I departed Copan early in the morning, exchanged all my money and grabbed a shuttle to the Guatemalan border. Even though Honduras directly borders El Salvador, it would be easier and quicker to go through Guatemala and then into El Salvador oddly. About twenty minutes on the shuttle and I was in Guatemala. Quickly exchanged shuttles and headed to Chiquimula, Guatemala where I switched buses again to head for the El Salvador border. My shuttle bus from Guatemala to El Salvador was pleasant, had a nice conversation with a guy and we shared some sweet bread, which I´ve yet to find since leaving Honduras unfortunately. At the border I took a shuttle to a city called Metapan where I caught a bus for my destination Santa Ana.
I arrived in Santa Ana without really knowing it. A lady next to me told me we had arrived and got off the bus with me at a roundabout walked me to the taxi station. Met my taxi driver, told him the hostel I wanted to and of course he nodded with assurance. After about two minutes of driving we pulled over for necessary directions. My hostel, Casa Verde, was a great stop and maybe my favorite hostel of this trip so far. Personal fans mounted in the ceiling were a nice touch I had not seen before, very welcomed in the hot nights. I had a few chances to walk around town and get a feel of the old colonial style buildings.
This is the central park. Got the park statue center, the pavillion behind, the cathedral top left, and can you find the no gun sign? Yes, they tell people not to bring weapons to parks in Central America.
This is the well know Santa Ana Theatre. Did not see a show, it was not on my itinerary.
The Santa Ana Cathedral. My favorite exterior structure of a Central American cathedral so far.
A shot of the city from my hostel roof deck at sunrise. Casa Verde if you are ever in Santa Ana, El Salvador, just a great hostel and Carlos the owner is quite the host.
In addition to seeing the city I´d come to Santa Ana to hike its volcanos and enjoy the lake. You might notice the policeman behind me. We had a police escort of 2, along with a guide, for our group of 8.
View of Lake Coatepeque from the top of Santa Ana Volcano. The hike was only 2 hours up, moderate difficulty, and very well marked. A guide was overkill but I did appreciate the two policemen.
The path along the rim of the crater. Only I and one another ventured across for a different view of the lake. If you look closely you can see the rest of the group back at the original viewpoint. The path was about 2 to 3 feet wide with the slope down the volcano on one side and the cliff into the crater lagoon on the other. My balance was a little tested.
This would be the lagoon in the crater. No swimming here. No path exists down and we also could observe gases and bubbling water so I was not exactly dying to take a dip.
The next day I went to Lake Coatepeque to swim and relax on the water front. The city, loosely stated, was a single dirt road running around the lake with homes and some tourism focused development scattered about.
Photo of Santa Ana Volcano from Lake Coatepque. Not exactly breathtaking, but it´s a photo of where I was the day before. Thought it kind of fun to have been at both extremes.
The Santa Ana bus station and idle chicken buses. I would depart the day after the lake for Juayua. A city known for its weekend food festival and general town hospitality.
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