Saturday, February 23

This was our big day to play "tourist" in the beautiful countryside. Sonsonate, where we were staying all week, is along the Ruta de las Flores (Route of the Flowers), a scenic drive starting in San Salvador and working west through the mountains and volcanoes. It's known for the many nurseries and flower plantations and coffee-growing operations that make it extremely beautiful.

So on our day off we headed further north to a small town called Juayua (pronounced why-you-ah). The town itself has several neat features that sounded fun. Every weekend it has a "gastronomical festival" that's known around the country for the food vendors it brings in (and, according to our sources, it is pretty heavily regulated by the government to make it safe for tourists). It also has a church, the Iglesia del Christo Negro (Church of the Black Christ), built in the 16th Century. Home to one of the only black crucifixes in Central America, it is a place of pilgrimage for many.

Juayua is also the starting point for a hike to seven waterfalls. We were warned going into it that the hike was a strenuous one, so only 9 of us took the trip. The rest of the group decided to take it easy and hang back in the town for the day.

I went on the hike, so I can't give a lot of details on what those 5 people did--hopefully one of them will post with some more information. They spent the day with Alex, the guy who drove us to and from work all week and was then contracted to drive us on Saturday, too. Alex took them to several other towns along the Route for some sightseeing and shopping. One of the things they found was a church that had been destroyed by an earthquake in 2001(?). The congregation is rebuilding, bit by bit as they get the money. Plus, after a week of doing concrete construction, the group was able to see and understand what was going on.

The group also had the chance to check out a funeral procession and a baptism.

Meanwhile, those of us on the hike (we were joined by a Canadian named Len) had an adventure and a half. The waterfalls were incredible--they varied in height from just a few meters tall to over 35. They were mostly in these out-of-the-way places, undisturbed by traffic or a lot of visitors.

Of course, that meant that they were anything but easy to get to. When we first got out of the van to meet up with our local guides, we noticed that they had machetes and large coils of rope. We were a little unsure about what these could be for, but we decided to go with the flow.

Turns out, we needed them for navigation. Not only did we have to climb up and down very steep slopes (or walk on footpaths only about as wide as our foot with pretty sharp drop offs on the edge of the path), but we also had some rivers and other things to cross. Some of the rivers we waded through. Another required us to cross a concrete plank about 6" wide (Laura had to carry a dog that was hiking with us but got scared and stopped while on the plank). We also crossed this huge tree that had fallen and created a natural bridge. It was a massive tree, very strong and steady, but just at the right incline where the rope railing was helpful for mental security.

About midway through the hike, we came to a waterfall and didn't really see how the path continued on. Then we noticed that the guides were climbing up the rocks and stringing ropes--we were going up! We climbed about halfway up the waterfall and then crossed to the other side, where we had a snack. Then it was back across and up the second half of the waterfall!

At another point we went through a coffee plantation. At first it was just walking through the trees, then we headed down--at a pretty good angle and with very loose soil. The key was to grab the trees by the base and use them to hold on as you slid your way down the volcano! Not the cleanest method (but by then we were all pretty filthy anyway), but fun anyway.

The final few waterfalls were in an area maintained by an electric company. The company has harnessed the waterfalls and connected them to generate hydroelectric power. These were the easiest to get to--there was a well-tended path--and are often used by townspeople and other tourists for swimming holes. We had lunch at waterfall no. 7 and then went back a few to one with a very large swimming pool. While we hadn't planned on going swimming, we decided we were wet and dirty already, and besides--how many times do you get to swim in the base of a waterfall?!

The water was very cold, but we enjoyed using the falls as an automated massage and a way to take the first layer of dirt out of our clothes. When we got back to the entrance to the company's property, we found a pickup truck that our guide hired to take us back into town the Salvadorian way--standing up, just holding onto some bars.

Once back at the starting point, we were able to meet up with our group (Alex did NOT want to let us into the van) and spend a bit of time in the town ourselves for sightseeing and shopping, with the others as our unofficial guides. On the way back to the hotel, we also took the time to stop at one more small town and check out their local street artesian festival.

All in all, it was a wonderful day, and a great way to end our trip.