honduras vs el salvador travel

• El Salvador , Honduras

Honduras vs. El Salvador

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Central America has a lot to offer, and Honduras and El Salvador are just two of its hidden gems. As you uncover the distinctive features of these countries, you’ll discover a world of adventure waiting for you. Read on to find out which destination will be the perfect fit for your next unforgettable journey.

History & Culture

When considering the rich history and culture of Honduras and El Salvador, you’ll find both countries offer unique experiences. Dive into their past and learn about their distinctive customs.

In Honduras, you’ll find a strong Mayan influence. This ancient civilization left behind impressive ruins to explore. El Salvador, on the other hand, was home to various indigenous groups, such as the Pipil and Lenca, contributing to its diverse cultural heritage.

Honduras is famous for its well-preserved archaeological sites like Copán, which showcase intricate carvings and impressive architecture. El Salvador’s archaeological sites, such as Tazumal and Joya de Cerén, also reveal fascinating insights into the lives of ancient people.

Traditional arts and crafts are an integral part of Honduran culture. Their expertise in wood carving, pottery, and weaving is well-known. In El Salvador, you’ll find a strong tradition of handicrafts, with artisans creating vibrant textiles, ceramics, and paintings.

Celebrations and festivals are essential aspects of both countries. In Honduras, La Feria Isidra, a week-long cultural event, showcases traditional music and dance. El Salvador’s August Festival honors the country’s patron saint with colorful processions and street parties.

Language plays a role in cultural diversity. While Spanish is the primary language in both Honduras and El Salvador, you’ll also find indigenous languages spoken by various groups, keeping their heritage alive.

In conclusion, Honduras and El Salvador each offer a unique blend of history and culture. From ancient ruins to traditional arts and crafts, both countries invite you to immerse yourself in their fascinating past and vibrant customs.

Attractions & Activities

Honduras and El Salvador both offer a variety of attractions and activities, making it challenging to decide which destination suits your preferences. Get ready to explore the best of each country.

Honduras is known for its breathtaking natural beauty. Pico Bonito National Park provides an excellent opportunity for hiking and birdwatching, while Celaque National Park is perfect for trekking and spotting rare wildlife.

In El Salvador, adventure enthusiasts can enjoy hiking up Santa Ana Volcano, the highest peak in the country. Those seeking a more tranquil experience can explore the Montecristo Cloud Forest, a haven for nature lovers.

For history buffs, Honduras has the renowned Mayan ruins of Copán, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. El Salvador, too, offers archaeological treasures like Tazumal, an ancient Mayan city with impressive structures and artifacts.

If you’re a fan of water activities, Honduras is a prime destination for scuba diving and snorkeling. The Bay Islands, including Roatán, Utila, and Guanaja, are renowned for their vibrant coral reefs and diverse marine life. In El Salvador, Lake Coatepeque provides opportunities for kayaking, paddleboarding, and sailing.

Honduras also boasts impressive caves like the Talgua Caves, where you can explore underground chambers filled with fascinating geological formations. In El Salvador, the Los Tercios Waterfall offers a thrilling rappelling experience, with its unique basalt columns providing a stunning backdrop.

Finally, both countries offer opportunities for community-based tourism, allowing you to connect with local communities and learn about their customs and traditions.

To sum up, whether you prefer outdoor adventures, historical exploration, or engaging with local cultures, Honduras and El Salvador each offer a range of attractions and activities to satisfy your curiosity and fuel your sense of adventure.

When it comes to beautiful beaches, both Honduras and El Salvador have their fair share of sun, sand, and surf. Discover the unique features that make each coastline special.

Honduran beaches are known for their crystal-clear waters and pristine sands. Roatán, one of the Bay Islands, boasts West Bay Beach, an ideal spot for snorkeling and swimming. At 0.6 miles (1 km) long, it’s perfect for a relaxing stroll.

In El Salvador, you’ll find El Tunco, a popular beach destination for surfers. With its volcanic sand and renowned surf breaks, this 0.3-mile (0.5 km) stretch of coastline attracts both locals and tourists alike.

Utila, another Bay Island in Honduras, is home to Bando Beach. This beach is a hidden gem, offering a secluded getaway for those seeking peace and tranquility. You can also swim with whale sharks, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

El Salvador’s Las Flores Beach is perfect for surfing, too. With its gentle waves and golden sand, it’s a great spot for both beginners and experienced surfers. The beach stretches for 0.6 miles (1 km), providing ample space for beachgoers.

For a family-friendly beach in Honduras, head to Tela. Here, you’ll find soft white sand and calm waters, making it perfect for kids to play and swim. The beach spans an impressive 1.9 miles (3 km).

In El Salvador, El Cuco Beach offers a more laid-back atmosphere. Its long stretch of black sand and gentle waves make it ideal for families and sunbathers seeking a relaxing day by the ocean.

In summary, both Honduras and El Salvador boast stunning beaches, each with their unique charm. Whether you’re a surfer, a sunbather, or a family looking for a fun day out, these destinations have something for everyone.

Eating, Drinking & Nightlife

The culinary scene and nightlife in Honduras and El Salvador provide a variety of experiences to suit different tastes. Explore the flavors and entertainment options each country has to offer.

Honduran cuisine is a delightful mix of indigenous, African, and Spanish influences. Savor traditional dishes like baleadas, a popular street food made with tortillas, beans, and cheese. El Salvador is famous for its pupusas, a delicious stuffed tortilla treat.

In terms of drinks, Honduras is known for its local beers like Salva Vida and Port Royal. You can also try güifiti, a traditional Garifuna drink made from roots and herbs. In El Salvador, try the locally brewed Pilsener or Suprema beers.

When it comes to nightlife, Honduras offers a lively scene, particularly in cities like Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula. Dance the night away at popular clubs, or relax with live music at local bars. El Salvador’s nightlife is centered around the capital, San Salvador, where you’ll find a range of clubs, bars, and live music venues.

For a unique drinking experience in Honduras, visit La Cumbre, a hilltop bar in Valle de Angeles. Here, you can enjoy stunning views alongside your favorite drink. In El Salvador, visit La Ventana, a rooftop bar in San Salvador, for breathtaking city views.

Food festivals are popular in both countries. Honduras celebrates the annual Lobster Fest in Guanaja, showcasing local seafood and cultural performances. El Salvador’s annual Pupusa Festival is a must-visit event, featuring traditional music, dance, and, of course, pupusas.

In conclusion, Honduras and El Salvador each have distinct eating, drinking, and nightlife experiences. Both countries offer a blend of traditional and international cuisine, local beers and spirits, and a variety of nightlife options.

Whether you’re looking for delicious street food, a vibrant party scene, or unique cultural experiences, Honduras and El Salvador cater to a wide range of preferences. No matter which destination you choose, you’re sure to discover an exciting and diverse world of flavors and entertainment.

Shopping in Honduras and El Salvador offers unique experiences for every taste. Each country has its own local products, markets, and shopping centers that cater to a variety of preferences.

In Honduras, you’ll find colorful markets selling handicrafts, textiles, and pottery. San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa have modern shopping malls with a mix of local and international brands. For an authentic experience, visit the Guamilito Market in San Pedro Sula, where you can buy souvenirs and local handicrafts.

El Salvador, on the other hand, is known for its art and handcrafted goods. La Palma, a small town in the mountains, is famous for its vibrant, painted woodwork. San Salvador, the capital city, offers numerous malls and shopping centers like Multiplaza and La Gran Vía, which house various international brands.

Both countries have local markets where you can buy fresh produce, traditional foods, and handmade items. In El Salvador, you can visit the Paseo El Carmen, an outdoor shopping area in Santa Tecla, while in Honduras, the Mercado de Artesanías in Copán Ruinas is a great spot to find unique souvenirs.

In conclusion, shopping in Honduras and El Salvador provides a mix of traditional markets, local handicrafts, and modern shopping centers. Whether you prefer browsing through colorful stalls or visiting sleek malls, both countries have something to offer.

Accommodation

Finding a place to stay in Honduras and El Salvador is easy, with various options to suit your needs and budget.

Honduras offers a range of accommodations, from budget-friendly hostels to luxurious resorts. In popular tourist destinations like Roatán, you can find beachfront hotels, while the mountainous areas have eco-lodges and cabins. Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula have a mix of international chain hotels and boutique options.

El Salvador also provides a variety of lodging choices, from budget hostels to high-end hotels. The coastal areas, like El Tunco and El Zonte, are known for their surf camps and beachfront properties. In San Salvador, you’ll find well-known hotel chains and boutique hotels, catering to business and leisure travelers alike.

Both countries have accommodations to fit different travel styles and budgets. No matter where you choose to stay, you can find a comfortable and welcoming place to rest after a day of exploring.

To summarize, Honduras and El Salvador offer a wide range of accommodation options for travelers. Whether you’re looking for a budget-friendly hostel, a boutique hotel, or a luxurious resort, both countries have something to suit your preferences and budget.

Family-Friendliness & Children’s Activities

When traveling with your family, it’s important to consider the available activities and overall family-friendliness of your destination. Both Honduras and El Salvador offer a variety of fun, engaging experiences for children and families alike.

In Honduras, the Bay Islands are a top family destination, with beautiful beaches and opportunities for snorkeling and swimming. The Copán Ruinas, an ancient Mayan site, offers a chance for the whole family to learn about history and explore together.

El Salvador, on the other hand, boasts the Joya de Cerén archaeological site, where families can uncover the past of an ancient village. For those who enjoy outdoor adventures, hiking in the El Imposible National Park provides a fun, educational experience.

Both countries have numerous family-friendly attractions, like zoos and water parks. El Salvador’s Parque de Diversiones Xetulul and Honduras’ Zizima Eco Water Park are popular destinations for families seeking a day of excitement.

In conclusion, both Honduras and El Salvador offer a variety of family-friendly activities and attractions. Whether your family enjoys exploring ancient ruins, spending time at the beach, or visiting amusement parks, both countries provide engaging experiences for all ages.

Getting There & Getting Around

Transportation is a key consideration when planning a trip. Comparing how to get to and travel within Honduras and El Salvador can help you make an informed decision.

To reach Honduras, you can fly into one of the international airports, such as Ramón Villeda Morales Airport (SAP) in San Pedro Sula or Toncontín Airport (TGU) in Tegucigalpa. From the US, the flight time is around 3-5 hours, depending on your departure city.

In El Salvador, the main international airport is Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport (SAL), located near San Salvador. Direct flights from the US take about 4-6 hours.

Once you arrive, getting around in both countries typically involves using local buses, taxis, or rental cars. In Honduras, you may also consider traveling by ferry or small plane when visiting the Bay Islands.

Similarly, in El Salvador, you can rely on local buses, taxis, or rental cars to explore the country. For longer distances, you might opt for shuttle services or domestic flights.

In summary, both Honduras and El Salvador are accessible by air, with several international airports available. Once you arrive, local transportation options such as buses, taxis, and rental cars will help you navigate and explore these fascinating destinations.

Weather can play a big role in your travel plans. Comparing the climates of Honduras and El Salvador helps you decide which destination suits your preferences.

Honduras experiences a tropical climate with high temperatures and humidity. The rainy season runs from May to October, with an average temperature of 81°F (27°C). In contrast, the dry season from November to April sees temperatures around 77°F (25°C).

El Salvador’s climate is also tropical, with a rainy season from May to October and a dry season from November to April. The average temperature in the rainy season is 77°F (25°C), while the dry season’s average is 73°F (23°C).

Both countries have similar weather patterns, but Honduras tends to be slightly warmer. If you prefer slightly cooler temperatures, El Salvador may be the better choice.

When planning a trip, safety is always a top concern. Assessing the safety levels in both Honduras and El Salvador can help ensure a worry-free vacation.

Petty crime is a concern in both Honduras and El Salvador, especially in tourist areas. To avoid issues, always be vigilant, and secure your belongings when exploring these countries.

In Honduras, you should avoid certain areas due to gang activity. Stick to tourist-friendly zones and take guided tours for added safety.

El Salvador has made significant strides in reducing crime rates in recent years. However, it’s still important to exercise caution, particularly in urban areas.

In conclusion, while both Honduras and El Salvador have safety concerns, taking proper precautions and being aware of your surroundings can help ensure a pleasant trip. Remember to research specific areas you plan to visit and consult travel advisories before you go.

Budget is a crucial factor in deciding your travel destination. Comparing the costs in Honduras and El Salvador can help you make an informed decision.

In Honduras, daily expenses can be affordable. A budget meal might cost around 80 Lempiras ($3) while a mid-range restaurant meal could be 200 Lempiras ($8). Accommodations range from budget hostels at 400 Lempiras ($16) to more luxurious hotels at 2,000 Lempiras ($80) per night.

El Salvador also offers budget-friendly options. A meal at a local eatery might cost 5 Salvadoran Colones ($2), while a meal in a mid-range restaurant could be around 12 Colones ($5). Budget accommodations start at 20 Colones ($8) per night, while more upscale options can cost around 60 Colones ($24) per night.

Transportation costs are relatively low in both countries. In Honduras, a bus ride may cost 20 Lempiras ($1), while in El Salvador, it could be around 1 Colon ($0.25).

When it comes to activities and attractions, both countries offer a variety of experiences at different price points. Keep in mind that popular tourist spots may have higher fees.

In summary, both Honduras and El Salvador can be budget-friendly destinations. By planning your trip carefully and considering your spending habits, you can enjoy either country without breaking the bank.

Which Is Better – Honduras or El Salvador?

After comparing various factors, it’s time to decide which destination is better for you: Honduras or El Salvador?

Regarding history and culture, both countries have rich and diverse backgrounds. If ancient ruins and archaeological sites are your priority, Honduras may be the better choice. On the other hand, El Salvador offers a more urban experience, with vibrant cities and bustling markets.

When it comes to attractions and activities, both countries have much to offer. Honduras boasts lush national parks and wildlife reserves, while El Salvador is home to stunning volcanic landscapes and charming colonial towns.

For beach lovers, Honduras has a slight edge with its pristine beaches, crystal-clear waters, and world-class diving opportunities. However, El Salvador also offers picturesque coastlines and excellent surfing conditions.

