Arriving in El Salvador
Lynn & Mike ..around the world
Mike Drinkrow & Lynn v/d Hoven
Fri 6 Apr 2012 01:52
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13:18.06N 088:53.52W
Arriving in El Savador - Jaltepeque Estuary
After a 31 hour trip, we arrived in the
mouth of the Jatepeque Estuary. We had decided to join the El Salvador rally,
which is mostly boats travelling down from Mexico towards Panama. The rally is
held at the Bahia del Sol hotel/ marina in the middle of Pacific El
Salvador. We had to time our arrival just before high tide,
as this estuary is protected by a shallow sand bar, with accompanying
breaking waves! Just before high tide, there is a lull and an
opportunity to safely cross the bar, riding in on the swells. We were met
by the pilot and the organizer of the rally on a jet ski - who then guided us
over the bar. It was quite exciting, with Mike steering madly as the swells
pushed us around. But all went well and we arrived safely on the dock a few
minutes later, but pumped with adrenaline.
  The rally is a lot of fun, with lots of
daily socializing, including hours in the pool with sunset drinks!
Most of the cruisers are American or Canadian on sailboats, so we are a little
different.
Yesterday about 10 dinghies took
a 6km ride up the estuary, through the mangroves to a smallish local
town to get provisions. We went to their local market with lots of nice
vegetables, and ...raw hanging meat ( luckily I did find some
refrigerated chicken). The people here are very friendly and gentle, and
we somehow got by with my few words of Spanish. We took a tuk-tuk back to
the dock and then stopped off for some beers and tried the local specialty
..papoosas ... a small fat tortilla made of rice flour, filled with
different things - we had cheese and beans. I liked it, but Mike was
not sold on the idea. But the beers was fabulously cold and we had fun and some
laughs with the other cruisers, as a mariachi band appeared. We
are loving it here!
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