| Apr 20, 2006 - A much better beach town
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 | | show all 4 | | Looking over thatched roofs toward the Pacific Ocean | | Another look toward the black sand beach and the ocean | | Playing on the beach at dusk | | |
| After the disappointment of La Libertad, we were happy to find that Montericco was much better. Yes, it is still trashier than we would prefer, but the black sand beaches are beautiful (and hotter than hell to walk across in the middle of the day) and the sound of the surf exhilarating.
The trip from La Libertad to Monterrico was another long, hot journey in overcrowded buses, but the series of short trips really helps to break it up. We left La Libertad at 6am and rode for 2 ½ hours to Sonsonate where we took another bus to the border with Guatemala (1 ½ hours). The walk from the El Salvador immigration station to its counterpart on the Guatemala side was surprisingly long (and very hot), about 20 minutes, and neither guide book had a word of warning about it. Once through immigration, we bused another 90 minutes to the town of Taxisco where we took a taxi (OK, it was actually a pick-up) for the 25 minute trip to La Avellana. Wait - we weren't quite done, yet. At La Avellana, we had to ride a boat another 20 minutes to reach Montericco, then walk about 10 more minutes from the dock to the hotel. All in all, a long travel day but so very worth it. Apart from a minor cash flow problem (it would have been nice if the guidebooks had been clearer about the fact that this is a cash only town), we had a great time. Besides the usual beach stuff, we also got to watch a bunch of baby sea turtles race to the ocean to begin their new lives - or to end them as food for a bigger creature. |
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