the capital, to the crater lake of Ilopango or, an hour's journey away, the small Pacific coast resort of La Libertad . Also within easy reach are the small Maya ruins of San Andrés and Joya de Cerén which, although they pale visually in comparison to sites in Guatemala - El Salvador was at the furthest fringe of Maya culture - are nonetheless important. The World Heritage Site of Joya de Cerén, in particular, gives the most complete picture yet of what daily village life was like in Maya times.

Western El Salvador is the most relaxing and perhaps most scenic part of the country, with the lovely old colonial city of Ahuachapán making a convenient entry point from Guatemala, and the laid-back city of Santa Ana making a good alternative to San Salvador as a place to stay a few nights. In addition to the Maya ruins of Tazumal there is the exquisite cloudforest of Montecristo , bursting with exotic plants and wildlife.

For something slightly more energetic, the nearby volcanic peaks of Izalco, Volcán Santa Ana and Cerro Verde provide good and varied hiking, while nestling at their base is the magnificent crater lake of Coatepeque , whose deep blue waters are perfect for snorkelling, diving and swimming.

Refined cooking is not one of El Salvador's strong points, although there are a few exceptions, with gourmet cuisine available in San Salvador and smart restaurants serving excellently prepared local dishes in the provincial cities. Most local people, however, eat in comedores , the ubiquitous café, where you can get a nutritious and substantial meal for around US$2-3. The cleanliness of these places varies, as does the quality of the food; if in doubt, choose one that's busy.

The main meal of the day is lunch - look out for comida a la vista , basically a cheap and cheerful set lunch served up at comedores across the country. Generally, unless it's a fiesta, people don't eat out a lot and places close relatively early; around 9pm. Only in the cities, and mostly at weekends, will restaurants be full and stay open late.

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