Foodies and nightlife enthusiasts may find El Salvador to be a more exciting destination, with its diverse culinary scene and lively entertainment options. However, Honduras also has its share of delicious cuisine and lively bars.

In terms of family-friendliness, both countries offer child-friendly activities and attractions. Honduras has more accessible nature reserves and wildlife experiences, while El Salvador has a broader range of urban attractions suitable for families.

Ultimately, the decision between Honduras and El Salvador comes down to your personal preferences and interests. Consider what aspects of a vacation are most important to you, and use the information provided in this article to help guide your choice. No matter which destination you choose, you’re sure to create lasting memories and enjoy an unforgettable experience.

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The Truth About Solo Travel in Honduras or El Salvador

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When it comes to Central America there’s a lot of bad advice out there, so here’s what solo travel in Honduras or El Salvador is really like.

Don’t travel to Honduras. Don’t travel to El Salvador. You will be ripped off. You will be mugged. You will have a bad experience. These are the words you’ll often hear from people travelling around Central America . Do you know what I say to that? Bullshit.

I can’t tell you the number of times people have asked me over the years “is it safe to travel to Honduras?” or “is it safe to travel to El Salvador?” I get it, people are worried. But I don’t want you to miss out on authentic experiences because of something someone else said.

If you’re not too sure whether you’d like to visit Honduras or El Salvador, then check out this video of El Salvador below. It might just change your mind…

Solo travel in Honduras

I first crossed the border into Honduras from Guatemala via Belize. Three countries, two border crossings and only a matter of hours. It was a bit of a round about route but I’d finally made it into Honduras . This was only the beginning of my mammoth journey though.

With no Belizean dollars, Guatemalan quetzales, no Honduran lempira and only a handful of US dollars to my name, it was always going to be a tough ask travelling from the border all the way into the heart of Honduras with the money I had. That was the plan I had when setting off from Belize early in the morning. I don’t know why, but I thought it might be possible.

After catching the boat from Punta Gorda in Belize to Puerto Barrios in Guatemala, I was greeted by the usual street hawkers the moment I stepped foot on dry land.

Immediately there was a cacophony of sound: “You going to Honduras? Come with me. No, there is no direct bus. No, there is no local bus. No, the bus terminal is miles away. In fact, there is no bus terminal. Look, I will take you to Honduras. Trust me. Follow me.”

Purely on where I was and where I was going, purely on reputation of what other people had said, I was very wary and I didn’t want to take my chances. And there was no one I could ask.

Worryingly, immigration didn’t really have a clue, and the only person who spoke any English was one taxi driver. Just the one. Genuinely.

This left me with little choice but to listen to what he had to say and to trust him (well, trust him much like you’d trust any taxi driver).

So, I went with the one taxi driver; Hector.

It turned out that Hector was a one man tourist board and a font of knowledge. He told me everything I needed to know in terms of immigration, infrastructure, how much it was going to cost me and all about the other travellers who had been in my situation (obviously I wasn’t the only one), but I still had one major problem; I still had no money, the last of my US dollars going to Hector.

But Hector being Hector, a guardian if somewhat swarthy angel, and Honduras being Honduras, he told the bus conductor all about my situation. He explained I had no money on me, but that I could pay once we got to our final destination.

When I got on the bus I repeated that I could pay when I got to San Pedro Sula (which coincidentally is the murder capital of the world – the worse thing I witnessed there was they overcooked my fried chicken), and suddenly being cashless wasn’t a problem at all. All it needed was the helpful bus conductor to show me where the ATM was once I arrived.

On the way I didn’t get murdered, I certainly didn’t get ripped off, and it was the complete opposite of a bad experience. It was a good one. In fact, it was one of my most endearing memories of backpacking Honduras.

It just goes to show kindness can go a very very long way. For me, this is what backpacking in Honduras is all about.

Solo travel in El Salvador

Next up, El Salvador . If you make it through Honduras without anything bad happening to you, well, you’re lucky, but El Salvador is a different matter. It’s a completely different beast, and your luck is bound to run out. This time you will be ripped off. You will be mugged. You will have a bad experience. Again, bullshit.

The hardest thing about backpacking El Salvador was getting there. For me this involved seven buses, two taxis, a tuk tuk, a bit of walking and a lot of time (14 hours to be exact).

And what greeted me when I arrived? One of the most beautiful stretches of coastline I have ever seen in my life with only a handful of tourists to share it with, presumably because the rest were scared away.

The only minor annoyance I witnessed in both countries was one guy, drunk, asking us to buy him some food. And you know where he was from? The USA. Figures, right?

Negativity always breeds negativity, but the thing I hate about these scare stories is that they work. There are definitely fewer solo travellers in Honduras and El Salvador, and I think that that’s really sad.

Forget about Honduras vs El Salvador. Both are amazing countries with so much to offer. Both are definitely worth visiting. Like anywhere, like life generally, you just need to use a degree of caution and always plain common sense.

While travelling through Central America the only times I’ve heard anything going wrong is when backpackers or travellers have messed up themselves .

You’d be surprised at the number of times I’ve had this exact conversation:

Backpacker: “I was mugged in [insert country name here]” Everyone: “Oh no! That’s shocking! Ohhhh, I was thinking of going there; I had better be careful. In fact, I’ll think about it.” Me: “How did it happen?” Backpacker: “Well, it was pretty late at night, around 2am, and I was wasted while walking along the beach. I did a bit of the naughty powder and I got kinda lost, so when some guy came over I tried to ask him for directions. The next thing I know is he mugged me.” Me: “You’re an idiot.”

The thing is, if you’re going to put yourself in those situations then you’re always going to expose yourself to a certain amount of danger, regardless of where you are in the world. Minimise the risk, minimise the danger.

When it comes to deciding where to travel to next, my advice is this: Don’t let other people influence your judgement. Decide for yourself and form your own opinion.

And as for Honduras or El Salvador, go and see it for yourself and see what it’s really like. It’ll surprise you, but in the best possible way.

What do you think about travelling in El Salvador and Honduras? Do you have any advice to give? Let people know in the comments below!

Travelling around Central America ? Then check out my guides to backpacking in Nicaragua , island hopping in Bocas del Toro in Panama and diving the Blue Hole in Belize to help plan your trip here.

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About the Author

Macca Sherifi is the founder of the multiple award-winning blogs An Adventurous World and the Great British Bucket List. Every month he inspires over 200,000 avid readers to travel the world.

95 thoughts on “The Truth About Solo Travel in Honduras or El Salvador”

Thank you for your blog! I do have a couple questions on your transportation mode while in Honduras and El Salvador. I found a cheap flight to Comayagua, Honduras and saw that it is a very small town. I am thinking of flying into tis city and make my way to San Salvador. I did come across a long distance cross border bus services from Tegucigalpa. How’s the transporatation there if I were to need to take the bus or do a private taxi from Comayagua to Tegucigalpa to board the bus to San Salvador? are there better options for this route? My main concern is that the departure time for the bus would be really early in the morning like 5am or reall late past midnight that I couldn’t find public transport or getting a taxi that doesn’t rip me off.

Thanks in advance for your input!

Thanks for your comment! Getting taxis at any of the border crossings won’t be a problem at all, so I would suggest that option. Obviously you’ll pay a bit more at that time of day, but it’s the easiest option by far.

Love this! Precisely what I was looking for and I totally agree with what you said there. In fact, the bus and taxi guy story sounds so familiar as I have only experienced kindness from people when travelling in Colombia and Guatemala. No one in Europe would let you on the bus without the ticket only because you are in trouble. I am a solo female traveller who is seriously considering both Honduras and El Salvador and slowly making my way to Nicaragua. So I was looking for an honest opinion of an actual traveller/backpacker. My only worry is that I will be travelling with a small laptop and camera (blogger myself) and I’m not in a financial situation to replace it if stolen. How would you compare Honduras to Colombia or Guatemala (safety-wise)? I will look forward to your answer 🙂

I think you’ll be fine! It sounds like you’re a considerate backpacker, so I’m sure you wouldn’t put yourself in any difficult situations. Also, in places like Utila, there are loads of other backpackers too who will keep an eye out for you. I’d say go – you’ll have the best time!

Like travelling anywhere, don’t put yourself in stupid situations. You can get in trouble in London or New York too. I would add a counterpoint, that both Honduras and El Salvador are REALLY dangerous and corrupt places. I am a spanish speaking gringo who has spent significant time in Central America. One time I was in San Pedro Sula I got lunch at Power Chicken and walked across the street. 20 minutes later a fight breaks out between a gang and police and several people died at the chicken place. Another time, heading to a well recognized restaurant just north of San Salvador, we were stopped by the police who proceeded to extort us because one of our traveling companions wasn’t carrying identification or a passport. Central America is gorgeous and worth the trip. I’m not saying don’t go, but it absolutely isn’t ok to ignore that there is significant risk.

I agree with all of this, I really do, and I don’t want people to think I’m misleading them. I know how Honduras and El Salvador can be, especially for expats living there. I just wanted to convey that you need to have the right mentality too, that one shouldn’t take travelling through these two countries for granted. I think your comment reflects that so thank you!

Thanks for this. The irony is, people get mugged and murdered all the time in the USA…Can’t wait to go.

Yep, there is a lot of irony there! I know which countries I’d prefer to travel to right now!

That’s hilarious because I had that exact same convo with someone in Quito, Ecuador! We’re planning on cycling across Honduras and El Salvador – trying to decide which route to take. Which country do you prefer?

Ha ha ha. I’m sure a lot of people have had the exact same convo too! Very good question. To be honest with you, I would’ve loved to have spent a lot longer in each country than we did, but if I had to pick one I’d say El Salvador. I hope that helps!

Thanks for this ❤

Thank you so much for commenting! I’m glad you liked it!

I’ve been to panama so I’m planning a trip from Nicaragua to cancun and have two weeks to do it. Besides a passport and tourist visa what other documents or vaccinations are required?

You’ll be really hard pushed to travel from Nicaragua to Cancun in two weeks. Central America is not only big, but public transportation and infrastructure isn’t the best at times so you’ll really struggle to such much in each country.

Saying that, apart from the usual vacinnations of Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, rabies and typhoid, you don’t really need any others. I hope that helps!

How challenging is it to cross by bus from Cancun–>Belize city–>Guatemal–>Honduras–>El Salvador –>Nicaragua->Costa Rica–>Panama->colombia??Basically use pUBLIC buses across Central America to Colombia.You mention previously taking 7 buses just to cross a very short border between honduras and Guatemala, is that the norm or you just did that for your own pleasure and /or to save money?Which is the easiest and most challenging country to use public Transport like buses?

Getting from Mexico all the way down to Panama is fairly easy – that’s basically what we did. As you say, a couple of places like Honduras and El Salvador was a little trickier, but that’s only because we were going to out the way places in each of those countries. Getting to the capitals of each was super easy. Also, if you want to go on the VIP buses, they’re really comfortable and very fast. And there are a bunch of tourist shuttle buses too, though these are a little more expensive to take. We only caught local buses wherever we went to save money and for a more authentic experience; looks like you want to do something similar. I’d say the easiest country was Mexico and the most challenging El Salvador, but even then it wasn’t that challenging, just time consuming. However, your one problem is getting from Panama to Colombia – as far as I know you can’t travel through the Darien Gap and there are no buses. You either have to take a boat or fly as the Darien Gap is basically swampland and a conflict zone!

Interesting response.My research shows that Tica bus can literally take a person from Mexico to Panama, although i found it to be expensive? Are there cheaper buses than Tica without resorting to the famed Chicken buses?seems like Colombia is a no go zone for me since i cant access it by bus due to Darien.I am not really a fan of boats as I cant swim so everything has to be either a bus or air.Basically i will be visiting just the capitals but would like the cheapest buses and it seems Tica is the monopoly for cross country, though expensive by my standards as an Extreme Budget traveler before the christmas Holidays

Yeah, there are definitely cheaper options that the Tica bus, especially in Mexico. We didn’t book anything beforehand – we just went to the bus terminal, but there were lots of options for sure. Also, even though the chicken buses are long, they actually aren’t at all that bad! You can read all about it here – http://www.anadventurousworld.com/tourist-bus-or-chicken-bus/

I am in Belize right now and am thinking or Driving from Belize through Guat to El Salvador…. any advice on that? Thanks, (Oh and I’m also a Brit & do not speak Spanish!) Ben

That’s awesome! That sounds like one helluva trip!

We met a few people who had their own bikes and were riding through Central America, and I know of a couple of bloggers who have driven through that part of the world too, and they’ve all been fine!

Obviously you’ve got to be careful – make sure you abide by the law at all times – any penalties and punishments can be pretty hefty if you’re in the wrong. Also, you’ll probably be stopped by the police a couple of times for safety checks. If that happens, make sure you’ve got some cigarettes and some dollars to help you out of any tricky situations. It shouldn’t be a problem, but sometimes a few dollars can help quicken things up a little.

It sounds like an amazing trip though so make sure you keep us posted on it! We’d love to hear how it goes!

“The only minor annoyance we witnessed in both countries was one guy, drunk, asking us to buy him some food, and you know where he was from? USA.” Stupid comment. What is the point of mentioning the nationality other than to perpetuate BS stereotypes? Stupid, annoying tourists come in all shapes, sizes and nationalities, one would think your travels would show you that…

Hi @disqus_UBrWga3Guw:disqus,

First of all, thanks for your comment!

I completely see where you’re coming from, and I’m sorry my article annoyed you. I wasn’t trying to perpetuate stereotypes at all, just state a fact of where he was from. If he was British, I would’ve said the same. Of course I’ll review this though and look to change it as I don’t want to paint the wrong picture or offend other people further. Rather, this article was trying to encourage people to travel to a couple of destinations that they may have overlooked for completely the wrong reasons. Like you say, it’s not cool to stereotype a country OR people. Honestly, that wasn’t my intention at all.

I can assure you that I’m not prejudiced against Americans, or anyone from any other country for that matter, and as I’ve said, I’m sorry that my article annoyed you. Hopefully I can put it right to ensure others aren’t annoyed in the future!

So glad find this kind of comments about my beautiful country El Salvador. I don’t live there anymore but every time I’ve got vacations there, those are the best!

