Ruta De Las Flores El Salvador

The Ruta de las Flores contains several villages with each their own character. Every village offers other experiences, which you can explore easily by bus. Take two or three days if you want to be able to take some time to visit the ‘Siete Cascadas’ or just like to take it slow. Whilst exploring all villages, you’ll notice how kind and genuinely happy the El Salvadorians are when you’re able to communicate with them. During my stay, I had several conversations with about the current situation in the country with the locals, someone else initiated a chat because she wanted to practice her English, and the local fruitverdor showed me his favourite Pupuseria in Juayua. In other words, the people make the Ruta de las Flores a great experience.

My hostel in Juayua had the contact of a local guide named Carlos, who organized hikes to the ‘Siete Cascadas’. A superfriendly person, who owns several coffeefarms in the region. Hence, before going to the waterfalls he took us to one of his farms. From there on, we could descend to the waterfalls. It’s a beautiful hike through the El Salvadorian rainforest with a great view on several waterfalls on the way. Carlos took some of his own coffee to drink in front of the last waterfall, which resulted in an unique experience. If you have the time, I would therefore recommend to try out this hike!

Santa Ana has been different to all cities I visited on my 8 months itinerary from Guatemala to Colombia. Due the recent political developments in the country, Santa Ana is very safe, and feels like a city that has just woken up. The centre feels like an everlasting market, life on outside is very active and people are genuinely interested in foreigners. The city serves as a good practice if you want to improve your Spanish. 

When in Santa Ana, you have plenty of options on how to spend your time here. You can enjoy leisure stroll around the city, visit Mayan ruins, the only UNESCO site in the country or hike the highest volcano in El Salvador. We only had three days in Santa Ana, and decided to explore the city, as well as to hike the Volcano (which is 2,381 meters). 

When you don't have your own transport, you need to have one full day to hike to the top of the volcano as there is only one bus going from Santa Ana and back. The bus leaves from La Vencedora bus terminal at Santa Ana at 7:30 AM, and it takes about an hour and a half to get to El Tibet hostel, where you should get off. The ticket cost 0.90USD one way.

Once you arrive, you're be immediately directed to the guides waiting there. Officially it is mandatory to have a guide, but the route up is very straightforward, and we saw people doing it without guide. If you feel like that is something for you, make sure to go right when leaving the bus. There is a path upwards next to a bilboard. 

The hike up is not that tough, and you will be rewarded with a stunning view on an emeraldgreen craterlake. Take into account that it might be windy up there, so a windbreaker may come in helpful!

Before starting the climb, ask the busdriver when the last (and probably only bus) leaves again to Santa Ana. For us, the bus left around 1.30PM again, but I've heard in the past there was only one bus at 4PM.