The smallest and most densely populated country in Central
America, El Salvador is chiefly remembered for the vicious civil
war of the 1980s, when streams of harrowing news stories
brought this tiny country to the attention of the world. For a
decade, atrocity followed atrocity in a seemingly unstoppable
sequence. Then in 1992, with both sides having fought each other to
a standstill, Peace Accords were signed, and the attention
of the world's press moved elsewhere, leaving behind a brutalized
country faced with the immense task of rebuilding itself.
Tourism in El Salvador has lagged behind that of its Central
American neighbours. Despite its compactness and considerable
natural beauty, many would-be visitors are deterred by the
half-remembered headlines and the country's reputation for
violence, danger and difficulty. Its geographical position doesn't
help, either: tucked into the Pacific underbelly of the isthmus, El
Salvador is easily bypassed. Those that do make it here, however,
are well rewarded by the sheer physical beauty of the place, with
lush Pacific lowlands sweeping up through fertile hills and coffee
plantations to rugged mountain chains. Almost every journey in El
Salvador yields photogenic vistas of the majestic cones of towering
volcanoes , while some of the secluded pacific
beaches are as fine as any in Central America.
As in Nicaragua, another country pulled apart by a decade of
civil war, travelling in El Salvador brings you into contact with
some of the most engaging and interesting people in the
region. With a well-deserved reputation for hard work and business
acumen, the Salvadoreños (or guanacos , as they're often
affectionately described) - predominantly mestizo - live life with
a vigour that's hard to match. That said, however, as the people
here slowly find ways to come to terms with their brutal past and
uncertain future, some residual hostility to foreigners -
particularly Americans - remains, and initial reactions to tourists
can be, on occasion, cool. If you persist, however, in the face of
what may seem like outright hostility, and make an effort to speak
Spanish, you will find that people begin to unbend and bring you
into their lives. They may or may not be willing to talk about the
civil war. Many aren't. What is important now is the future, and
this Salvadoreans approach with sardonic humour, designed to lessen
the travails of daily life, the corruption of politics and
everything else that seems insurmountable.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, tourist infrastructure is at
times sorely lacking. This is not the country for those who like
everything on tap, and there's little luxury outside the cities,
but for those with a spirit of adventure, El Salvador has plenty to
offer. One feature particular to the country is its network of
government-run tourist centres, or turicentros . Aimed more
at locals than tourists, these provide bathing, eating and
recreation facilities in areas of natural beauty. Some, like Los
Chorros, just outside San Salvador, offer a convenient way to take
advantage of natural facilities safely and comfortably.
Travelling around El Salvador is a lesson in humility.
Contrasting with the vibrant colour and sweep of the landscape, the
overwhelming evidence of the endemic poverty and social
divisions that sparked the Civil War in the first place hits you
right between the eyes. As El Salvador enters its second decade of
peace it remains a country painfully divided between haves and
have-nots, and the full benefits of redevelopment projects and an
improving economy have yet to trickle down to the majority of the
population. From the muddy shanty towns of San Salvador to the
broken-down shacks in the countryside, many people live in squalor,
eking out a living selling fruit, sweets, household goods and
sundry odds and ends on the street. In addition, the ever-growing
population - at 6.2 million, the densest in Central America - is
placing unprecedented pressure on the country's natural
resources , with rampant deforestation a particular problem.
And while political violence is now a thing of the past, civil
violence has grown to alarming proportions. Guns are common,
and people use them, while recent years have seen an increased
number of kidnappings of prominent businessmen. The casual visitor
is unlikely to be directly affected by this, but you can't ignore
the underlying sense of tension.