El Salvador, A Hidden Gem!

by
Lin Low

Though perhaps not as well-known as its neighboring countries of Honduras and Guatemala, El Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. Surrounded by ocean (with world class surfing beaches), mountain forests, active volcanoes, and dotted with quaint cobble stoned streets in colonial towns, it is truly a hidden gem.

Having recently had the opportunity visit El Salvador, I discovered it not only has lots to offer in the form of tourism, but the Salvadorians are friendly, personal, and caring. They certainly welcomed me with open arms.

Despite all the bad publicity in the past because of its relatively recent civil war, El Salvador is now growing in economically as well as becoming a tourist destination. With twice daily 5.5 hour-long nonstop flights from San Francisco, El Salvador is an easy travel destination. Here are some of the highlights of my trip to the El Salvador Travel Market 2013, sponsored by Corsatur and El Salvador Tourism.

World-Class Surfing

First I visited La Libertad Port on the Pacific Coast. Here you can enjoy quietly strolling around fisherman’s pier, or you can choose to get a major adrenaline rush by taking an exciting surf lesson at one of El Salvador’s world-class surf beaches. Professional and celebrity surfers from around the world come to El Salvador to enjoy the warm and challenging waters. Many of the top-10 break points in the world are located here, with top breaks including Punta Roca, El Sunzal and El Tunco. Some of the world’s most important surf competitions have been held in La Libertad, including Copa Quicksilver, and just this past July the 6-star Reef Pro El Salvador competition.

I had a surfing lesson here at the Playa San Blas located in El Sunzal. The waves were a bit too rough for me, but I managed to get half way up on the board and to do several flips before it was time to get back to the beach. I recommend everyone should try it since it is so much fun!



I also enjoyed the lunch by the beach at the Restaurante Acajutla. Here I found all types of seafood dishes on the menu, like seafood, cerviche, fish and chips, and langoustes (crawfish). I could sit there all day enjoying the music, watching the surfers catching the wave and relaxing.

Want to learn about turtles?

Well, you can when you visit the turtle sanctuary located at San Diego Beach. Here you could learn about the native turtles that swim along the Salvador's coast, including the Green Sea Turtle (Verde Marina), the Leatherback Turtle (La Baula), and the most common, the Olive Ridley Turtle (La Golfina). I learned that the Salvadoreans are becoming more aware of the plight of sea turtles, and they are learning to protect them. With the help of a new conversation programs and in conjunction with other countries in North, Central and South American (including the USA ) the people of El Salvador are learning how to protect the turtles for the future and for all to enjoy.



One of the conservation strategies implemented by FUNZEL (Fundacion Zoologic de El Salvador), a non-profit, non-governmental organization, is to buy back the sea turtle eggs that have been harvested and are being sold in the market. They take these sea turtle eggs to a sanctuary or "farm," and then put them back in sea turtle nests. When the sea turtle eggs hatch, the baby turtles are returned back to the ocean. 



I learned that only a small handful of baby turtles survive after they hatch, and that sea  turtles return to their place of birth to lay their eggs. So it was with mixed emotions that I had the privilege of participating in the release of a baby turtle back to sea. As it crawled toward the open ocean: I worried if it would survive or not. I wished it a good safe journey and long life, and rejoiced that it had survived the crawl to the sea.

Walter Deininger National Park

Next I went to Walter Deininger National Park, located south of La Libertad. It is an 1800 acre forest with a wide variety of endangered trees, and a large assortment of wildlife, and medicinal plants. This park is home to 70+ species of birds, over 20 species of amphibians and small mammals such as raccoons, deer and armadillos. I enjoyed strolling along the park’s pathways, breathing fresh air, before repelling down a 180 foot cliff. Yes, it was a bit scary at first. First I caught a deep breath, and then I stepped off the cliff. I must admit I was scared in the middle of my repelling. My hands and feet were shaking so badly that I needed to take a break. I took a deep breath then continued repelling down. It didn't take long though, before I was safely on firm ground. What an achievement for me!

El Boqueron Park

The National Park of El Boqueron is located only 20- 30 minutes from San Salvador. For someone who has never seen a volcano up close and personal this is a must see attraction. After a light trek up the volcano, through fresh air and beautiful natural landscape, I was delighted with the view of the impressive 1 mile wide crater. Upon my return to San Salvador, I recommend stopping by either the Las Brumas or the Pampa Argentina restaurants to try typical Salvadorian dishes. Believe me, you will enjoy the beautiful view of the valley, and by the way, this volcano is dormant!

