June 17, 2023 – El Salvador
Today, we crossed into El Salvador and proceeded up to Parque Nacional El Imposible. Once again we paid a helper for the Spanish translation. I guess our two weeks of Spanish classes aren’t quite enough to give us the confidence we need to go into a border crossing on our own. Our helper was a positive experience, he made the job easy for us, and he didn’t scam us. To get to the National Park we had to drive up a 4×4 road and we ended up doing it in the middle of a thunderstorm. Lucy handled the difficult conditions very well. There was no signage on the road, so we didn’t really know we were on the right road until we actually got to the park. We camped for two nights in the jungle.
June 18, 2023 – Cerro Leon Lookout
On Father’s Day, I did an 8km hike through the jungle to the Cerro Leon and Mirador lookouts in Parque Nacional El Imposible. They have had too many deaths in the park so there is supposed to be a rule that you have to hike with a guide. I started out with just the intention of going to the Mirador lookout and there were no English-speaking guides, so I was allowed to go on without a guide because I wasn’t going that far. Once I got to Mirador, I felt so good, that I decided to go on to the Cerro Leon lookout. Technically that wasn’t allowed but I didn’t realize it at the time. The trail was well-marked and I never felt at risk, so I went all the way to Cerro Leon. This lookout has some beautiful views of the park and you can see all the way back to the ocean. The humidity from the thunderstorm the day before made the photos look foggy. It was a fantastic Father’s Day.
Cheers, Chris.
