a day at bahia del sol

really high tide in bahia del sol marina - another foot and the piling would have disappeared

a couple of the macaws that hang out by the office

while we were waiting for the bus to take us back this man came by with his plow

while we were waiting for the bus to take us to the mercado the gate opened across the street and out came the horses. a few minutes later the guard came out, stamped his feet and they plodded down the road to graze

not much happening at the super mercado

Yesterday we took the bus in to the super Mercado. I’m not sure what the “super” refers to but the Mercado was definitely not super loaded with food options -- canned and highly processed food along with beer and soda and a few waters. More than a half hour each way, and 50 cents per trip, it was more an adventure traveling on a very crowded local bus with school kids, grandmas and an assortment of other folks. The bus handlers are experts at shoving people on and off the bus as it slows down. You really have to hold on and move quickly.

el salvador at last

how many cruisers can you get in one taxi? one more.

leaving the big box store

pathway from the marina to the hotel


the highway outside the hotel - moments earlier a herd of cattle were passing by



during our trip down here i saw many patches of this along the way. it looked like bees swarming on the water and when we sailed through a patch it/they just melted away so i have not idea what it was

we said goodbye to mexico after a year of exploring the land and the sea. we crossed the dangerous part of golfo de tehuantepec with blue skies and enough wind to let us fly at 9 knots. when the wind died, and we were out of the danger zone, we went off shore and couldn't see Guatemala as we entered central america. after 4 days, mostly sailing, we arrived at bahia de jiquilisco, the entrance to bahia del sol, to wait for our escort across the bar (shallow sand bar and high waves). jim meandered us back and forth in the open bay (just like he does when he's racing) waiting for the escort - a guy on a jetski - who said follow me. and we did. with everything we've heard about high waves pushing you up to surf the huge wave into the small estuary, we were really tense about it, but it was no big deal and we said, is that it? we're here?

so we arrived feb. 22 in the morning filthy and exhausted. after getting the boat secured to the dock i took 400mg of ibuprofen for my foot and we both crashed until early afternoon. since then we've enjoyed a lot of socializing with two power boats, Traveller and Solveig. Ed cooked us dinner the other night and i had a fabulous smoked salmon in alfredo sauce over pasta while everyone else had beef bourguignon.

yesterday most of us ventured into san salvador for some shopping. it took over an hour by bus, then we took a cab to el centro, eventually arriving at pricemart which is central america's costco. 5 cruisers with big shopping carts in a big box store - well let's just say it was a miracle all 5 of us fit in that cab who drove us back to the marina because we missed the last bus.


today we're taking a whirlwind 3-day tour of el salvador, a bit of honduras and antigua, guatemala. stay tuned for lots of pictures.