Saturday, 16 March 2019
Suchitoto, El Salvador
Awesome start to the day having breakfast on the roof terrace overlooking Ataco. We’re all loving El Salvador.
And it’s not over yet.
At Joya de Ceren, are the remains of a Mayan village that was covered in volcanic ash in about 650AD. It’s El Salvador’s Pompeii.
Only discovered in 1972 when workers were excavating for foundations to build a new development. Such was the archaeological interest in the site that NASA were involved in scanning the ground to determine where best to start investigations. The volcanic ash petrified the small village and you can even see the stalks of maize still popping out of the ground that were petrified. The huts are so well preserved by petrification that they look like they have recently been built, yet they’re 1400 years old. There’s a shaman hut, sauna, storage and living hut.
A cashew tree stands in the gardens surrounding the site. Now. Have you ever wondered where a cashew nut comes from. Having never thought about it and never seen a cashew tree it’s quite surprising to see. A large orange fleshy fruit with a greeny/grey kidney shaped thing at the end, which contains the cashew nut. Cutting open the orange fleshy piece reveals a mango like texture which can be eaten (see photos below).
Flying about the rafters of the roof protecting the buildings are motmot birds. The national bird of El Salvador. Brightly coloured with a long tail. Called the motmot because of the noise it makes.
As we drive along the valley at the base of the Boqueron volcano see a vast black lava field following its eruption in 1917. Not being able to be cultivated it remains a sea of black in an otherwise lush green valley. Steep drive up the side of the volcano followed by a steep walk up to the rim through the woods. Once at the rim, it’s an impressive sight looking down into the caldera. Prior to the 1917 eruption the original caldera was a large lake. Now, it contains a secondary crater and the whole area is dry.
Arrive at Posada Suchitlan (http://www.laposada.com.sv/) on the outskirts of the town. Basic hotel set in a courtyard but with amazing views over the lake.