Whoop whoop! We’re really glad you like the article, and even happier you still visit El Salvador! We can’t wait to get back there ourselves one day!

Thanks for this article! I am planning to go to San Salvador from Antigua in a week, but I am a girl travelling by myself. I have friends in San Salvador but I am scared of travelling there on a bus by myself. Do you have any advise for me? Is it still ‘safe’ to go on a bus by self during daytime? Many thanks for your reply!

I would say if you’re travelling during the day then you should be fine, just be careful of your belongings if you get off the bus at stops along the way and once you get to the terminal. We travelled for San Pedro Sula during the day and it was great! I say go for it Veronique!

I really enjoyed reading this. I’m moving to Comayagua, Honduras to teach next month. My son is joining me for the first week, then whenever I have a break I plan to see as much of Honduras and surrounding countries as possible. I play fútbol with a bunch of Hondurans and they have told me everything from “You’ll love it” to “You’ll be back in 3 weeks.” But even the negative guys tell me I’ll be fine if I just use common sense. My El Salvadoran buddy told me to stay out of his country altogether. After reading your article and all the comments, I feel better about ignoring my friend and going anyway.

I’m glad you enjoyed the article and found it useful! I really want people to make up their own minds when it comes to travelling, and I’m really glad to see you’re going to find out about El Salvador for yourself.

Personally, as I’m sure you can tell, I really love El Salvador and I think it’s a great country; I hope you do too! Good luck with the teaching and let me know how you get on in the future.

I was looking into going to El Salvador and it seems since this was originally written and as described in articles and travel warnings, crime has escalated quite a lot. Can you speak to this? Thanks.

Yes, crime has escalated a bit, but I think my advice still stands. As long as you’re careful and you don’t put yourself in extremely dangerous situations you *should* be fine. I can only base this on my own experiences, but unless a country is a full on war zone then I travel. Recently I went to Istanbul the day after the terrorist bombings. Was it dangerous? To me, no, I didn’t think so at all, but everyone’s comfort level is down to themselves. The thing that I don’t want though is people to be put off by what the read in a paper or see on the news – go find out for yourself. More often than not you’ll be fine, and you’ll have a great time doing it!

I agree with the sentiment against scare mongering, negativity/fear breeds itself for sure.

However I have an issue with this article – I think its pretty poor for someone who works in the travel industry to not speak enough Spanish in order to understand immigration policy, and then show up with no background knowledge and assume there will be English speakers to help you. Hector was indeed your guardian!

Educate yourself, at least for the sake of professionalism, if not for how offensive it is to the people who live in the countries you swan through.

I don’t mean to be rude. I’m sure there are many reasons this criticism is unjust against you personally, but what you have written has suggested to me an attitude that I see everyday here in Guatemala. I cannot understand how few travellers speak even basic Spanish – its a language of nearly every country in Latin America and is ridiculously easy to learn from English. Its not like its India where you take a bus and its a new language to learn again! There’s something uncomfortably colonial about English speaking travellings running all over the world without the effort to make their presence congruent with the local culture. And

Maybe you amped up the ‘ignorant tourist’ vibe in order to hammer home your point that these countries are safe – its not as illuminating if an informed, Spanish-speaking tourist found it safe. I also don’t doubt that you can speak other languages and have many other travel skills. I just think that travellers shouldn’t assume its okay to rock up in a country with no knowledge or the language and assume that there wil be English speakers there to help them, especially in countries that have been, and continue to be, subjugated by the English speaking world.

Thanks for your comment; I appreciate it.

I agree with everything you say, and I think it’s very important to note that this article should be taken with a pinch of salt (as with all self-published articles from bloggers).

Yes, I am not fluent in Spanish, but I’m not ignorant either. I can just about get by (I am still learning and practicing) in Spanish, and I try and be as thoughtful and polite as possible when speaking to locals, regardless of the language and language barrier.

When I was in India for six months I did my best to learn Hindi, and even though I couldn’t speak much, what I could and when I did was greatly appreciated. Also, when I lived and worked in China, I did my best to learn basic Mandarin, and again this was greatly appreciated (and of course a huge help to me).

I don’t want you to think that I just rock up in a country completely ignorant of their culture and society. In fact, it is the complete opposite. I only travel so I can learn from other cultures and societies; for me, that’s what travelling is all about, and I am constantly learning. However, I just don’t state that because a) I don’t think people are that interested in my personal development, and b) it should be a given.

Like you, it is a major bugbear of mine when (and I don’t mean to stereotype here) young and often privileged British kids do expect some sort of preferential treatment purely because they are and do speak English. That’s not my gig, and I always actively encourage other travellers to speak the local language, or at least engage locals in another way.

Sorry for coming across as an ‘ignorant tourist’ Dave. It works well from people like Karl Pilkington, and I never want to come across as a preacher.

Hopefully people will read your message (and my response) and realise that they should learn a little (or a lot) of the local language.

It’s amazing how opinionated people are on places when they HAVEN’T actually been to, isn’t it? That always astounds me.

Recently, a friend from Baltimore in the U.S told her mum she wanted to travel again, and she got the usual mum response – you’re going to put yourself in danger, you’re going to get mugged, you’re going to die – and I was like “You live in Baltimore, a city with one of the highest rates of gun crime right now. Where’s really safe?”

As you said, you’ve just got to do things for yourself and enjoy every moment you get doing it. It may not be perfect, but at least you found out yourself.

Mecca, thank you for your review. Tourists in Central America countries are relatively safer than the general population living in these countries. There are many cultural reasons for that, but that’s another story. The beaches are perhaps the safest places in Central America because the population migrates to urban centers where more public services are offered (education, health, electricity, potable water, etc.). Except for electricity and potable water, many beaches lack the infrastructure to support large populations so the tropical beaches are often desolate places. They are beautiful places though.

Yep, I completely agree with you on that. I would also like to add that’s true of all built up metropolitan areas around the world. Purely by the nature of what they are, of what they represent, with larger population numbers, they are inherently always going to be more unsafe.

And yes, El Salvador has some damn beautiful beaches. I’m looking forward to going back to them one day.

just AWESOME article! just came back from El Salvador myself and had a great time. The truth is just about every country in America will have areas that you should stay away from, I went to the beach, restaurants and nice metro areas and it was a good experience, except for the traffic. I am glad somebody took the time to say it in detailed and for that I thank you, our image has been tainted by the media with all the negativity, not sure when that became the trend.

Thanks Caesar! Where abouts have you just come back from? I take it you had an amazing time?

I live in London and I can assure you there are areas here I would think twice about walking around showing wealth and money, and that’s the same wherever you are in the world. I’m really glad you had a good time though; that makes me happy.

Great article. I love hearing positive experiences that are optomistic and interpid.

As your article and these insightful comments suggest, vigilance and common sense save the day regardless of locale.

That said, horror stories and rose-tinted travelogues (albeit in the face of the former) often sway the experience of travelers new to the region–any region.

Be prepared. Showing up with no money is ridiculous. Don’t shun the kindness of strangers or accept the malice of scoundrels. It’s an art you learn with experience.

Traveling is personal, singular, and shaped by decisions in the moment.

Let bloggers inform only.

Thanks for your comment TacoTruck, I really appreciate it!

I completely agree with you that people should never shun the kindness of strangers, and in turn should give back to strangers too.

As long as everyone travels with open eyes, as long as people are willing to be influenced by what’s surrounding them, in a positive way, then I’m happy. Wherever you are in the world make sure you enjoy the journey.

Very nice blog Macca! What lake is that?

Thanks Drew! That’s Lago de Yojoa right in the heart of Honduras. Watch our latest video and you can learn all about it!

What foreign visitors have to understand about El Salvador is that crime is indeed less visible and frequent in tourist spots, but nevertheless it is present everywhere in the country. So I support your point that caution and common sense are the key to safe traveling. On the other hand, it saddens me that some beautiful places are really not very welcoming for tourists, e.g. the old city center of San Salvador, lake Ilopango, etc. so for visiting such off-the-beaten-track landmarks I’d recommend having the guidance of a local. Anyways, thanks for traveling to our little country and for your flattering post! 🙂

Thanks for your comment gachr_ebc253; I appreciate it.

I completely agree with you, and it’s a shame tourists can’t travel everywhere, but in any city or country there are always going to be places that come with a ‘warning’ attached to them.

Still, I’m really glad I got to see a small section of what Honduras and El Salvador is like, and I really want to encourage others to do the same (in a safe way of course).

I am pretty surprised to find this kind of reviews about my country (El Salvador). Surprised in a good way of course! I am happy to hear that you had a great time here, I really do. Sometimes I think that we have this massive dark cloud above us all the time that never let people see what really happens here. I can say that during my whole life (I am 31 years old), I have never been mugged, robbed, hit or chased by any gang member or so, actually I have never even seen one! As you said.. if you are looking for trouble you will find it! I spent a few years in Europe and I have received loads of friends for visit during the last 4 years and everyone have loved the nature, the atmosphere, the culture and the easy-going way of life that you can have here. Thank you for your review and I hope a lot of people can read it! you are helping us to improve the way of the world see us! Thanks again!

I’m glad you’re a little surprised Cesar G!

I know no country is perfect, but I had such a great time travelling around Honduras and El Salvador, as I am sure all of your friends did too.

By the way, I think it’s great that you’re getting to show your friends from Europe all around El Salvador; the best way to educate people on what a place is really like is to show them, and you’re doing that!

Hopefully you’ll stop by the site again soon.

Cesar, Me alegre leer su comentario. Voy a moverme a Honduras para enseñar por un año. Quiero visitar a El Salvador. Mi amigo de su país me dijo no fuera, pero quiero viajar tanto que sea posible. Soy mujer de 53 años. En su opinón,¿es seguro viajar sola allí?

On behalf of a Honduran that just moved to El Salvador: thank you!! Most of us are good, honest, hardworking people that wish more tourists like you could see the beauty that we know and enjoy. Always take your precautions as you would in any other country in the world. And if possible, learn some basic spanish, you’ll be surprised how people will appreciate you speaking our language!

Thanks for commenting Rowena, I really appreciate it!

I found having the basic grasp of Spanish a huge benefit, but even when there was the language barrier, Hondurans and Salvadorians were still so helpful; everyone was so welcoming, and as a traveller that’s the greatest gift you can receive.

I hope you enjoy living in El Salvador Rowena, and make sure you keep on coming back; we’ve got another update and video coming very soon!

I’m planning a solo trip to El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. … which you’ve mentioned in other threads isn’t your favorite way to travel.

I can 100% assure you that isn’t the case. I have never commented negatively about solo travel in Central America, and nor will I.

I have just done a solo trip throughout the region, and solo travel / independent is pretty much always the way I travel.

I have been working in the travel industry for the past five years promoting solo travel as the travel editor of gapyear.com, and I have even published a book ‘Your Round the World Trip Planner’ which details how you can plan a solo trip.

Personally, I had an amazing time in El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, and I can’t wait to visit those countries again in the future. I am sure you will have an amazing time too; the whole of Central America is perfect for backpackers and travellers.

No, thank you for commenting siennita; I absolutely loved your story and it’s so nice to hear how happy you are and how much you love El Salvador.

I always feel if you completely embrace a new country with open arms, if you completely immerse yourself in the culture and the opportunities, then it can be much more rewarding that being back ‘home’.

Good luck with everything and all the best for the future.

Oh man, I did not know that place existed, otherwise I would have been there in a second. When I’m back in El Salvador I’ll definitely check it out; I love a good independent brewing company so thanks for the heads up!

Amazing! Congrats on your brothers wedding and make sure you have an amazing time in El Salvador – you’re going to absolutely love it.

I agree wherever you go there’s the need to be prudent & minimize the risks. I’m glad you liked Honduras, if you ever come back you need to try all our foods. I don’t know if you tried the baleadas, but if you didn’t you must try them. Everyone loves them! Thank you for your sincere post & trying to make travelers to not be afraid to travel to Honduras or El Salvador bc of what medias & others say, if not experience the situation by themselves. There are a lot of natural beauties & history that need to be seen in this beautiful countries. Mafer, Euphoric Wanderlust x

YES! We did try the baleadas and they were awesome! I actually really liked the food in Honduras (to be honest with you I pretty much like the food wherever I visit).

I’m really glad you enjoyed the post though – hopefully I’ll be able to come back to your beautiful country in the future!

We hold an international sailing event in Costa del Sol, El Salvador every year for the past 6 years. The vast majority of the participants say they feel the country is quite safe and it has a lot to offer for nautical tourists. It is unspoiled by mega-tourism and the people are friendly. Thanks for the article

That’s really great to hear elsalvadorrally, and I’m happy to hear that people feel that the country is safe!

It’s my pleasure Glen! Thank you for being you; thank you for being Salvadorian and for welcoming travellers such as me into your country.

I’m really happy to hear you recommend El Salvador to other travellers Chalateco; it’s good that you do that, and you should always keep your innocent playfullness regardless of what’s going on around you.

I appreciate the fact that El Salvador is not a perfect country and that there are a lot of problems in terms on infrastructure and a struggle for power, but purely from a tourist perspective I couldn’t fault the country at all.

Forever El Salvador will be in my heart!

Once again, YES! I really couldn’t agree more with you Glen.

I have been to El Salvador five times and each time I have ended up loving more the country. My parents are salvadoran and even them seem to be scared to go back because of what is said in the news but if you are carefully and make logical choices then you have nothing to be worried about. El Salvador is really a beautiful country that is worth exploring and that is I why I always encourage people to go visit it.

It’s really great to hear you love the country and that you keep on going back Jessica.

Hopefully more and more people will be like you, hopefully more and more people will get to see what a beautiful country it really is.

Keep on going back, that’s what I say!

Yeah I agree with that – great shout.

I agree with you Dave – as long as you keep your wits about you and don’t do anything stupid and you’ll be fine.

Where abouts were you living in Honduras and what were you doing there? Also, and be honest now – how bad was that doctor fly bite!?

Thanks for commenting Rom, and I completely agree with you. No matter where you are in the world, as long as you are careful and safe you should be fine. As you say, it’s all about common sense!

