Feeling Safe in San Salvador

No Armed Guards Necessary

Enjoying the pool at Hotel Roca Sunzal

We had a 10-hour layover in San Salvador, El Salvador on our way to Peru so we wanted to explore San Salvador for the day. After doing some research, I came across this travel advisory on the U.S. State Department’s website: 

Upon reading this, I became a little nervous and talked to a friend who had been there recently and he told me he had to hire an armed guard to protect him while he was in San Salvador but that it was totally worthwhile and one of the most memorable experiences of his life. So then I thought, okay... we’ll go ahead and hire an armed guard because we didn’t want to risk our safety. When we arrived at the San Salvador airport, we noticed a tour both so we inquired about the various tours they offered. We asked if it was safe, and they assured us that we it was safe that that we would be with the tour guide and the driver at all times – so we went ahead and did a tour of the historic center, which was great. We noticed armed guards everywhere so that felt a little weird – but overall we had a great time. After the historic center tour, we told our tour guide we wanted to go to the beach so he referred us to his friend to take us to the beach, although when we got there, it was definitely not what we expected because there weren’t any people on the beach – people were hanging out at the several beachfront hotels – so we ended up doing that instead and enjoyed that very much. 

Photo bombed by Howie again... 

Trying our best to be professional models... 

No Actos Inmorales... 

Plaza Libertad - Centro Histórico, San Salvador

In front of El Palacio Nacional, Plaza Libertad, Centro Histórico, San Salvador

Here we're inside of the Catedral Metropolitana de San Salvador, which is the principal church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador and the seat of the Archbishop of San Salvador. Pope John Paul II visited the church twice and said the cathedral was "intimately allied with the joys and hopes of the Salvadorian people." President Barack Obama also visited the Cathedral during his March 2011 trip to Latin America. 

Howie enjoys using his tongue whenever he can... 

In front of El Monumento a los Próceres, Plaza Libertad, Centro Histórico, San Salvador

Here I am at El Museo del Banco Hipotecario de El Salvador where we learned about El Salvador’s currency transition from the colón, named after Cristóbal Colón (Christopher Columbus) to the U.S. Dollar in 2001.

Had to have pupusas!