Sunzal, El Salvador

We crossed the border without too much fuss from Guatemala into El Salvador and enjoyed a beautiful drive along the coastal highway. The coastline was far more beautiful than we had expected, we had seen pictures of black sand and well it all looked a little drab, but in reality the beaches are beautiful. We arrived around sunset and the seaside mountains were washed in an amber glow, we could smell the moist earth from the rainfall we had just missed. The roads were paved and generally not too bad. Though we did have to dodge cows, children playing, chickens and pigs, but after Guatemala it didn´t seem too bad. We arrived in Sunzal, a tiny beach town largely devoted to meeting the needs of adventure surfers. Our surfing careers have never quite taken off and we must confess although rentals and lessons were available, we found just watching entertainment enough. When we first drove in we pretty much drove right onto the beach by accident and immediately met two pilots from the US who fly to El Salvador regularly. They are keen surfers and gave us the low down on the area. They also generously invited us to visit them in the states when we head back. We also met some interesting brothers from New Zealand, one of whom was going to Canada to work as a fire fighter and another who was going to study law and philosophy in Australia. We have met so many interesting and adventurous people, who really seem to be making the most of their lives and opportunities.

Sunzal beach has only recently started to see some international tourists and the accomodation and restuarant options were extremely basic. We braved the water, which is bath warm, and had a swim, only my second (M) and Alex´s third for the whole trip. The pitch black sand was intrigueing and after you got over feeling grubby it didn´t matter that much. I must admit though it was at Sunzal that I got a nasty dose of homesickness, I don´t know if it was the black sand, but everything felt very foreign and frightening. There are many warnings around about El Salvador and in fact of lot of the countries we visit, after a while it can get to you.

After Sunzal we drove through El Salvador on the way to the Honduras border, we stopped to stretch at the side of the road and sat on the grass and watched tiny flowers moving, it seemed of their own volition all over the grass. We realised that hundreds of ants were carrying whole tiny flowers on their back, it made me smile and softened the ache of homesickness. We then made it to a nameless drab town near the border and decided to spend the night in a depressingly basic hotel before attempting the border crossing. We had heard that Honduras was the toughest crossing so we needed to embark on it early in the day.