Thanks for the heads up Anna! I’ve made the change now. X

I know, right!? I can imagine if you’re living in a place like El Salvador you want to keep it all to yourself. It really is a wonderful place and I am so glad I got to see it, even if it was only for a short amount of time – I definitely want to make the trip back again in the future.

Love your blog, thank you! Actually I lived in ES from 1987 to 1999. I had the same experiences described by DoctorTerror… However, I still love my country and feel super happy to know tourists see the beauty I see:)

Thanks Jojol, I really glad you like it!

It must have been amazing living in El Salvador from 87-99; that must’ve been such an experience with so much change, and I’m happy to hear you still love the country.

Where abouts are you living now Jojol? And can I ask where you found our blog – what Facebook page was it on?

Sad that only people that have migrated from El Salvador talk bad about it. El Salvador is beautiful you need to be careful which places to go. Obviously like soyapango and other areas. But for most of it this is a pretty country. If you have not been here for the last 5 years your opinion doesn’t count. The war was the past. Not everyone had to sleep on the floor.

Hi Stef, thanks for your comment.

I agree, I really think El Salvador is a beautiful country. How long were you living there for?

Doctor Terror that was SIXTEEN YEARS AGO!!!! wahahahaha!!!! Yours story is so fake because the war “ended” on 1992 and the gangs started in the 80s in the States and didn’t have huge presence in El Salvador back then until more resently (since around 10 years ago). More over, around 99, the MS was not called MS-13, that name came after.

Thanks for your comment Susana. It sounds like you know what you’re talking about!

not to take sides, but everyone has their own experience, and calling his fake is not the way to go about this. His story very well might not be fake. Living there from 87-99 he would have seen the worst parts of the war, the offensive of 89. Also the MS was going pretty strong before 99 when he left, the 13 did not “come in later”. Not sure what natural disaster, since the big earthquakes were 1986 and 2001… perhaps Hurricane Mitch, which caused a lot of mudslides, or the eruption of Volcan Santa Ana which took out a neighborhood with a lahore flow. The point is, rather than calling someone else’s experience fake, how about we stick to our own affirmative statements.

Thank you @gringomaligno:disqus Yes the natural Disaster I was referring to was the big earthquake. I had already moved to the states when it happened but I lost the house I grew up in and most of my childhood friends on that day. I really appreciate your reply and I didn’t mean to sound so upset about this article, although I admit I was. But I am very happy that the country conditions have improved in the last few years.

I don’t see how the time that has passed since affects the validity of my point of view. I am sorry my dates don’t align with your timeline (which is very well put together and well informed) However confrontations didn’t stop just because the “war was over”. I am sorry if you were offended by what I wrote, but the experiences I had were very real and my only issue with the article was the use of the word bullshit.

I get that you had a good experience for the short time you were there but most of the people who are commenting here keep talking about being there for a short period of time. I lived in El Salvador for 12 years from 1987 to 1999 I remember sleeping on the floor when the military would engage guerrilla troops behind our house. I remember witnessing a murder at the age of 12. I remember being followed and robbed on multiple occasions while on my way to school. I remember my nanny almost getting her hand chopped off going back home one night because she was wearing fake jewelry. I remember being on the unlucky bus that got robbed by MS13 members. I remember my uncle’s house getting bombed by guerrilla forces. And let me not mention all of the friends I’ve lost to natural disasters and the like. I get that you have enjoyed some time without tragedy but don’t undermine the experiences of those of us who actually lived them by calling them “bullshit”

Thanks for commenting DoctorTerror.

I am so sorry if you felt offended by what I wrote.

I appreciate I was only in El Salvador for a short amount of time as a tourist, and I can’t even begin to imagine what you must’ve experience through that time period.

I wasn’t trying to undermine the experiences of those who live in El Salvador, nor was I trying to gloss over what has happened. Rather, what I wrote was from a tourist standpoint for other tourists.

As a traveller and someone who works in the travel industry, I don’t want people to skip over and avoid countries because of hearsay, because of what they’ve heard. I would much rather they experience it for themselves, to actually see it with their own eyes.

For me, I have a wonderful time in El Salvador, but that doesn’t mean I’m not aware of the past nor what people like you had to go through. Rather than dwell on the past, I wanted to create something positive to move forward to the future.

Again, I am sorry if you felt offended by what I wrote.

I didn’t mean to sound so upset by the article, It was just the use of the word Bullshit that bothered me. But I am very happy that more people are able to experience the beauty of El Salvador without having to experience all the bad things. I am glad that you had a good experience and that you were unharmed! I was able to go back 2 years ago and I enjoyed every second of it. I am not upset by your article and in fact I quite enjoyed it.

Thanks for coming back and commenting again @doctorterror:disqus; I really do appreciate it.

I am sorry you were upset by the word ‘bullshit’ and I will look to change it so others don’t get offended in the future.

Like you, I am really happy that more and more people are able to experience the beauty of El Salvador without having to experience all the bad things.

Also, I am really happy you managed to go back to El Salvador after all that time. I know it can’t have been easy for you but it looks like you took some amazing shots and made many more memories.

Thanks again for taking the time to comment and all the best for the future.

Sounds like you had a rough time of it during the war, my sympathies. I lived in El Salvador from 1983-1994 and have visited for at least 2 weeks a year, every year since then. I’ve been lucky and never had any problems personally, though I did spend some nervous nights on the floor of my house during the offensive, and was there for all the biggest earthquakes. Using good security protocols, common sense, and luck, I managed to live there as a gringo for well over 10 years without any incident. I don’t say this to lessen your experience, only to note that there are as many viewpoints on this subject as there are people who have lived through them.

I appreciate your comment and I am glad that you were able to enjoy your stay and went for so long without any major incidents. I escaped the Earthquakes as I had already moved to the states by then, but my childhood friends and the house (and colonia) I grew up with/in were all wiped off by a landslide after the Earthquakes. We lived in Colonia la Colina in Santa Tecla.

LOVE this! I’ve lived in Honduras for the last 2.5 years. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had that same conversation with travelers everywhere…always ending with, “You’re an idiot.” It’s not that bad things can’t happen here, they happen everywhere. But thank you for giving an honest perspective – this is truly a beautiful country!

Thanks AWalk on the Run! I’m really glad you liked it.

You must’ve experienced so much while living in Honduras, and I have to admit I am more than a little jealous!

To be honest with you, I think a fair few people have had that conversaton. I just really hope people decide to visit the country for themselves, to see it with their own eyes, to make their own opinions. Hopefully this article will go a little way towards that.

Where abouts are you living now AWalk on the Run? And can I ask where you found our blog – what Facebook page was it on?

I still live in Roatan, Honduras! This article was shared on one of the Roatan Facebook pages we have for the community here. Thank you for writing and keep enjoying your travels!! Let me know if you ever make it to the Bay Islands 🙂

That is awesome! I’ll definitely let you know if we swing by the Bay Islands!

Great Post. I am a Canadian living in Honduras for 4+ years and it is a beautiful country with beautiful people. Just don’t be stupid and put yourself in bad situations, like being wasted in the middle of the night by yourself. Good advice for any country really.

Thanks Michelle, I really appreciate the comment!

After living in Honduras for over four years you must have so many stories to tell! As you say, it really is a beautiful country, and as long as you don’t put yourself in bad situations you can really enjoy it for what it is; an amazing country with so much to see and do.

Great post! I will be going to El Salvador at the end of the month just for a couple of days but im excited

YES! That is awesome! Where abouts are you going Ben? Are you doing anything exciting at all?

Right now planning on San Salvador, only a couple nights and one full day to explore unfortunately. Thinking hiking one of the volcanoes, any suggestions?

If you’ve got time I would really recommend heading over to Volcan de Santa Ana – it is absolutely stunning!

I’ve been to El Salvador four times in the past year. It was an amazing experience. I loved it !

“You’re an idiot” – I can actually hear you saying those words, in fact you might have said them to me at some point haha. True though!

Oh man, it is the same wherever you travel in the world. It just really bugs me that these negative scare stories have such an impact on people’s plans and travels. Just go out there and do it!

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We are planning a short break from 13 to 17th October 2005 . We have heard a lot about Al Salvador and Honduras

and we cann,t make up our mind which place to visit .

Bearing in mind we just returned from Guatemala and we were very impressed with the place .

We need help to make up our mind .

Bullings - UK

Since you liked Guatemala - I hope you went to Tikal - try Honduras. San Pedro Sula is easy to fly into and the Copan Ruins are only two hours away. These ruins are number two after Tikal but are much more artistic and can easily toured in 2-3 hours. Then you could spend a couple of days on the beach in Omoa or Tela.

Richard from Canada

The last time I was in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, was 26 years ago. I went December last year and it hasn't change that much. El Salvador and Guatemala are more up to date with modernization. If you like the nightlife there is plenty to do in "La Zona Rosa" in San Salvador. The closest beach is just 25 minutes from the city. The roads are very good. The seafood is good and cheap. El Salvador is very small. For the amount of time you are planning to visit, you can travel all around the country and probably have time to go to Honduras. I was a member of the British Club in El Salvador for a few years. Believe me, I miss it.

I do not have a handle on El Salvador but can tell you that Honduras is where the Salvadorans like to vacation because it is less expensive and they prefer the Caribe beaches to the Pacific side beaches they have.

Copan is a great historical site, the La Ceiba area has nice beaches and, if you are adventurous (cloud forest hiking, white water rafting, canopy zip lines, horseback riding and the like) it is the Eco-tourism Capital of the country and 25 minutes by air from San Pedro Sula.

For beauthiful beaches and unsurpassed scuba diving and snorkeling you will not beat Roatan which is 10 minutes by air from La Ceiba.

Whichever you decide have fun and put the other destination on your list for next year.

Charlie Meador, Coco Pando, La Ceiba, Honduras

El Salvador is small and major sites such as beaches and mayan ruins, cerro verde national park can be enjoyed in 2-3 days, tehn there is the ultra modern hedman alas buses that will take you direct to copan ruins from san salvador and from copan to san pedro sula, la cieba and tegucigalpa on one ticket if you wish, the best of both worlds. Honduras and el Salvador culturally are very different, honduras has 5 times teh land area of el Salvador with fewer people, so Hondurans are typically more laid back than the ever hard working El Salvadorians and Honduras does not have the infrastructure of Guatemala or El Salvador except in Copan Ruins Town, Roatan and Bay Islands and the large cities, avoid San Pedro Sula more dangerous at night than Guatemala City or San salvador. Big Gang Problem in Honduras also.

Thank you for all the contributions that you have made . We have just returned from El Salvador a forgotton beauty . We went to the beach area, visited the lakes , volcanos and the mayan ruins . We also had time to frequent the Zona Rosa district for good food and night life . We stayed at the

Intercontinental Hotel at USD 85.00 Including Tax & buffet breakfast. We highly

recommend the hotel if you can get a good rate as it very nice and secure.

The weather was almost perfect and the people are very nice and helpful.

El Salvador has its problems too .Crime remain a major issue with most places employ security guards with their finger on the trigger .

Our next trip going to be in Mid December

and we are investigating whether to visit

Honduras or Nicaragua .Any contributions

would be most helpful.

Best Regards

In Mid December our non profit organization based in Nicaragua is offering budget volunteer vacations, one week, all over teh Pacific rim of Nicaragua. and commencing to construct our Eco Lodge..all profits above and beyond expenses go to those in need. Native Nicaraguan friends, not subcontractors, provide all lodging, meals, transportation etc. Contact me for more information.

PS You will find armed guards in every Latin American country, they are there to protect you, say hello and make friends, guards are not hired to molest travelers rather to protect.

"El Salvador has its problems too .Crime remain a major issue with most places employ security guards with their finger on the trigger . "

This just gets annoying.

To Tropicalguide:

We have experienced no problems in El Salvador and the security is satisfactory . We have visited almost all

is far safer than the vast majority of places we have visited and we are planning to visit the place again in the future.

Great. Common sense.

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San Salvador Hotels and Places to Stay

Central America – Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras

Here I am back from yet another, breath taking trip like fresh from the oven. I wanted to capture all the experience before I forget any bit of information. We travelled to a part of Central America – Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Belize.

Central America consists of seven countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Central America is the southern portion of the continent of North America.

We got an opportunity to travel to Peurto Rico for a week on work, and thought when we travel so far, why not extend the holiday and cover up few places. That’s how Central America struck our mind since we don’t have to worry about visa. We were so busy with work and other routine, that we could not plan anything for the trip. We just booked a car from Hertz for 10 days and a flight ticket to and fro Guatemala City and took off. We did not have a Hotel, no idea about the plan, with that landed in Guatemala.

Best time to visit:

The best time to visit Guatemala is during the dry season, which runs from November to April. However, the country has a pleasant climate that lends itself to year-round trips, with temperatures between 72°F and 90°F.

The rainy season typically lasts from May to October, but in some regions it can continue until November or even as late as December – particularly around Petén, which is hot and stuffy all year round.

We travelled in mid of May, and still it was fine and nice to travel. It was little hot in Copan ruins and Tikal ruins.

Transport across country:

You will be able to get a Chicken bus from anywhere to anywhere in the country. These buses run across the countries from Guatemala to Honduras to El Salvador.

A chicken bus is a colloquial English name for the colorful modified and decorated US school bus and transit bus in Guatemala.

These busses connect all of Guatemala’s villages, towns, and cities. It is the main form of local transport usually the cheapest option for travelling for any distance.

There are a couple of reasons why they’re called chicken buses. One may be because passengers are crammed into the buses like chickens crammed into a truck en route to market. Another reason may be because passengers frequently carry chickens – and other livestock – as well as their suitcases with them on the journey.

These are the colorful chicken busses that connect all the small towns and villages of the country.

How safe is to travel:

Yes it is safe to travel in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The people were friendly and we didn’t have any bad experiences. Still there were instances that we had to be a little carful.

You need to take the usual precautions as you would in any country. Don’t put yourself in a vulnerable position. Don’t walk home alone at night, don’t have loads of expensive things on show.

I would like share information which will be useful for many, i.e. if you have a B1/B2 USA visa, there are 50 countries which you can enter without visa. Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda, , Cuba, Jamaica, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, etc…Theses are few, but there are few more in the list.  

Throughout Central America Spanish is a common Language spoken. In Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador apart from Spanish, Mayan language is spoken.