Concepcion de Ataco

Concepción de Ataco, is a lovely cobblestoned town surrounded by coffee plantations. It has many colorful handicraft shops and several beautiful boutiques which sell native indigo outfits which I found very hard to resist from buying. If shopping is not for you, how about mingling with the locals? Food vendors love showing all the types of foods they sell, and even show you how they prepare it. Many even love to take photos with you! This truly is a delightful and lovely town to tour, and it even has a very nice and refreshing climate!





The El Carmen Estates Coffee Plantation

I visited a coffee plantation, the El Carmen Estates, where I took a tour of their working coffee mill and learn about the process of how a simple coffee bean becomes an excellent cup of coffee. A guide led us through the different areas of the coffee mill and described each stage of coffee production. He explained how the "cherry" coffee bean is transformed into a "green" coffee bean for export to companies like Starbucks, American Airlines and the Holiday Inn, among many others. And best of all, a delicious cup of coffee was waiting for me after the tour.



El Tunco

After attending the tourist agent conference, and more sightseeing, it was time for me to wind down and relax for two days/three nights before heading home. Rodrigo from Salvadorian Tours organized my stay at a beautiful boutique hotel, on one of the most developed surfing beaches in El Salvador, the Hotel Tekuani Kal, in El Playa Tunco, La Libertad. This hotel is run by a local family and each room has its own unique architect and design.

I joined my good friends Emilia (a Salvadorian) and Cori to explore this small charming town. Together with Javier Melendez who was our local tour guide during the conference, who happened to live in town, gave us a special tour of El Tunco. I must say it was the perfect relaxing stay for us after the hectic conference and sightseeing. We enjoyed breakfast overlooking the surfers in the morning.



Lunch at the local restaurants, and eating local seafood prepared in sinfully rich cream sauces. One afternoon we walked to town and enjoyed smoothie. Then later we sat by the beach and enjoyed the sunset while having a glass of wine and mingling with the locals. That was totally a treat! But that wasn’t all! Then for a late night dinner, we enjoyed just caught local seafood! That was my first time trying Conchas (raw clams). The best clams on a half shell that I ever ate, well........until I saw it moving. I practically freak out but my friends reassured me that the clam meat’s movement meant freshness. Thoughts of that freaked me out but I must say my stomach was just fine afterwards!



That night time, we attended the local open mike and watched the talented musicians play and sing. We were never alone as the friendly local people always joined us either in conversation or in activities during our stay. If we had stayed longer, I am sure we would  have gotten to know everyone in town.



Visiting El Salvador was a very memorable experience. I can hardly wait to go back! Maybe I'll even sign up for more surfing lessons!

Worthy Notes:
Spanish is the primary language- English is widely spoken
El Salvador uses only US DOLLARS
Sept- March- best time to surf,
No Visas required
Taca Airline is the National airline
Lin Low

Surprising Fun Time in Aruba

By Ken Low

(Note: Click on the pictures for larger view)

When I was going to visit Aruba in August, I thought that it would be like  any of the other  tropical Caribbean Islands that I had been to  before that was hot & humid, dirty beaches, high crime, pesky  mosquitoes, and a lot beggars/solicitors everywhere. Besides this, I would have to keep one eye out for Hurricanes as well.

To my surprise, what I found instead was a Tourist-Friendly Island that was warm with cool breezes (NOT hot & humid), CLEAN beautiful white beaches, NO crime, NO mosquitoes, and NO beggars/solicitors. I can close my eyes to Hurricanes as Aruba is NOT in the Hurricanes Belt. As the people on the other islands has to duck and run for cover, Aruba is below and out of the path of the summer Hurricanes in the Caribbean Ocean. American and European tourists that I had met there all say that they pick Aruba for the Not-So-Hot-Humid weather and the safe haven from the Hurricanes.

Beside these reasons for loving Aruba, I enjoy being a tourist and sightseeing around the island. I enjoyed visiting the historic California Lighthouse, Alta Vista Chapel, and the Ruins of the Bushiribana Gold Mill. 

I like to think that the lighthouse is named after my home state of California but it is not. It was named after the steamship California that was sunk after hitting the treacherous reefs in the waters nearby.  The 1914 lighthouse is now a guardian beacon that warns all the ships about the reefs there. The 1750 Alta Vista Chapel was the first Roman Catholic Church built on the island and it was nicknamed the Pilgrims Chapel. I loved climbing around the stone ruins of the Bushiribana Gold Mill. I pretend that it is still 1872 and I look out through the old stone windows for the steamships arriving to pickup the smelted gold.

