We left Suchitoto heading south, eventually getting on the Ruta Panoramica de El Salvador, a scenic route through a lush landscape with occasional glimpses of Lago Ilopango. For a good view of the lake, you have to stop, which is all but impossible along the road.
Tom, though, had scoped out a viewpoint down a side road, so off we went. A crazily steep and eventually very rough and unpaved road finally led us to Plaza Publico in San Juan Tepezontes. Unbelievably, this hard-to-get-to plaza was the location of the 2023 Festival del Pescado, a festival of fish at the end of a rough dirt road on the top of a mountain. Weird. The view of Lago Ilopengo, with the city of San Salvador on its far side, was incredible, but that road was a fright!
Lago Ilopengo from San Juan Tepezontes
San Salvador across the lake
Home of the 2023 Festival of Fish!
Safely back on the Ruta Panoramica, we rounded a corner and came within a hair's breadth of running over a man passed out lying head-first in the highway. Holy crap! If the motorcycle ahead of us hadn't suddenly swerved, I don't know if we would have seen the guy in time to miss him. The motorcycle guy and a pedestrian passerby then pulled the man out of the street. Wow.
We stopped for lunch a few miles later at Kiosko Mirador San Francisco. The food was very good, and the view of Lago Ilopengo was fantastic! As a huge bonus, they had an actual parking lot! The restaurant had a glass-bottomed viewing platform, a rope bridge, and several places set up for fun photo ops as well.
Restuarante y mirador
Delicious lunch
Lago Ilopengo
Just another million-dollar view
We were doing our best to bypass the country's capital of San Salvador by a wide margin, but the closer we got to the city, the more chaotic and congested the traffic became, so we decided to make lunch our last stop before continuing directly to our hotel.
Jana on the glass-bottomed mirador
Tom flies when you're having fun
Sunshine in El Salvador
Tom traverses a bouncy bridge
Lodging: Burbujas del Mar (Bubbles of the Sea) airbnb, Playa Amatecampo. We were happy to find this nice airbnb on the beach, just 12 miles from the airport. The place has four hotel-style rooms, and we reserved one with a king-sized bed on the second floor, with a balcony overlooking the sea. There's a nice pool which backs right up to the beach and excellent food served onsite. There was one other couple staying here tonight, but we barely saw them.
Burbujas del Mar
From our balcony
Our almost private pool
And private beach
Arriving around 4:00, we had plenty of time to enjoy the beach and spent hours by the pool, eventually dining poolside as well. Later on, we moved to our balcony, where we sat barefoot in the beautiful weather and watched the waves crash onto the sand. A perfect last night of our trip. Tomorrow, we fly home.
Poolside on the Pacific
Watching the sunset
Good night and goodbye, El Salvador