In Belize English is the language spoken. So don’t be surprised to see everyone speaking a good English in Belize. Belize, the country was colonized by the British in the 1600s and eventually became the Colony of British Honduras, which is why English became the official language. In 1981, Belize won full independence, but the official language of English stuck.

Guatemala – Quetzal

Honduras – Lempira

El Salvador – US Dollars used all over the Country

Belize – Belize Dollar (BZ$2 = US$1)

Our Experience:

Finally this was complete route that we took and was a total of 1500 km.

The Rental Car zone was just outside the Guatemala City airport, and we picked up the car from Hertz. We decided to go to Antigua first. Antigua served as the capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

That night we stayed in Antigua, the whole town of Antigua was so beautiful. Few things to do there are Hike to Pacaya Volcano, and day trip to Lake Atitlan. Just walking around the town center itself was a nice experience.

Group make Holy Week carpet (alfombra) in path of procession using wooden or cardboard stencils and dyed sawdust in Spanish colonial town & UNESCO World Heritage Site. Spectators admire carpet & hawkers sell goods in street of Santa Catalina Arch. Ruins of Santa Catalina convent remain to right of arch. We were lucky to see the holy week carpet.    

People make Holy Carpet like this in turns during procession.

Picture of Santa Catalina Arch It was once the capital of the country, until a volcanic eruption ruined the city and they had to move it to what is now “Guatemala city”. Antigua is a colonial style city that’s bursting in cultural, amazing views, delicious food and plenty of drinking opportunities.

Things to do in Antigua: Few things that you can plan to do are San Francisco Church, The Acatenango Volcano Hike, Volcano Pacaya, Day Trip to Lake Atitlan, Santa Catalina Arch, Sunset At Cerro De La Cruz, Shop At One Of The Artisan Markets, Walk Around The Cobble Streets…

Next day we decided to do the Ruta de las Flores, El Salvador. Ruta de las Flores is one of the most famous and visited destinations in El Salvador. Hidden along the Apaneca hills in the west side of the country, includes a group of picturesque towns where is possible appreciate the local and peaceful life of salvadorean people.

The Ruta de Las Flores is a winding route of about 20 miles that goes through coffee plantations and brightly colored colonial towns and colonial architecture. The five main towns on the Ruta de Las flores are Salcoatitán, Nahuizalco,  Apaneca, Ataco and Juayua.

We started by 11 am after breakfast in Antigua. Border crossing towns are, Chinamas and Valle Nuevo. The border crossing was quiet simple, so no hassle.

Note: There were lorries piled up for 2 kms, if we are driving by car we can just take the left side of the road and drive to the entrance of passport control directly without any need to wait in the queue of lorries. We got this information in one of the blog and it really helped us by saving a lot of time.

A picture of Immigration office between Guatemala and El Salvador.

That night we decided to stay in Juayúa. This was a quaint little town, hardly few streets, and managed to find a restaurant for dinner. Nice people and hospitable people. We had a nice experience there in the restaurant, the owner of the place had come and had a chat with us for an hour and explained how he worked in USA for 30 years and returned back to this small town to settle, how happy he is to settle in that small town, music played till late night, and people were dancing in open area…all this made the place stay in our mind.

That night we were trying to find a place to stay, but could not find one. Drove around and came back to the restaurant and the restaurant owner came to our rescue and came with us to an air bnb and that helped us to get a place to stay that night.

The climate of this region is fresh being this one of the main reasons that both national and international travelers seek this destination. Local traditions, an important coffee culture, adventure activities, delicious restaurants and local markets are some of the attractions you can enjoy in the area.

A picture with restaurant owner in Juayúa.

What I noticed in Central American Countries:

One thing I should mention here is, we saw Police and Securities having guns all over the country. Even a petrol bunk security had guns across the country. On a funnier note I should mention one thing, Ravi said San Salvador always ranked top consistently… Hearing this sentence I thought, in an Olympic or something it ranked top but then he continued saying in crime it consistently ranked in top list. Then I could relate why all securities in shops, petrol bunk etc… were carrying guns for guarding.

Next day we decided to check out Santa Ana volcano. The Santa Ana volcano is known for its stunning blue/green crater lake that’s in the middle of the crater once you reach the top. It’s located within the Cerro Verde national park.

It takes 4 hrs to trek Santa Ana, we wanted to trek that day and then continue to Copan ruins in Honduras. We reached Santa Ana National Park at 9 30 am, by then they said the group has left for the day and there is no option to trek that day. We requested a lot but they were strict and told to come the next day. We dint have an option other than to quit, since our plan was to spend only a day in that place. So we decided to give it a pass, Ravi was upset but I was little happy, since I was too tired by now to trek.

Note: If anyone planning to trek Santa Ana, make sure you are there by 8 am morning. The group leaves by 8 30 am, and after which it is not possible to trek.

Since we missed Santa ana, we decided to trek the San Salvador volcano. San Salvador volcano was 3 hrs drive from Santa Ana, and the drive to the volcano was very nice. The trek was 30 mins up and 20 mins down. We spent around 1 hr on top and got a nice view of the volcano.

The San Salvador Volcano is a stratovolcano situated northwest to the city of San Salvador. The crater has been nearly filled with a relatively newer edifice, the Boquerón volcano. San Salvador is adjacent to the volcano and the western section of the city actually lies among its slopes.

Due to this close proximity, any geological activity of the volcano, whether eruptive or not, has the potential to result in catastrophic destruction and death to the city. Despite this, the volcano is iconic of the city.

In this picture you can see the crater of San Salvador volcano in a circle down the valley.

That evening we reached Suchitoto, which was a beautiful small town. There is nothing much to do in that town. Just walk around the city center, snack on papusa, their local food, clicking pics… One of the best places I would say in the whole trip.

Suchitoto, El Salvador is El Salvador’s equivalent to the Antigua of Guatemala, expect much smaller and much less touristy. There aren’t exactly many accommodation options up in Suchitoto, so most people opt to explore the colonial town on a day trip from the capital.  

It has become an important tourist destination partly due to its well conserved colonial architecture and cobblestone roads that provide a sense of Spanish colonial living.

View of Suchitoto gobble stone roads.

Next day we drove to Copan. Copan lies in the border of Honduras and Guatemala. The border crossing took some time, since in Honduras entry the procedure was quiet long due to Covid. You have to do a health check up first and after which immigration process is done.

Copan Ruins are located in western Honduras, just 14 kilometers from the El Florido border with Guatemala. For many years, Copan Ruins have been famous for its magnificent Mayan ruins, declared by UNESCO as Archaeological World Heritage Site in 1980.  It was a beautiful place, and need at least 6 hrs to walk around the whole area.

View of Copan Ruins

Discovered in 1570 Copan is one of the most important remnant sites of the Mayan civilization. The vestiges of the city and the imposing public squares reveal the three main periods of its development, before the city was abandoned at the beginning of the ninth century A.D.

The Plaza of the Hieroglyphic Staircase has a monumental staircase, one of the exceptional structures of the Mayan culture. On the 10-meter-wide steps, there are more than 1,250 individual glyphs, which constitute the longest known Mayan inscription. After the city was abandoned, it was swallowed by the jungle which helped its conservation.

From Copan we wanted to go to Tikal, Guatemala next.  Since it’s a long drive we decided to stay half way and checked Rio Dulce in Guatemala is a nice place by the lake side, so decided to do a stopover that night. We reached Rio Dolce by 11 pm in the night. Ravi had booked for a jungle lodge in the lake side, this is one among very few places to stay in that area.

Interesting incident:

Here I have to narrate one incident which I can’t miss, we reached at night 11.30 to this jungle resort where Ravi had booked for that night, and it’s a jungle resort right so it has to be in a deserted place. The place looked not only deserted but also haunted. There was a big gate in front of us that was locked. We shouted and no one was there to open.

Image of the jungle lodge

Ravi told me lock the car and wait in the car. He jumped over the gate and went inside. I was all alone sitting in the car in the mid night, thinking of the country consistently ranking top in crime, and all securities holding guns were flashing my mind. It was 10 mins, 20 mins, 30 mins Ravi did not return. I can’t even imagine getting down and checking for him in the midnight in a haunted place like that. I started to shout his name… no response. Finally I could hear a voice nearing me. Ravi and the security guy came, and opened the door.

We drove inside it was almost 1 km to walk inside and there were huts here and there. We parked the car in a parking area and picked up our luggage and started walking on a bridge, with back waters all over. All the huts were built above back waters. The security guy walked with a torch and Ravi followed him, I was literally running behind them without any gap between them and myself.

While walking on the bridge that guy was flashing the torch in the back waters and was looking into the water suspiciously, for me the movie ‘anaconda’ which was shot in Amazon river flashed. I was thinking is he looking for one in the water. This area was no different from the amazon area. We went into the wooden hut, which was built above back waters.

Room looked decent; I had to use the restroom after the long drive, ran to the rest room and saw there was a scorpion sitting in the bathroom. I was so scared, called the guy and showed him. He killed it and threw in into the water outside the room. I told him to check thoroughly if there are any more. He pulled the bed spread and checked under the bed. I thought, gone… that night sleep is gone for me.

That whole night I could not sleep in that room. Next day morning woke up saw outside, the place looked very different and nice in the morning. Their breakfast was too good. Sat on a table facing the lake and relaxed and enjoyed the breakfast.

Note: All these Central America places, plantain fry was too good. It was served in all the breakfast. One has to try this if you visit the place.

Now you can imagine how the place would have been in the night.

Next we headed to Tikal. It was a long drive of 8 hrs from Rio Dulce. But the drive was good with nice picturesque view. Last 1 hr drive to Tikal was completely a jungle drive, it was too good to drive in a jungle by sun set time, listening to the animals screeches, and a slight drizzle. We reached by 8 pm to ‘Tikal Jungle Lodge’, which was one of the best places in Tikal. Did I say the best in that area, actually only 2 lodges are there in Tikal area and this is the best out of those. Went and checked the room, and it was very nice, and clean. Just thought wow I should sleep well today at least, there I see a scorpion again, and this time right under my bed.

For once I thought these Jungle Lodges, have a scorpion farm and grow the scorpions and leave one in each room to give a feel of Jungle Lodge. I called the guard, and he was cool, killed it threw it and said, what else you expect in a jungle laughing… But by then I was too tired after 6 days of continuous driving, walking, without much break, even a snake on my bed wouldn’t have disturbed my sleep. That night slept nicely.

This lodge was just 500 m from the entrance of Tikal ruins. Next day morning we headed to Tikal. The whole Tikal area to walk will be 6 hrs in a relaxed pace.

View of full Tikal area from top of a viewing platform.

The Tikal ruins are the central attraction of Tikal National Park, which was established in the 1950s and designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979. The cost of entry fee is 22 USD.

In the heart of the jungle, surrounded by lush vegetation, lies one of the major sites of Mayan civilization, inhabited from the 6th century B.C. to the 10th century A.D. The ceremonial centre contains superb temples and palaces, and public squares accessed by means of ramps. Remains of dwellings are scattered throughout the surrounding countryside.

It’s thought that there are over 3000 temples in areas still not discovered. But archaeologists don’t want to recover everything as they want to keep the history a mystery too. During your visit to the Tikal Mayan ruins, you’ll actually be greeted with a few viewing platforms, and one will show you the vast forest and jungle that surrounds you.

Star Wars Movie shoot:

Tikal Temple IV (which was the tallest pyramid in the Mayan world). This is also known for being the Star Wars temple because you can see the The Millenium Falcon shooting out from the temple peaks as it appeared as part of the rebel base during “A New Hope”. The views are well worth the climb.

View from top of Temple 4. Star Wars movie shot view.

Plaza view from top of a Temple.

How we were racing against time:

Here I have to mention one more incident, so finished Tikal around 5 pm, thought of going to Flores and stop over there for that night. But Belize border was just 30 km from Tikal, so a thought flashed; why not just enter Belize, Benque Viejo town which is 2 km from the immigration. Quick decision we took a U turn from Flores and drove to Belize/ Guatemala immigration. We reached the Guatemala immigration by 7 30 pm.  We parked the car in a petrol bunk in the Guatemala side, since Belize does not allow other country registration vehicles. We said the petrol bunk guy we will come back by 10 pm and pickup the vehicle.

Note: In Belize they don’t allow the car from Gautemala. When hiring a car in Guatemala, the road permit is given to El Salvador, Gautemala and Hondurus. So if you have to go to Belize, you need to park the car in Guatemala side of immigration and have to walk across and take other mode of transport.

We heard from people the immigration closes by 10 pm, so we thought good that we have atleast 2.5 hrs in Belize to go to the town have dinner and return back. I just wanted to be double sure, and checked with the Guatemala immigration officer what time the office closes and he said 9 pm, that leaves us with 1.5 hrs to return back. Still we decided to go for it. We cleared the Guatemala immigration and went to Belize side for clearing the immigration, and there they said they are open till 10 pm, still it doesn’t help us, since Guatemala side it closes by 9 pm, and we had to pick up the car that night from the petrol bunk knowing the reputation of the country (remember country ranks consistetnly first in crime).

Shot of J C Pizza guys handing over the pizza.

We crossed immigration and step in the land of Belize successfully. In that one hr, we had thought of going to Benque Viejo town which is 2 km from the border, have dinner and come back. There were very less transport available at that time, so hitch hiked in the boot of the taxi which was leaving. Got down in the town and the best pizza place in that area was, J C Pizza. Went there ordered a pizza and packed it, since we dint have time to eat it there. We thought we will clear the immigration come back to Guatemala and in a relaxed way eat the pizza. But we did not get any transport back to the Immigration area, and hardly we had 10 mins left to 9 pm. Thankfully the pizza guys, said they will drop us in the immigration place and in 2 scooters they dropped us. Finally crossed the border and was back in Guatemala, and sat in a road side platform and ate the pizza and headed to Flores.

The people of Belize were very nice and hospitable saying that for us the whole Belize country was that J C Pizza and people there, and they very were very good.

Next we headed to Flores. Flores town is an island on Lago Petén Itzá, connected to land by a causeway, on the other side of which lie the twin towns Santa Elena and San Benito.