The tour through the Aruba Aloe Museum & Factory was very enlightening.  I did not realize that there is so many uses for aloe. Also, the aloe juice from a freshly cut leaf when ingested will act as a laxative! So you don't want to drink that juice if you are not close to a toilet. The tour thru the factory allows you to see how they process the aloe and put it into lotions, cream, and juices.

The fun activities that I enjoyed participation in were balloon fishing at Manchebo Beach, Baby Turtle Project, snorkeling the wrecks, Sunset Catamaran Ride, and gambling at the Casino.  The local Fishermen at Manchebo Beach were very friendly and talked about their big catches. I asked them how they caught their fish as the big fish are very far away from shore. They said that they used balloon fishing as a way to get their fishing rig to deep water past the reefs. They showed me how they did balloon fishing.

They connect a small lead weight on their line then attached the leader with the hook. On the hook, they put cut fish or a whole fish about 5-6 inches long. They inflate a large balloon about 12 inches in diameter then tie the fishing line to the balloon such that jerking the fishing line would untie the fishing line from the balloon.  Next they toss the weight with the bait and balloon into the water. 
This next part is obvious. You must fish where the wind blows out to sea and not toward the inland and Manchebo Beach is perfect for this. As the wind blows the balloon out to sea, the fishing rig and bait follows. Once the balloon is at least 100 yards out, the fisherman yanks on the fishing line with the fishing pole and the balloon is released. The fisherman now waits for the big fish to get hooked.  I was excited as that night he caught several large Groupers and Snappers about 20+ inches long.

The hatching of the baby sea turtles was a very special experience for me on Aruba. Many months earlier, the mother sea turtle came to shore, dug a big hole, laid her eggs in it, covered it back up, and headed back out to sea.  The Aruba authorities fence off where the nest is located to protect the eggs. 
In late August, the eggs hatch and the baby sea turtles crawl out of the sand and into the sea. This all happens in the dark of the early morning. Afterwards, the naturists would carefully uncover the sand from the nest and count the total eggs (the hatched and unhatched eggs). I was very lucky to be there to see that during this time, a late hatching turtle broke its shell and started to sea. It was very exciting. I would come back again just to sit in the early morning darkness to see the baby turtles go to sea!

For snorkeling, we went with Red Sail Sport on the Catamaran Balia with dives at Boca Catalina reef & at the sunken German Shipwreck Antilla. I was still able to see the Barracuda swim in front of the ship's bow and the towering smoke stack rising from the deep. Seeing the quiet sunken ship in the deep cold waters put chills down my back and made it kind of scary for me. I kept on thinking that Leonardo Dicaprio was going to arise from the deep asking for my help. 
At Boca Catalina reef, the snorkeling in the warm waters was great as there were a lot of fish and squid and reef life to see in its shallow clear waters.  Afterwards they turned on the music and served wine & food so we ate and danced.

The De Palm's Sunset Catamaran Cruise was very leisurely and relaxing. We drank cocktails and ate food while we watched the wind Surfers surf over the water. The view of the Sunset from the Catamaran was very romantic.  Later we went down stairs and danced to the music. It was a lot of fun.  At the end of the cruise, I could not believe that I was so exhausted when the cruise started out so relaxing! I wonder if it was the dancing.

For lodging, Aruba has low rise and high rise hotels. We wanted to stay at the boutique low rise Bucuti Beach Resort where it is adults only, non-smoking, and listed as one of the "top ten dream beaches of the world". It is Trip Adviser Traveler's Choice for Top 10 Most Romantic Resorts in the World and Conde Naste Traveler's Choice as a Top Resort in the Caribbean but it was not available for us at that time. We are going to come back next time and stay there!

We decided to stay at a high rise in the sophisticated Palm Beach area. There we stayed at the 5-star Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort & Casino. I picked this place for the view of the ocean & beach from our room, easy access to the beach & Palm Beach shopping plaza, and of course, their casino. I loved the view from our room and it just took a couple of minutes to walk to the beach. I loved their beach bar where I could easily order a Mai Tai for myself and a Pina Colada for my wife while sunbathing on their beach. 

I am not a big gambler but I was enticed to try their casino. My wife and I were given a free $10 coupon bet each for any of the table games. 

I am not a risky gambler but I noticed that on one of the Roulette Wheel tables that black was always on a roll. 
 
So after two blacks came up, I put my $10 on black with the extra $10 coupon. Black came up again so I collected my $10 bet with my $20 winnings and left. 

 
I went to the craps table since the Black Jack tables were filled. There I placed my $10 bet on the line with my wife's $10 coupon. We waited several rolls and won a couple of times when the number hit. When I had the opportunity to cash out at the crap table, I took the money and headed to the beach from the casino with $60 profit in my pocket. So for me, the casino experience was special.

