The "Storm"

mooring chain

The evening looked like a normal thunderstorm, but things quickly deteriorated.  We were on a mooring ball at the time and felt more safe than being at anchor in this estuary with strong currents  When the storm started Deena was on deck.  She started pulling in the sun shades that were taking a beating in the 30 knot wind.  Rick was below closing windows and hatches to stop the horizontal rain.  Then we were hit by a 85+mph wind (hurricane force) later called a micro-burst.  Our normally horizontal, hoisted dingy was blown vertical and the boat heeled about 20 degrees.  Unfortunately it also broke the mooring chain we were attached to.  At the moment we realized we were adrift, Talaria collided with the vacant boat S/V Hotspur moored directly behind us.  We started the engine but the anchor from Hotspur was caught on our life lines preventing us from separating the 2 boats in the strong wind and waves beating us together.  The mooring field workers jumped onto our boat  to help us get free from Hotspur. We proceeded to the marina and assessed the damage to the hull, making sure we were not in danger of taking on water.  Rick and Ben from S/V Knee Deep went out in a dinghy to make certain that Hotsupr had no damage that could cause it to sink. Repairs are under way.

There is a lot to be said for the local people.  They lost roofs, boats, docks and a lot more.  However, they quickly worked together to help each other out and make sure everyone was taken care of.

Waterfalls for mom

Waterfalls are a favorite of Deena's mom and we wish she could have been here with us. Riding in the 3 wheeled TukTuk down a severely rutted road was the most exciting part of this excursion. The waterfalls are in the town of Juayguay.

These young men climb the rocks and dive into the pool.

Rick is thinking about a swim but it is too cold

Guy and Carol in the Tuk Tuk

Weaving in Atacho

Atacho, El Salvador is an artisan town with weaving, painting, basket making and embroidery work in the small shops. We watched a team of weavers place new warp threads on a loom. Atacho means the place of spring water.

now this is a BIG swift

Volcanoes of El Salvador

Rick in front of Izalco

This valley between Izalco and Santa Ana has camping huts

steam vent on Izalco

Friends Guy and Carol in front of Santa Ana

Volcan de Santa Anna and Volcan de Izalco have hiking trails up onto them. We viewed them from the Cerro Verde National park. If you want to hike to the top you must make arrangements with the park police and start by 11AM.

The national bird of El Salvador

Tourquise browed motmot or Torogoz is the El Salvadoran national bird. We saw one flying around at Joya de Ceren. He seemed to follow us through the area. His brilliant colors aren't as vivid in my photo, it is difficult to see the long delicate tail feathers, but he has a flower pedal in his beak.

Joya de Ceren

In the back is a round structure, a sauna

the layers of ash are evident here

a meeting house

Traveling with a tour guide, Dionisio, enriched our visit to Joya de Ceren and sites along the Rut de Flores in northwestern El Salvador. Joya de Ceren is an archeological site that was discovered in 1976 during excavations to build grain silos in this farming area. This find is called the 'Pompeii of El Salvador' due to the a sudden covering by volcanic ash, resulting in the excellent preservation of the Mayan village. The buildings in this site are interesting as they portray the common, everyday life of the Mayan culture, whereas other archeological sites focus on the temples and kings of the era. Funds are being sought to continue excavation as only a small portion of this Mayan settlement has been uncovered.

Apaneca

Boys playing soccer after school

wood piles for cooking

 In our travels through the mountains, Dionisio, our guide booked an overnight stay in cabanas in the town of Apaneca. This is the friendliest place we have been in all of El Salvador. We strolled through the streets in the early evening and were greeted by everyone we met. There is a pride on this community seen in the cleanliness of the streets, the wonderful gardens and the maintenance of the homes and businesses. Our room looked out to the mountains and in the morning I laid in bed listening to at least 15 different bird calls.

Pupusas being made for dinner and social time.

Apaneca has had several earthquakes in recent years causing the stucco covering over clay and bamboo walls to crumble.

The view from our cabana window to the mountains.

beautiful wood xylophone at Las Cabanas de Apaneca

Carol and Guy

Coffee: El Salvador's third largest export

machine for washing the husks off the coffee beans

areas for washing beans and the drying patios are in the background

drums to do final drying of the beans for the perfect humidity

Storage area with hundreds of bags of coffee beans sorted and labeled for export.

These ladies sort the beans in the final processes.

See the man at the end of the room carrying a bag of beans.

Roasting area for Central American sales, Starbucks roasts their own beans.

We traveled with Carol and Guyof S/V Stray Cat to the mountains west of Costa del Sol seeing more of this beautiful country. The Ruta de Flores winds through the Apaneca - Ilamatepec mountains covered with coffee fields. At the higher elevations the bushes were covered with small white blossoms and beans at the lower elevations. El Carmen is a coffee processing plant that sells their product worldwide with 40% to Starbucks, 40% to an Italian company and the rest is roasted for sale in Central America. The process is more extensive than we had expected. Our guide was very proud of the fact they grow very high quality beans for export. Great emphasis is given to maintain the identity of each lot from the time its coffee cherries are harvested until the green beans are ready for export. The cherries are hand picked at the optimum ripeness, then naturally fermented, washed with pure spring water, sun-dried on clay patios, then left to ‘rest’ for a minimum of 60 days under ideal conditions to reach uniform humidity and color. Coffee beans have 2 husks on them that are removed early in the process and the final step is sorting and grading the beans by size, which is done by several women at a conveyor belt.