For many, the main reason to visit Flores is its proximity to  Tikal , the most famous Mayan ruins in Guatemala, or as a starting point for trips around Petén. But the city itself is a wonder — dense with colonial, red-roofed buildings, narrow cobblestone streets, a historic church and Spanish plaza, and restaurants that are easy to stumble upon walking the city’s charming streets. Most people will find that this island city is more than just a take-off point, but a memorable attraction in itself.

We were surprised to see how the town is full of music filled pubs, restaurants, and happening streets. It was a lively place. In the morning it was even more beautiful place, with lake side restaurants.

From here we had to reach to Guatemala City, our flight was at 2 pm in the afternoon the day after, so decided to have a quick stopover in Coban that night and reach Guatemala city day after by 11 am. By now we were too tired of 18 days of hectic travel.

That day I had told Ravi to drive for some time, and took rest in the passenger seat. I dozed off for a minute, woke up by the noise of car crashing in some area. I woke up and noticed the car was going in the left side of the road instead of right, and was going through bushes. Then I realized Ravi dozed off while driving. Then he woke up by my shouting and got back to track. We stopped the car and had a long breath. How lucky we were that no vehicle came in opposite direction. We felt like a second chance was given to us in life.

Life lesson learnt in this trip: Its common that people feel sleepy while driving, and they stretch a little thinking they will stop and rest when they find a nice place to rest. But you don’t know when your body will give up. So if you feel sleepy immediately pull over and stop the car. This is a life lesson we learnt in this trip.

Palacio Nacional de la Cultura

That night we stopped in Coban, which was a small town on the way and left for Guatemala City next day. Coban was just a stopover place. Found a small simple place to stay that night and left next day morning early and reached Guatemala City by 12 pm by afternoon.

Since we had 2 hrs extra, we went to the down town of Guatemala City spent one hr there and finally reached the airport. Dropped the car, and checked into the flight, sat in the aircraft, thanking the almighty for a second chance in life…

It was an interesting read! Keep up the good work! Waiting for the next write up

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El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua

by Jeff Gunn | Nov 1, 2019 | Central America | 8 comments

Feedback from folks on the road ( along with our personal preference ) was that we should travel El Salvador mostly via the coastal route – this would allow us to visit the renowned beach community of El Tunco while at the same time skirting around San Salvador – it’s capital city and not one of the safer places in Central America.

Leaving Rio Dulce, highway CA13 took us across the eastern end of Guatemala before turning south on the CA9. Reasonable roads although very heavily travelled by large trucks. At Rio Hondo the initial plan to cut into Honduras briefly to see the ruins of Copan was shelved – did we really want to see yet ANOTHER Mayan ruin ? It was a unanimous no – so we kept going. It turned into other of those long driving days ( in time at least, if not always distance in Central America) and got us to the small town of Jalpatagua where we closed out our 4 days in Guatemala at a beautiful campground run by a delightful Guatemalan family. All spoke English, served up great food and treated us like part of their family- we even joined in some table tennis ! Always nice to leave a country on a high note and with Guatemala we certainly were. We loved it in 2006 and equally as much in 2019. Fantastic people.

Crossing from Guatemala to El Salvador could not have been easier. Exactly as detailed in our trusty iOverlander app and despite the need for a temporary vehicle import permit, a rare border crossing that was totally free of charge- great first impression in El Salvador ! In addition to avoiding the capital, San Salvador, the route chosen gave us the chance to drive El Salvador’s famous Ruta de Flores ( Route of Flowers ), a bonus we had not expected. Though slightly early in the season for the full blossoming there were plenty of brightly coloured flowers to be seen along with some amazing mountain views, coffee plantations and quaint El Salvadoran towns and villages.

Our next few nights were spent beach side in El Tunco- the El Salvadoran hospitality and friendliness ( as well as great food ) were there in abundance – actually, kind of a tough place to leave. We would also certainly miss the campsite’s talking parrot – “Lola”.  Lola could whistle, and regurgitate “Hola”, “Amigo” and “Amiga” endlessly ( apparently even able to distinguish gender ! ) – she took a particular liking to Lois.

One of the great things about Central America is that the countries are all very small and the driving distances short – El Tunco all the way to the eastern side of Honduras was an easy 5 hour scenic drive – notable mostly for quite a number of volcanoes along the way. Crossing to Honduras was another easy border, and all went smoothly aside from the phalanx of local “helpers” that descend on every gringo who approaches the “frontera”. Talk about persistent- these guys stick to you like gum on a shoe until you relent and use one or two of their services, always for a small fee of course. At this particular border, one guy was very helpful so I slid him a few dollars. As  we got back to our car there was another “helper” standing by it….this one demanding a dollar for guarding our truck while we were inside doing paperwork ! 

Arriving later in the day in Honduras the need was simply to find a hotel, rest and move on the next day – we had no plans for in depth exploring here. The roads were of excellent quality so travel was easy. In fact, we’d say they had the best roads in Central America so far, and were far better than expected. That was all good, however it was the next border that we were concerned about – Nicaragua.

What with the whole drone thing ( they never even asked incidentally but we are glad we sent it home ) and conflicting reports from other overlanders about the ease of the crossing we approached with some trepidation. Alas it was all for nought – save for some more aggressive border “helpers” it could not have gone more smoothly. Everyone charming, polite and professional.

So there we were, just over half way through the week and in and out of three countries ! While that sounds like a lot, one has to remember how small these countries are. You can, without much difficulty, cross from eastern El Salvador, through Honduras ( the part above the Gulf of Fonseca ) and almost across the length of Nicaragua in a long day’s drive. We haven’t suddenly “changed gears” and are not now travelling with that urgency, but our decision to be ready to ship to Colombia from Panama by the latter part of November meant we simply had to look at the map, determine our priorities for the coming weeks and stick to a fairly rigid schedule . As I write we are speaking to a potential shipping partner whose desired shipping schedule matches ours – roughly speaking, two vehicles in a 40ft High Cube container will halve our RoRo shipping costs. To boot, there is much greater security of the vehicle and its contents in a locked container versus the RoRo option. We are certainly hoping this works out to both our benefits – we should know within a week.

Our limited time here in Nicaragua forced some quick decisions upon us with regard to itinerary. As for El Salvador and Honduras we deliberately chose to avoid the capital ( Managua ) and our direct route through made that easy. Other than driving, our time here would be limited to the volcanic island of Ometepe ( in Lake Nicaragua ) and San Juan Del Sur ( another beach community ) in the south near the Costa Rican border.

Omotepe did not disappoint – a beautiful island setting approached by ferry from San Jorge, its lush green foliage and perennially cloud – shrouded twin volcano backdrop provide almost an eerie aura, as if some giant beast would soon appear. No giant beasts, but quaint villages, an outstanding butterfly sanctuary, waterfalls and some idyllic view points. Great to take a break from the truck and get on a motorbike for a day !

As our week closes out we find ourselves en route to San Juan Del Sur – have heard so much about this place and we’re really looking forward to it. Once a thriving tourist town, and somewhat of an “in” spot on the Gringo Trail through Central America, the troubles in Nicaragua in 2018 ( which are all over now ) sadly caused a precipitous decline in visitor arrivals which are only now starting to recover. True, frankly, for much of Central America – nowhere we have travelled in the past 2 weeks has there been anything remotely close to “normal” tourist levels. The “migrant caravan” stories earlier this year have probably caused some of that. While we certainly enjoy the relative solace ( and better deals that ensue ), we hope for the sake of the many local people this has impacted that folks do start returning – there is so much to enjoy here and we only wish we had time to see more of it.

Sounds awesome so far you too! Thanks for sharing this.

Love doing our personal travel ‘diary’ which has morphed into our ‘blog’. Know you are a biker – see a few down here. Put it on your agenda !!! You’d love it !

Will you be visiting the Surf Ranch and the Loose Moose in SJDS? Sounds like a bit of a Canadian oasis down there. And you can pretend you’re kids again!

Ha ha !! We saw it on the map but did not go. SJDS was nice but we only had a short visit ( great food ! ) – just crossed to Costa Rica today.

Much fuss was made about the CA-4 ( Guatemala, ES, Honduras and Nicaragua ) but we were treated like royalty and NEVER once felt any fear or were ever threatened. Like I said on the blog, were it not for the shipping “crunch” we are facing we would love to have stayed longer. Wonderful people.

I am wondering what the payload limit is on your truck and did you do anything other than e rated tires and leveling kit to help boost the payload capacity? I have a Silverado 1500 and am looking at the same camper you have. I like the upgrades you have done to the camper to fit your needs.

Great to hear from you !

The payload on my version is just under 2,000lbs. I removed the back seats and tail gate which effectively gave me 145 lbs extra. My camper is about 1150 dry and we try to stay to about 900lbs all up when on the road so we are at the margin when full of fuel and water. While they do NOT add to your payload the airbags and E rated 10ply tires certainly help manage the load. So far we have had no issues. I would think that newer versions of my truck would have a higher payload because they are increasingly adding aluminum to them. Be happy to chat to you about it if you have a number to call ?

Looking forward to hearing and seeing more.

Glad you are enjoying – will be sure to keep them coming ! Lois says hi !

Jeff + Lois

We are Lois and Jeff, of Kelowna, BC, Canada. Recently retired with a serious overlanding travel bug, we hit the road in our truck camper in May 2019, initially tackling the Pan American highway. The PanAm completed in April 2022, and truck camper sold, we plan to continue exploring again later in 2022 in our Sprinter 4×4!

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The History Hit Miscellany of Facts, Figures and Fascinating Finds

• 20th Century

How a Football Match Turned to All Out War Between Honduras and El Salvador

History Hit

07 jun 2018.

On 8 June 1969 Honduras and El Salvador began a three-game elimination contest determining qualification for the 1970 football World Cup in Mexico.  It inflamed nationalist antipathies and precipitated a 100 hour military conflict. It took 6,000 lives, injured 12,000 and rendered 50,000 homeless.

Even by the elevated standards for passion and theatre of football in Central and Latin America, this was unprecedented.

Football rioting turns to military mobilisation

In the first game in Tegucigalpa, hosts Honduras managed to snatch a 1-0 victory in the final minute of the first game. Heavy rioting was a portent of further violence to come. The return fixture, on 27 June in San Salvador, rapidly spiralled out of control.

The night before the game the Honduran team’s hotel was set abaze, and after losing the game – they were understandably distracted – the players fled for the border. Although rioting, looting and arson rocked the streets, the players escaped unscathed. On 24 June, the Salvadoran government mobilized the military, and two days later declared a state of emergency. In reaction, on 27 June, Honduras broke diplomatic relations with El Salvador.

It was clear that the final fixture, scheduled for 14 July in Mexico City, would strain a delicate peace. Before the game could start, however, the Football War had broken out.

The background to the conflict

El Salvador, although it gained independence from Spanish colonial rule 1821, retained a feudal tradition of landed gentry that saw 14 prominent families hold a preponderance of land, and leaving a huge peasant majority landless. It’s inelastic, one crop (coffee) economy, another legacy of colonial rule, exacerbated already rife poverty.

This prompted a gradual, massive exodus of Salvadorans to less competitive areas in Honduras. Honduras was one of the poorest and least developed of the Central American countries, but it had extirpated the colonial influence to ensure a more equitable spread of wealth and land.

However, it was not without its problems. A huge peasants’ revolt in 1932 was put down by the army. Indeed political instability was a central feature of Honduran life. Although the military did not have an absolute or institutionalised monopoly on political power, it often contrived to install its preferred candidates.

Popular antagonism toward a sequence of military junta saw Dr. Ramon Villeda Morales appointed President in 1957. However, in October 1963 a military cabal deposed Villeda in a bloody coup. General Lopez Arellano was installed as leader of a widely despised new junta. A poor economic situation prompted a general strike in mid-1968, and by 1969 the government was on the precipice of a major revolt.

Honduras Blames Salvadoran Migrants

The Honduran government passed a land reform act opted to deflect criticism from itself onto the Salvadoran migrant population. At around 300,000 strong, this illegal community was a visible if largely benevolent presence in Honduran society.

In January 1969, the Honduran government took heavily publicised steps to regulate the flow of immigrants crossing the common border with El Salvador, and in April 1969, announced the expulsion of all persons who acquired property without fulfilling legal requirements.

It also used the media to cultivate a hysterical, paranoid hatred immigrants. They bore the burden for wage drops and unemployment increases.

By late May 1969, dozens of Salvadorans were killed or brutalized, and tens of thousands began streaming back over the border – into an already overpopulated El Salvador. Possibilities for forced repatriation/deportation alarmed El Salvador, given the extensive demographic and social ramifications a return of 300 000 peasants would elicit. Its reaction was therefore reciprocal, with El Salvador targeting a largely fictional population of immigrant peasants from Honduras.

Most of the fighting took place in Honduras.

Early Salvador success

Football became a vessel for militant nationalist rhetoric, and by July 14 1969 it triggered actual fighting. In the late afternoon the Salvadoran air force attacked targets inside Honduras and the Salvadoran army launched major offensives along the main road connecting the two nations and against the Honduran islands in the Golfo de Fonseca.

At first, the Salvadorans made fairly rapid progress. By the evening of 15 July, the Salvadoran army, which was considerably larger and better equipped than its Honduran opponent, had forced the Honduran army into a retreat.

The attack stalls

Thereafter, the attack stalled, and the Salvadorans began to experience fuel and ammunition shortages. A major reason for the fuel shortage was the action of the Honduran air force, which, in addition to largely destroying the smaller Salvadoran air force, had severely damaged El Salvador’s oil storage facilities.

While its army was small, and less-well equipped than Salvadoran, Honduras’ air force was in a better shape, because the national defence strategy was based on air power.

The OAS called for a ceasefire on July 15, which the Salvadorans ignored, but a ceasefire was then arranged on 18 July, taking effect on 20 July. Alongside the horrific casualty figures, the economies of both countries suffered terribly, as the trade had been disrupted and the mutual border closed.

Depending on sources, between 60,000 and 130,000 Salvadorans should have been forcibly expelled or had fled from Honduras, producing massive economic disruption in both countries. It was a terrible result for both sides.

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• North & Central America
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Honduras vs. El Salvador

Introduction, demographics, telecommunications, transportation, transnational issues, environment.

