Highlights Of El Salvador

The trip starts today in San Salvador, El Salvador's capital. After some major regeneration works, the leafy plazas and pedestrianized central zones of El Salvador's main city have never been safer and more pleasant to explore. Encircled as it is by volcanoes, San Salvador is a good-looking capital, quite rare by Central American standards. Due to the number of evening flights into El Salvador, your Leader plans to do the welcome meeting on the morning of day two, and will leave a poster in reception with details on timings and everything else that you'll need for the day. If there are no evening pick-ups, the Leader will suggest meeting for dinner, for those who wish. There are no activities planned today, so you can arrive in El Salvador at any time. If you would like to receive a complimentary airport transfer today, you'll need to arrive into El Salvador International Airport (SAL), which is around a 40 minute drive from the hotel.

This morning we drive early to Jiquilisco Bay, a biosphere reserve and large network of canals and mangrove-lined inlets that are largely undeveloped, hosting over 200 species of bird and playing an important role in turtle conservation efforts within the country. Due to the size of the boat, we will be splitting the group into two today and tomorrow, with the first group going out on the boat trip today through the mangrove canals, with the aim of monitoring the population of hawksbill marine turtle. This project, run by the Eastern Pacific Hawksbill Initiative (known in Spanish as ICAPO), has many facets and our task today will be to help measure, weigh and tag the turtles in order to monitor their healthy growth. We'll be accompanied by a biologist from the project who will explain more about what they do to protect this endangered species. During the course of the trip, we'll also be passing through some small communities, giving us a more in-depth view on rural El Salvador. The excursion lasts for approximately 2 and a half hours. Those that are on the boat trip tomorrow, have the chance to discover more of our surroundings today. One activity on offer is kayaking through the mangroves, searching for crocodiles and marine birds. Or you can choose to relax at the resort.

Today, those that did not participate in the boat trip yesterday will head out on the excursion through the mangrove canals in search of the hawksbill marine turtle. There will also be the opportunity to participate in the optional visit to the local cacao farm, where you can see how chocolate is produced. We'll have the rest of the afternoon free to relax at our lodge - perhaps bird watching from the grounds, or heading down to the marina to watch the fishermen.