Spanish School and El Salvador Surprises

From Sumac Champey we made our way to Lake Atitlan where we spent a few relaxing days around the lake enjoying the cooler weather and the vista of the two volcanoes across the way.

Here we learned about a Spanish School, Corazon Maya in San Pedro la Laguna, across the lake that sounded like it was the kind of place we were looking for to improve our Spanish skills. We moved into a cabana for the week and had 4 hours a day of private Spanish lessons. Our teachers were fantastic and it was amazing to learn what the family that ran the school was doing with the proceeds from our classes. They were doing their best to better the future of the girls in the village that would not have the opportunity to go to school without their funding. Here we also met Kenny and Jenn of NorthSouthEastWesty. They are also on a journey south with a VW Syncro, which is a 4-wheel drive version of our van and the only vehicle that we’d rather have than ours! They were a wonderful couple to eat our way through San Pedro with, and an inspiration for running faster miles and learning more Spanish!
After brushing up on our Spanish skills we went to check out Antigua, a wonderful colonial town where we enjoyed wandering the streets lost for hours. Although we’d heard that they were turning young people away at the Tourist Police Station, we were left with no choice but to try since the van wouldn’t fit anywhere else in town. Something about George’s smile made the guy let us in and just like that we had a safe place to park for two nights. We were lucky as we saw them turn away other folks while we were there.
From Antigua, we decided it was time to head back to the beach so we booked it to El Salvador. We arrived at El Tunco in the afternoon and went to check out the surf. Here George did his best to beat the crowds of surfers by heading out before sunrise every morning and enjoyed a nice swell at Sunzal. Our attempt to explore some of the other beaches in the area was thwarted by deteriorating roads and my persistent sickness that required frequent access to a bathroom.
After the front grill of the van was melted by a fire our camp host started, our camp was turned into a massive parking lot for the weekend party, a couple made love on the ground next to the van, and at 4 am a car about 20 feet from us decided to have a full on dance party we decided it was time to press on.

We learned about a lake that was in the crater of a volcano that was supposed to be in the cooler mountains so we set our sights on Allegria. After a good day of driving we pulled into town and found our home for the night outside a beautiful restaurant set on the hillside, complete with an orchid farm, an illegal animal collection and a least 100 cocks for fighting. After securing our place to stay, we grabbed the Swiss couple that was staying at the same spot and made our way up to the lake.

After a bumpy ride and paying the $1.50 fee for all of us and the car to enter, we were excited to see what was around the bend. The van echoed with laughter as we saw the sight ahead of us. The lake was empty. In that moment, our Swiss friend connected the dots and remembered a friend had told her about a lake that drained a few years ago following an earthquake in the area. We all laughed at our luck took a few photos and did the quick drive around the small stinky puddle that was left.