Source: CIA Factbook

El Salvador

56 facts in comparison

El Salvador vs Honduras

How does el salvador compare to honduras.

• 2 788.00$ higher GDP per capita ? 8 388.00$ vs 5 600.00$
• 45.9% more agricultural land ? 74.7% vs 28.8%
• 3.8 years longer life expectancy at birth ? 75.1 years vs 71.3 years
• 7.37$ billion higher GDP (PPP) ? 53.67$ billion vs 46.3$ billion
• 20.88% lower inflation rate ? 7.2% vs 9.1%
• 0.6 more hospital beds per 1,000 inhabitants ? 1.3 vs 0.7
• 2 years longer school life expectancy ? 12 years vs 10 years
• 31.25% higher percentage of internet users ? 63% vs 48%

How does Honduras compare to El Salvador?

• 3.33x more forests ? 45.3% vs 13.6%
• 1.58x more education expenditures ? 6% of GDP vs 3.8% of GDP
• 3.99million more inhabitants ? 10.44 million vs 6.45 million
• 74.92% lower population density ? 80 people/km² vs 319 people/km²
• 1.4% lower unemployment rate ? 5.6% vs 7%
• 41.83% less public debt ? 39.5% of GDP vs 67.9% of GDP
• 2.68x longer coastline ? 823 km vs 307 km
• 2.09x higher real GDP growth rate ? 4.8% vs 2.3%

Which are the most popular comparisons?

Estados Unidos

Philippines

República Dominicana

User reviews

Overall rating.

Food and drink

Natural beauty

Low pollution

Infrastructure

2 years ago

El Salvador is the "New Horizon" of the americas.

El Salvador is a very beautiful, and safe country.

11 months ago

Not what it claims to be, there's much to improve.

This is a developing country, consequently, it comes with a host of problems: health care, transportation, higher education, human rights, job opportunities, law enforcement, homophobia, and the absence of freedom of speech given the country's history. It's not at all ideal for living.

• It's a country where tourist attractions are nearby and accessible in a short time.
• Rich culture and interesting cuisine.
• Tropical climate.
• Beautiful beaches and lakes.
• There are no job opportunities for certified workers.
• There's a big problem with traffic and public transportation is very poor.
• Human rights that ensure people's protection are non-existent.
• There is no accessible public health care.
• It's a conservative country, extremely religious and not very humanistic.
• There are no LGBTQ+ rights and homophobia is normalized here.
• The quality of services like WIFI and mobile data is poor.
• Both public and private education quality is low.
• Housing and car prices are expensive.
• It's an overcrowded country with many poorly educated people.

112 090 km²

111 890 km²

Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (El Salvador)

Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Honduras)

Demographics

6.45 million

10.44 million

319 people/km²

80 people/km²

67.9% of GDP

39.5% of GDP

3.8% of GDP

Quality of living

Which are the best countries.

South Korea

New Zealand

Vatican City

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Liechtenstein

The Football War: El Salvador vs Honduras

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Podcast Transcript

In the summer of 1969, the nations of Honduras and El Salvador went to war. 

Tragically, nations do go to war, so this in and of itself isn’t unusual.

However, the spark which ignited this war was unlike any other in world history. 

It had to do with a qualifying match for the 1970 FIFA World Cup.

Learn more about the Football War, its causes, and its resolution on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

The Football War, also known as the Soccer War for obvious reasons, might have been sparked by a football match, but there was a lot more to it. A football match wasn’t so much the cause of the war as it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. There were a host of problems between the two countries, which had been festering well before their 1969 World Cup qualifier.

The problem really started over two centuries ago when Honduras and El Salvador were still Spanish colonies. 

There were six pockets of land and two islands in the Gulf of Fonseca that were awarded to El Salvador that Honduras claimed.  The Gulf of Fonseca is the only access that Honduras has to the Pacific Ocean, and El Salvador was able to block their access. 

The total amount of land in question was 436.9 square kilometers, which wasn’t inconsequential given the sizes of the countries.

However, if a land dispute was the only problem between the two countries, it probably wouldn’t have been enough to go to war in 1969. The border had been an issue for ages, so it was definitely a contributing factor, but not the case of the war. 

The other major problem between the two countries had to do with immigration and land reform. 

Despite being five times larger in area, Honduras had a much smaller population. In 1969, El Salvador had a population of 3.7 million, and Honduras had 2.6 million people. 

Starting in the early 20th century, the differences in population density resulted in Salvadorans migrating to Honduras for land. 

By 1969, 300,000 Salvadorans were living in Honduras, compromising 20% of the population. 

If you remember back to my episode on banana republics, most of the land in Honduras was owned by large landowners such as the United Fruit Company. 

That meant there wasn’t much land available in the country for the common folk. 

In 1962, Honduras introduced land reforms that allowed the Honduran government to seize land settled by Salvadoran immigrants and squatters and give it to native Hondurans. The land reforms led to a surge of nationalism in Honduras.

Even if Salvadoran immigrants had purchased their land legally and held title to it, they were still liable to have their land taken from them. 

The land seizures resulted in thousands of Salvadorans being expelled from Honduras and forced to migrate back to El Salvador. 

The influx of returning Salvadorans caused huge headaches and problems for the Salvadorian government and for the populace.

On top of all this, there were just general simmering social issues between the two countries. Despite the migration of Salvadorans to Honduras, the standard of living in El Salvador was higher than in Honduras. This led to a sense of inferiority among Hondurans and resentment towards Salvadorans.

So this was the state of affairs between the two countries heading into June 1969. 

Both El Salvador and Honduras were first in their qualifying groups for the 1970 World Cup. Honduras beat Costa Rica, and Jamaica and El Salvador beat Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles.  

The two countries had to play each other in a two-leg qualifier to determine which team would advance to the world cup. 

This was a big deal because neither country had ever played in the world cup before, and the qualifier was between regional rivals. 

The first game took place in the capital of Honduras, Tegucigalpa, on June 8. Tensions between the two countries were running high. 

The Salvadoran team couldn’t get any sleep the night before the match because Honduran fans camped outside their hotel all night and made noise. 

Honduras barely won the first game, 1-0, scoring the game’s only goal with one minute remaining. 

The  Salvadorians took this loss hard. An 18-year-old girl by the name of Amelia Bolaños took her father’s pistol and shot herself in the heart after the game. 

The President of El Salvador, Fidel Sánchez Hernández, declared her a national martyr. Her funeral was shown on national television, and the president and his cabinet walked behind the coffin in a procession. 

The death of Amelia Bolaños and the subsequent funeral only fueled passions on the Salvadoran side before the second match. 

The second match took place a week later, on June 15, in San Salvador. 

The Salvadoran fans did the same thing to the Honduran team at their hotel that the Honduran fans did to the Salvadoran team.  Fans were so riotous that the Honduran team had to be transported to the stadium in armored cars. 

In riots that took place before the game, three people were killed. The Honduran flags were burned, and Honduran fans in the crowd were beaten by locals. 

El Salvador won the match 3-0. The Honduran coach said that the team was lucky to lose. If they had won, they might not have left with their lives. 

This set up a third game which took place in a neutral location, Aztec Stadium in Mexico City, on June 27. 

Mexico City government put 1,700 police in the stands to prevent any violence from breaking out. 

However, earlier that day, things began to go beyond sports. Just hours before the match, the El Salvador government broke off diplomatic ties with Honduras. 

The Salvadorans claimed that since the last game in San Salvador, almost 12,000 Salvadorans were forced out of Honduras and were victims of theft, rape, and murder. The expulsions were believed to be directly due to Honduras losing the previous match.

In a statement, the government said, “the government of Honduras has not taken any effective measures to punish these crimes which constitute genocide, nor has it given assurances of indemnification or reparations for the damages caused to Salvadorans.”

During the game, Salvadoran fans chanted “murderer, murderer.” 

In the game itself, El Salvador won 3-2 with a goal scored by Mauricio “Pipo” Rodríguez in the 11th minute of extra time.

In the days following the game in Mexico City, tensions rose on the border of Honduras and El Salvador. The border was closed, and clashes increased between the military forces on both sides. 

Finally, in the early morning of July 14, El Salvador ordered its forces to invade Honduras.

The Salvadoran attack was multipronged. 

The land invasion took place primarily along the main road connecting El Salvador and Tegucigalpa. There was also another thrust north in the western part of the country.

By sea, Salvadoran forces attacked Honduran islands in the Gulf of Fonseca. 

The small El Salvador air force attacked positions in Honduras. They even used civilian airplanes with explosives attached to the wings as bombers. 

The Salvadoran military was bigger than the Honduran military and overwhelmed them in the first hours of the war. 

They actually made it to within several miles of Tegucigalpa.

However, the Salvadoran advance stalled out, and Honduras went on the counterattack. 

They hit Salvadoran oil facilities, which interrupted fuel supplies to the advancing forces. 

Both sides had piston-powered, American-built aircraft which fought each other in dogfights. In the air, the Hondurans had the edge and destroyed most of the Salvadoran air force.

It was the last time in military history that propeller aircraft fought each other. 

The international reaction to the war was swift. The Organization of American States held an emergency meeting on July 18 and called for an immediate cease-fire and for El Salvador to pull back their troop to its border.  A cease-fire was agreed to on the evening of July 18, ending hostilities. 

The entire war lasted four days and also became known as the 100-hour war. 

The ceasefire became formalized on July 20th, and El Salvador began to remove its troops from Honduras on August 2 after threats of economic and trade sanctions and promises by Honduras that Salvadorans in Honduras would be treated better. 

Despite the war being extremely short, it had significant implications. 

Over 300,000 Salvadorans were uprooted and displaced. 

El Salvador had 900 people killed, including civilians. Honduras had 250 soldiers killed and over 2,000 civilian deaths.

While the conflict was over, the animosity between the countries lingered. The border was closed, and trade was cut off for years. 

The instability in El Salvador was a major contributing factor in its civil war a decade later, which took the lives of 80,000 people.

It wasn’t until 1980 that a formal peace treaty was signed between the two countries. In 1992, the International Court of Justice arbitrated the border disputes between the two countries, awarding 80% of the disputed land to Honduras. 

The Gulf of Fonseca is still a contentious issue. In 2013, El Salvador once again threatened military action once again against Honduras.

As for the Salvadoran football team, they did qualify for the world cup in 1970, but they didn’t win a single game or even score a single goal. 

Mauricio Rodríguez, the man who scored the winning goal against Honduras in the decisive third game, is often considered to be the man whose goal started a war. 

The truth is, while the war is called the Football War, and while the matches did escalate the conflict, it probably would have happened even if the matches never took place.  The only reason a football match sparked the war was because there was plenty of dry tinder to catch fire. 

The Executive Producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel.

The associate producers are Thor Thomsen and Peter Bennett.

Today’s review comes from listener Cedar Branch over on Apple Podcasts in the United States They write:

Great Research!

The best podcast in history. The knowledge is surprisingly practical. The narrator is eloquent and doesn’t talk down. It’s like listening to the Reader Digest version of all podcasts. I’ve listened to all the episodes at least twice. I’m working on listening to everything a third time now in a more relaxed setting so I can absorb it better. I’d like to say I’m part of the Completionist Club, but since this comes out daily, I can only hope to be in it for half a day.

Thank you, Cedar Branch!  Joining the completionist club is quite an accomplishment. Listening to every episode twice makes you a gold member. 

If you manage to listen to every episode three times, that would give you elite platinum completionist club status, which gives you first-class seating and priority entry to every completionist club around the world.

Remember, if you leave a review or send me a boostagram, you too can have it read on the show.

US dampens criticism of El Salvador's president as migration overtakes democracy concerns

S AN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — In 2021, the Biden administration turned down a meeting request with El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele , on a trip to Washington, snubbing the self-proclaimed “world's coolest dictator” for fear a photo op would embolden his attempts to expand his power base.

A little more than three years later, it's the United States that's courting Bukele. A high-level delegation led by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas , and senior White House and State Department officials, attended Bukele's inauguration in San Salvador on Saturday to a second term.

The visit — unthinkable until recently — caps a quiet, 180-degree shift in Washington's policy toward the small Central American nation of 6 million that reflects how the Biden administration's criticisms of Bukele's strong-armed governing style have been overtaken by more urgent concerns tied to immigration — a key issue in this year's U.S. presidential election.

“They’ve realized what he’s been doing works,” Damian Merlo, an American adviser to Bukele who is registered to lobby on the Salvadoran government's behalf, said in an interview from El Salvador. “If the U.S. is serious about wanting to address the root causes of migration, then Bukele is someone who has actually done it.”

The 42-year-old Bukele, who was reelected with 85% of the vote, has been wildly popular at home for his frontal attack on powerful gangs, which has converted what was once the world's murder capital into one of Latin America's safest countries. The improvement in public security is credited with a more than 60% drop in migration from the Central American country to the U.S. since Bukele took office in 2019 — a stark contrast with a growing exodus of migrants from other parts of Latin America.

“We conquered fear, and today are truly a free nation,” Bukele said in a speech Saturday to hundreds of supporters from the balcony of the National Palace after being sworn in for a second, five-year term.

Cured of what he called the “cancer” of gang violence, he said that his next term would be devoted to strengthening El Salvador's economy, vowing to apply the same independent, unconventional approach that has characterized his rule and won him admirers from conservatives throughout Latin America.

“I’m not here to do what others think I should do. I’m here to do what’s best for our country,” he said.

Until recently, Bukele's crackdown on the gangs — as well as political opponents — had drawn fire from Washington. A state of emergency originally declared in 2022 and still in effect has been used to round up 78,175 suspected gang members in sweeps that rights groups say are often arbitrary, based on a person’s appearance or where they live. The government has had to release about 7,000 people because of a lack of evidence.

After Biden took office, the U.S. sanctioned several of Bukele's top aides on allegations of corruption and shifted foreign assistance from government agencies to civil society groups highly critical of Bukele.

In 2021, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said that Washington had “ deep concerns about El Salvador's democracy " after lawmakers loyal to Bukele removed several Supreme Court justices that were among the last check on the president's power. A few months later, the new justices lifted a constitutional ban on consecutive reelection, something the U.S. State Department denounced as the outcome of “a clear strategy to undermine judicial independence ."