I had another special experience happen while we were out dining at Ike's Bistro Restaurant in the Manchebo Beach Resort & Spa. We met the Sous-Chef there. His name is Ever De Pena and he is the 26years old Celebrity Chef there.  He is Venezuelan-born and grew up in Aruba. He has been cooking for 11 years. It was our pleasure that he came out and greeted us at our pool side table. 


He prepared for us various dishes with beautiful presentation and delicious taste each time! We had the Grilled Tuna with tomatoes & avocado salad, a Shrimp Pasta Primavera dish, Calamari Pasta dish, Portobello Mushroom Ravioli dish, and a delicious Sea Bass dish. For dessert, we had the yummy Chocolate Temptation which had various chocolates including chocolate ice cream on the dish. I look forward to eating there again.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time in Aruba. The comfortable weather, the beautiful sand beaches, the various activities, the food, the people, the turtles, low crime, and of course no Hurricanes make me want to come back to Aruba. I can see why Aruba is the most repeat-visited island of the Caribbean!

The Amazing Amazon Jungle Experience

Native Village Along The Amazon River

When I booked a trip to Peru for a travel conference, I decided to go to the Amazon Jungle prior to my conference in Lima. I have been waiting a long time to go to the Amazon River to experience nature and the true jungle life.  So I took an evening flight from Lima, Peru, to Iquitos.  Here I stayed at the Victoria Lodge.

Using Solar Energy to Dry The Laundry

The next morning I met my tour guide-- Llagner (meaning Black Jaguar) Manihuari Pacaya (Big Rat).  His nickname is Llyacko, which is pronounced Jacko.  He has 27 years of experience working as a tour guide, but believe me, he does not look a day older than 27.  He speaks fluent English, Spanish, his local village dialects, and surprisingly, some Portuguese!  He is a local resident of the Amazon Jungle, and he has tremendous knowledge of the jungle!

Yummy Grub Worms!  Am I Brave or What?

On the way to the Iquitos Port to catch our speed boat, my group had the chance to experience some exotic fruit in the open street market like passion fruit, guava, mango, and papaya.  I noticed that there was cooked food everywhere.  Llyacko mentioned that one booth was grilling a 2 inch grub worm.  Well....you guessed it...I had to try it....but only after a few other people tried it first!  As the saying goes, it tasted just like chicken, but it had a bit of a sausage flavor with some gluey oil mixed in.  I was told it was good for the digestion.  I don't know about that, but at least it did not make me sick, so that's good!  But, I don't think I'll be flying back just to eat more of that!

Typical Village Transportation

After the exciting food experience, we took a 1.5 hour speed boat ride to Heliconia Lodge, a sister property to the Victoria Lodge where I stayed my two nights in the jungle.  We passed many impressive jungle landscapes of bushes and tree, as well as rustic hut homes along the river's edge.  You can also can easily see the brown turbid waters of the Amazon River mixed in with the dark waters of the Nanay River. At the first native village our boat made a stop-over.  Here I had a chance to learn about their culture and even dance with the natives.  There was a lot of hand crafted jewelry available to purchase.  What a great way to help support the village!

Learning the Native Dance...Fun!

Upon our arrival at the Heliconia Lodge, the entire staff greeted us with fresh fruit juices.  Even Pedro the parrot was there to greet us!  

So what is there to do in the jungle?  There is a lot!  First, Llaycko took us on a hike, and he identified many of the botanical species, including the Heliconia flower and medicinal plants.  He also told us the names of the birds, small monkeys, iguanas and other animals we saw.  There was another excursion where we went to see the pink dolphins.  I was lucky enough to get to see them jump from the water, but I wasn't quick enough to capture them in a photo.  Oh well.

Llaycko caught a Piranha for dinner!

How about fishing for Piranhas?  We got to do that!  I had many bites on my line but was not able to catch anything.  After much perseverance, I finally caught one, but when one of the staff members grabbed the big fish for me, the piranha bit a piece out his finger!  Ouch!!!  That marked the end of our fishing trip.  We had to hurry back to shore to get his finger bandaged!

How about going early morning birdwatching?  Yes, we did that too!!  We left early one morning by boat to go to one of the smaller streams to go bird watching.  I was rewarded by much more!  I got to see the glorious Vitoria Regiaplant flower (Giant Water Lily) on Yanamono Island.  These flowers reminded me of Lotus Flowers in a water pond.  Ironically my name, Lin, in Chinese is "Lotus Flower!"  I was told that the locals use this flower for relaxation during child birth.  There is a purpose for everything in God's creation!

