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Central America's hotspot

Head off the beaten path in El Salvador to find Jewish heritage among the surf and dramatic scenery

March 26, 2023 17:30
Izalco Volcano Sunset
5 min read

The sun is just coming up as I watch the first surfers making their way to the Pacific Ocean. Morning is a good time for waves, so they’re out to make the most of it. La Libertad, a busy fishing port on the Pacific, has been rebranded as Surf City and international competitions for all levels are now held year round.

The smallest country in Central America, El Salvador is sandwiched between Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua — but there’s plenty to discover. A similar size to Wales, you could easily pack in city, coast and countryside in a day: locals say it’s only the traffic around the capital, San Salvador, that might hold you up.

Like others in the region, the country endured a long civil war from the late 1970s to the 1990s, followed by an epidemic of gang violence that made most of the towns and cities unsafe. But with thousands of gang members now behind bars, happily, those times seem now to be over and there’s a new sense of freedom.

That means that everywhere you go, you receive a fantastic welcome — no sellers pester you and the locals seem genuinely surprised that you might want to visit their country. In January, after the rainy season, all is green, with blossom everywhere, and the days are warm and sunny.