Accommodations at La Tortuga Verde, El Cuco, El Salvador

LA TORTUGA VERDE EL CUCO

You can check it out here at Hostelworld

The sweet spot Harry carved out for us to visit is right on the beach. It has all the relaxing amenities one could hope for in a vacation spot. You don't have to carry a dime as the staff keeps perfect lists of meals, beers and ice cream, boat rides etc. and tally's it up at the end of your stay. I kept track of everything myself and they were incredibly accurate with the bill.

 The whole point of Tortuga is to help protect the beach and save the turtles whose population has been depleted due to humans eating their eggs. We were lucky enough to help birth batch of turtle eggs and aid them in their journey to the ocean.  If I were to choose one, I would definitely choose the runt of the litter, I like a good underdog. These guys can live to a hundred years and will return to the exact same beach from which they were born in order to hatch new offspring.

 The spot was at one time a coconut plantation, which is awesome if you love young coconut water as much as me, everyday I drank a few fresh ones and learned how they use a machete to release the juice for myself.

 They recently built this bar with a hidden gem, a rooftop bed. Wendy, the bartender created delicious fruit drinks called "tropicalle".  They also served hummus and Bruscetta for a late night snack.

 Here is a view from the bar roof down to the yoga room and conference centre. I did a fantastic class as the sun set, it kicked my ass in a good way. You can also take surf lessons and Spanish lessons. There is tons to do here, but mostly you'll want to hit the water or lounge in a hammock on the beach.

Here is a little friend I made, Doggy. We hung out on the beach and I gave him a rub down and Reiki and picked a few ticks out of his fur- Eeeewwwwwwe gross. Doggie waited for at the end of the road  when we were leaving to say goodbye in his doggie way.

Get a huge group of friends together and book some vans, then try to organize an exodus. We managed to cram all the people and luggage into two of these little Toyota diesels. It naturally separated into Stinky and sweet, Guys and girls respectively. I can say from being in the Guys van that is was a hell of a fun trip to our next destination - El Tunco.

La Tortuga Verde - San Miguel

Tom and Harry planned a some festivities for the locals and visitors on Saturday night at La Tortuga Verde. They erected a large title effigy made of palm to burn later that evening.

Ray and I got super sick from eating some papusas and were pretty much laid out for three days. That part wasn't fun, hot and sweaty and hard to sleep.Luckily there was Jacob Hightower a field medic who served in Afghanistan and his bag of magical pills. He gave us some antibiotics which worked within a day and a half and returned our systems to normal.

Here is the view looking up from my favourite hammock spot near the beach. I took a basic conversational spanish class with Harry and learned enough to get by adequately and order what i wanted which was mostly banana and young coconut shakes in the morning, ensalada (salads) for lunch and pescado (fish) grilled or fired in the evenings. The fish was almost too good!

Except the fugu that we found washed up on the beach. No chance I'd try puffer fish from these waters.  There are many prickly things around but this beach is basically clear and no ocean smell as there was no seaweed etc. Just clear sand and big waves.

I managed to get up on a surf board the first time I tried. Though winded after the session I can see why people go crazy for surfing, it is super fun in a way I can't easily explain. The sun began setting and it was time to clean up and prepare for the party.

I haven't been much in the mood for partying after being ill, partied out, eaten by mosquitos and fatigued from adventure. My brain hurt too from all that is different that I was trying to take in, this trip has been quite the trip. It is also awesome being surrounded by tons of friends I have't seen for a while as well as all the new ones I made.

The next day a few of us decided to get into a truck and drive to the nearest city San Miguel. I wanted to see some more of the country and a contrast to the edge of the world at our very secluded beach hostel.  I love riding in the back of trucks, too bad it is illegal here, everybody has to do it here. The hot air at high speeds is like air conditioning and a temporary escape. In the background is the Volcano that erupted a week earlier. There is still a bit of smoke seeping out, that is not a cloud in the background sky.

We are headed to a mall of all things to use an ATM and to grab some pizza to bring back to the group. You can see the sign to the right of the volcano Mega Mall.

We followed these guys into town. That is Yuca root I'm told and I love how the guy on the left is just totally wiped and taking a nap on the sacs as they head into town.

as we sped by I managed to snap a shot of the gates of a Masonic lodge.

You don't see that everyday. No guns inside. I guess people are carrying here. There were armed guards in every convenience store as well as to just get into the mall parking lot. People starred at us at the mall. It was so weird, first because we were the weird gringos and everybody was looking at us like we came out of a UFO and second because they were part of this new consumer culture. It was a throw back to the 90's when people were mall rats and hung around doing nothing just because that is the most happening spot. The fashion was 90's too. 

Here is a power line that caught my attention. Nearby was a police pick-up truck and in the back were 8 police just standing in there. There was loud music and talking blasting from areas and cars equipped with loudspeakers on top everywhere, it felt like absolute chaos. The sites and sounds of the city were overwhelming enough for me to really want to hop back into the pick up truck and get back to La Tortuga Verde!