Giant Water Lily on Yanamono Island

                 At night I hiked around the perimeter of the lodge to look for tarantulas, fire flies, and other nocturnal jungle animals like snakes.  I enjoyed seeing the tarantulas and holding fire flies in my hands, but I am not sure I liked the evening hike because it was dark and slippery with mosquitoes flying all around me, though I did learn a lot! Most importantly I leaned that it is important to stay put if you ever get lost in the jungle, as the staff will look for you.  However if you do get lost and keep moving you will most likely get lost further, making it that much harder for the staff to find you.  It may even take days!  This actually happened once at this lodge!  Luckily the person survived, but it was a hard leaned lesson for him!

  

Isn't he cute?

How about a restful night on the river?  We had the opportunity to take an evening boat ride down the Amazon.  As the boat floated slowly downstream, Llyacko told us to close our eyes and listen to the surroundings.  I enjoyed listening tho the magical sounds of the jungle so much, that when I opened my eyes (about 20 minutes later) we had already arrived at the next lodge!  I was able to take several beautiful sunset pictures.  What an evening.  So calm and relaxing!

The Beautiful Amazon River Sunset!

My three day trip to the Amazon River far exceeded my expectations!  I loved all that I learned about the jungle, the plants and wildlife, the local native culture and their lifestyle.  Most of all, Llyacko made me feel like I was the queen of the  jungle.  I have a lot to be thankful for, for having had such and unforgettable Amazon jungle experience!  There is no doubt, a trip to the Amazon can definitely broaden ones horizon, and give one an opportunity to explore, learn and enjoy!  I guarantee a trip to the Amazon will be very rewarding!

 Lin can be contacted at lin_travels@sbcglobal.net

Pebble Beach Lexus Food & Wine Festival

Foodies, wines, friends, and lots of sunshine, what a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon indulging ourselves.

Jan Allen ATA West Coast Sales Manager

Ken, Charlotte, George, & I attended the Lexus Grand Tasting Event at the 2011 Lexus Food & Wine Festival held at Pebble Beach Saturday. 
The venue was held as a fund raiser for the Boy&Girls Club of America and CASA (a child advocates organization).  

Interacting with the Wineries

I had a great time tasting wines from various vineyards like Acacia, Bridlewood, Chalone to Signorello, Trinchero, and Wente vineyards to name a few out of the 192 wineries that was represented there.
 

Jacques & Claudine Pepin

Don't ask me anything about the wines because after the 1st couple of glasses of wine and drinking some exotic mixed drinks in between, I don't remember anything about the wines. 
If I did then the Stella beer washed it all away. 

Michael Ginor

I did noticed that when the chefs had a break, I could find them in line getting a Stella!

I am not a foodie but I enjoyed talking to some of the 84 Culinary Masters in attendance there and tasting their food. 
I can easily become a foodie after tasting some of the food at the event. 

Andre Bienvenu

Some of the Chefs represented there were Jacque & Claudine Pepin, Tyler Florence, Masahara Morimoto, Rick Tramonto, Gale Gand, Roy Yamaguchi, Michael Schwartz, Michael Ginor, Daniel Joly, Andre Bienvenu, Michael Chiarello, Akira Back, and Miguel Garcia to just name a few. Celebrity Chef Guy Fieri was also there.
 

Rick Tramonto & Gale Gand

Daniel Joly

Michael Chiarello

Akira Back

Michael Schwartz

Miguel Garcia

Besides Lexus, the event had at least 54 major sponsors attending including Aruba Tourism Board. Aruba's booth had Master Chef Miguel Garcia and he had his college intern, Ever De Pena, created a very delicious meat dish which Ken thought was very yummy! 
I enjoyed mine with some red wine from J. Lohr. The dish was a Crispy Fried Chicken with Aruban Creole Sauce and Macadamia Nut Crusted Grouper with Tropical Relish. 

Ever De Pena

For the On-Line Auction fund raiser, Aruba had donated a trip for two to Aruba. 

Lin, Charlotte, & George enjoying wine

The trip is a 5 Days and 4 Nights at the Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort & Casino. It includes Round Trip Coach Airfare for 2 and an online Activity Package for 2. 
As an extra bonus, this includes an Island Tour with  Sail & Transfers courtesy of Red Sail Sports and dePalm Tours. This has an estimated worth of $4000!  
I would love to go to Aruba too!


Overall, we had a great time!


Lin can be contacted at lin_travels@sbcglobal.net