The about-face, observers say, started a little more than a year ago when Biden sent William Duncan, a career diplomat, to San Salvador as U.S. ambassador. Then, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Salvadoran Foreign Minister Alexandra Hill in Washington. Bukele, a gifted communicator who in the past praised former U.S. President Donald Trump and cozied up to China, has also avoided direct confrontation, although he still managed to ruffle feathers when he attended a conservative political gathering outside Washington earlier this year.

"Migration trumps everything else," said Michael Shifter, a former president of Inter-American Dialogue in Washington. “The ideal Latin American partner would be effective in its security policy while respecting human rights norms and practices and cooperating with the U.S. on migration. But rarely do all these desirable things go together, which poses tough choices for U.S. policymakers.”

Shifter said that such a high-level delegation like the one in El Salvador is rarely sent to presidential inaugurations, even of the United States' closest allies in the region. Besides Mayorkas, it includes Brian Nichols, the assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, and Daniel Erikson, Biden’s top national security adviser on Latin America. Six members of congress, including three Democrats, and Donald Trump Jr. are also attending.

“Pretty solid way to travel,” Trump Jr. said in a video posted on TikTok as he was escorted by El Salvador's police to the inauguration ceremony. “Just promoting those who support freedom around the world.”

Mayorkas met with Bukele on the eve of his inauguration to discuss migration, public security and ways to strengthen the fight against narcotics trafficking.

“I want to express the United States’ dedication to supporting the growth and prosperity of El Salvador through continued bilateral cooperation,” Mayorkas said in a message on social media.

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But Ricardo Zúniga, a retired U.S. diplomat who handled migration talks with Central America in the early days of the Biden administration, said that Washington may come to regret its recent embrace of Bukele.

“Bukele will be in power for many years to come, so you need to have a working relationship,” said Zúniga, who was the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs until his retirement last fall. “But you also have to be clear eyed. This is an authoritarian government ruled by a single party that is not sympathetic to U.S. strategic interests.”

Joshua Goodman reported from Miami.

2026 World Cup Qualifying Glance

The Associated Press

June 8, 2024, 7:33 PM

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Antigua and Barbuda 1, Bermuda 1

Honduras 3, Cuba 1

Cayman Islands vs. Antigua and Barbuda, 4:30 p.m.

Bermuda vs. Honduras, 7 p.m.

Cuba vs. Cayman Islands, 3:30 p.m.

Trinidad and Tobago 2, Grenada 2

Costa Rica 4, St. Kitts and Nevis 0

Trinidad and Tobago 7, Bahamas 1

Grenada vs. Costa Rica, 5 p.m.

St. Kitts and Nevis vs. Bahamas, 4 p.m.

Curaçao 4, Barbados 1

Haiti 2, St. Lucia 1

Aruba vs. Curaçao, 8 p.m.

Barbados vs. Haiti, 5 p.m.

St. Lucia vs. Aruba, 3 p.m.

Nicaragua 4, Montserrat 1

Panama 2, Guyana 0

Belize vs. Nicaragua, 8 p.m.

Montserrat vs. Panama, 9 p.m.

Guyana vs. Belize, 6 p.m.

At Guatemala City, Guatemala, 10 p.m.

Guatemala 6, Dominica 0

Jamaica 1, Dominican Republic 0

Guatemala 3, British Virgin Islands 0

Dominica vs. Jamaica, 3 p.m.

Dominican Republic vs. British Virgin Islands, 8 p.m.

Suriname 4, St. Vincent and the Grenadines 1

El Salvador 0, Puerto Rico 0

Suriname 4, Anguilla 0

St. Vincent and the Grenadines vs. El Salvador, 3 p.m.

Puerto Rico vs. Anguilla, 8 p.m.

d-penalized 3 points for falsifying birth documents for Byron Castillo

Argentina vs. Chile

Brazil vs. Ecuador

Bolivia vs. Venezuela

Peru vs. Colombia

Uruguay vs. Paraguay

Chile vs. Bolivia

Colombia vs. Argentina

Ecuador vs. Peru

Paraguay vs. Brazil

Venezuela vs. Uruguay

India 0, Kuwait 0

Afghanistan 0, Qatar 0

Qatar vs. India, 1:45 p.m.

Kuwait vs. Afghanistan, 1:45 p.m.

Myanmar 0, Japan 5

North Korea 1, Syria 0

Japan vs. Syria, 6:14 a.m.

North Korea vs. Myanmar, 9 a.m.

China 1, Thailand 1

Singapore 0, South Korea 7,

South Korea vs. China, 7 a.m.

Thailand vs. Singapore, 8:30 a.m.

Kyrgyzstan 1, Malaysia 1

Taiwan 0, Oman 3

Malaysia vs. Taiwan, 6 a.m.

Kyrgyzstan vs. Oman, 8 a.m.

Hong Kong 2, Iran 4

Uzbekistan 3, Turkmenistan 1

Turkmenistan vs. Hong Kong, 11 a.m.

Iran vs. Uzbekistan, 1 p.m.

Indonesia 0, Iraq 2

Vietnam 3, Philippines 2

Indonesia vs. Philippines, 8:30 a.m.

Iraq vs. Vietnam, 2 p.m.

Pakistan 0, Saudi Arabia 3

Jordan 3, Tajikistan 0

Tajikistan vs. Pakistan, 11 a.m.

Saudi Arabia vs. Jordan, 2 p.m.

Nepal 0, United Arab Emirates 4

Bahrain 3, Yemen 0

United Arab Emirates vs. Bahrain, 1 p.m.

Yemen vs. Nepal, TBA, 2 p.m.

Bangladesh 0, Australia 2

Palestine 0, Lebanon 0

Australia vs. Palestine, 8:10 a.m.

Lebanon vs. Bangladesh, noon

Sierra Leone 2, Djibouti 1

Guinea-Bissau 0, Ethiopia 0

Egypt 2, Burkina Faso 1

Djibouti vs. Ethiopia, noon

Burkina Faso vs. Sierra Leone, noon

Guinea-Bissau vs. Egypt, noon

Togo 1, South Sudan 1

Mauritania 0, Sudan 2

Senegal 1, Congo 1

Congo vs. Togo, noon

Mauritania vs. Senegal, noon

South Sudan vs. Sudan, 8 a.m.

Benin 1, Rwanda 0

Lesotho 2, Zimbabwe 0

Nigeria 1, South Africa 1

Benin vs. Nigeria, noon

Lesotho vs. Rwanda, noon

South Africa vs. Zimbabwe, noon

Libya 2, Mauritius 1

Angola 1, Eswatini 0

Cameroon 4, Cape Verde 1

Mauritius vs. Eswatini, 9 a.m.

Cape Verde vs. Libya, noon

Angola vs. Cameroon, 3 p.m.

Republic of Congo vs. Niger, ppd.

Morocco 2, Zambia 1

Zambia vs. Tanzania, 9 a.m.

Republic of Congo vs. Morocco, noon

Ivory Coast 1, Gabon 0

Kenya 1, Burundi 1

Gambia 5, Seychelles 1

Kenya vs. Ivory Coast, 9 a.m.

Gabon vs. Gambia, 3 p.m.

Seychelles vs. Burundi, 3 p.m.

Algeria 1, Guinea 2

Mozambique 2, Somalia 1

Uganda 1, Botswana 0

Somalia vs. Botswana, 9 a.m.

Uganda vs. Algeria, noon

Guinea vs. Mozambique, 3 p.m.

Namibia 1, Liberia 1

Tunisia 1, Equatorial Guinea 0

Malawi 3, São Tomé and Príncipe 1

São Tomé and Príncipe vs. Liberia, 9 a.m.

Namibia vs. Tunisia, 3 p.m.

Equatorial Guinea vs. Malawi, 9 a.m.

Central African Republic 1, Chad 0

Mali 1, Ghana 2

Madagascar 2, Comoros 1

Ghana vs. Central African Republic, 3 p.m.

Madagascar vs. Mali, 9 a.m.

Chad vs Comoros, noon

Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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US Dampens Criticism of El Salvador's President as Migration Overtakes Democracy Concerns

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US Dampens Criticism of El Salvador's President as Migration Overtakes Democracy Concerns

Salvador Melendez

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele and first lady Gabriela Roberta Rodríguez wave from a balcony after he was sworn in for a second term, in San Salvador, El Salvador, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — In 2021, the Biden administration turned down a meeting request with El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele , on a trip to Washington, snubbing the self-proclaimed “world's coolest dictator” for fear a photo op would embolden his attempts to expand his power base.

A little more than three years later, it's the United States that's courting Bukele. A high-level delegation led by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas , and senior White House and State Department officials, attended Bukele's inauguration in San Salvador on Saturday to a second term.

The visit — unthinkable until recently — caps a quiet, 180-degree shift in Washington's policy toward the small Central American nation of 6 million that reflects how the Biden administration's criticisms of Bukele's strong-armed governing style have been overtaken by more urgent concerns tied to immigration — a key issue in this year's U.S. presidential election.

“They’ve realized what he’s been doing works,” Damian Merlo, an American adviser to Bukele who is registered to lobby on the Salvadoran government's behalf, said in an interview from El Salvador. “If the U.S. is serious about wanting to address the root causes of migration, then Bukele is someone who has actually done it.”

The 42-year-old Bukele, who was reelected with 85% of the vote, has been wildly popular at home for his frontal attack on powerful gangs, which has converted what was once the world's murder capital into one of Latin America's safest countries. The improvement in public security is credited with a more than 60% drop in migration from the Central American country to the U.S. since Bukele took office in 2019 — a stark contrast with a growing exodus of migrants from other parts of Latin America.

“We conquered fear, and today are truly a free nation,” Bukele said in a speech Saturday to hundreds of supporters from the balcony of the National Palace after being sworn in for a second, five-year term.

Cured of what he called the “cancer” of gang violence, he said that his next term would be devoted to strengthening El Salvador's economy, vowing to apply the same independent, unconventional approach that has characterized his rule and won him admirers from conservatives throughout Latin America.

“I’m not here to do what others think I should do. I’m here to do what’s best for our country,” he said.

Until recently, Bukele's crackdown on the gangs — as well as political opponents — had drawn fire from Washington. A state of emergency originally declared in 2022 and still in effect has been used to round up 78,175 suspected gang members in sweeps that rights groups say are often arbitrary, based on a person’s appearance or where they live. The government has had to release about 7,000 people because of a lack of evidence.

After Biden took office, the U.S. sanctioned several of Bukele's top aides on allegations of corruption and shifted foreign assistance from government agencies to civil society groups highly critical of Bukele.

In 2021, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said that Washington had “ deep concerns about El Salvador's democracy " after lawmakers loyal to Bukele removed several Supreme Court justices that were among the last check on the president's power. A few months later, the new justices lifted a constitutional ban on consecutive reelection, something the U.S. State Department denounced as the outcome of “a clear strategy to undermine judicial independence ."

The about-face, observers say, started a little more than a year ago when Biden sent William Duncan, a career diplomat, to San Salvador as U.S. ambassador. Then, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Salvadoran Foreign Minister Alexandra Hill in Washington. Bukele, a gifted communicator who in the past praised former U.S. President Donald Trump and cozied up to China, has also avoided direct confrontation, although he still managed to ruffle feathers when he attended a conservative political gathering outside Washington earlier this year.

"Migration trumps everything else," said Michael Shifter, a former president of Inter-American Dialogue in Washington. “The ideal Latin American partner would be effective in its security policy while respecting human rights norms and practices and cooperating with the U.S. on migration. But rarely do all these desirable things go together, which poses tough choices for U.S. policymakers.”

Shifter said that such a high-level delegation like the one in El Salvador is rarely sent to presidential inaugurations, even of the United States' closest allies in the region. Besides Mayorkas, it includes Brian Nichols, the assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, and Daniel Erikson, Biden’s top national security adviser on Latin America. Six members of congress, including three Democrats, and Donald Trump Jr. are also attending.

“Pretty solid way to travel,” Trump Jr. said in a video posted on TikTok as he was escorted by El Salvador's police to the inauguration ceremony. “Just promoting those who support freedom around the world.”

Mayorkas met with Bukele on the eve of his inauguration to discuss migration, public security and ways to strengthen the fight against narcotics trafficking.

“I want to express the United States’ dedication to supporting the growth and prosperity of El Salvador through continued bilateral cooperation,” Mayorkas said in a message on social media.

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But Ricardo Zúniga, a retired U.S. diplomat who handled migration talks with Central America in the early days of the Biden administration, said that Washington may come to regret its recent embrace of Bukele.

“Bukele will be in power for many years to come, so you need to have a working relationship,” said Zúniga, who was the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs until his retirement last fall. “But you also have to be clear eyed. This is an authoritarian government ruled by a single party that is not sympathetic to U.S. strategic interests.”

Joshua Goodman reported from Miami.

Copyright 2024 The  Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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El Salvador will face Puerto Rico in this World Cup qualifying match at Estadio Cuscatlán in San Salvador.

This Concacaf second-round matchup is important for both teams as they try to make the 2026 World Cup. Both teams have somewhat struggled to win games recently making this matchup that much more important for both teams. If they can pick up a win, it would be incredibly important for their chances to make a push for the World Cup.

Make sure to catch all the action. Here is everything you need to know to watch and stream the game.

El Salvador vs Puerto Rico

• When: Thursday, June 6th
• Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
• TV Channel: Fanatiz
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El Salvador (-280) vs Puerto Rico (+700)

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El Salvador

Puerto Rico

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• 5 Clavel Mendoza
• 14 Martínez

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• Said Martinez

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El Salvador

• Fidel Escobar - 26'
• Ismael Díaz - 71'
• Brayan Gil - 4'
• Mayer Gil - 90'+1'

Match Formations

• 22 Mosquera
• 10 Bárcenas
• 18 Waterman

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Match commentary, gold cup news, why uruguay can be 'trouble' for usmnt in copa america, greenland applies for concacaf membership to join usa, mexico, who should be the usmnt's starting striker at the copa america.

• Terms of Use
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• Interest-Based Ads
• About Nielsen Measurement
• Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
• Disney Ad Sales Site
• Work for ESPN
• Corrections