El Salvador

 After looking through our guidebooks, we decided that what we wanted to do in El Salvador was relax on the beach. We read that Playa El Tunco is a popular beach and it has great surf, so we headed on over! We found a super cheap place to stay called Brisas del Mar; there were only 2 rooms- one with three double beds and one single that was already occupied. So we agreed on the 3 bed room for a reasonable 5$ a night. It was great because we could see and hear the ocean right from our window! We tried not to let the sharp glass bottle security fence or barbed-wire worry us, and it turned out to be a very safe hotel as the couple who owned it stayed right next door to us.

The first 2 days, we just layed on the beach and played in the water. We also watched the AMAZING surfers. We found out that Playa El Tunco is one of the best spots in the world to surf, so there were plenty of professionals at all times of the day to watch. Darren decided he wanted to give it a whirl, so the next day, he took a lesson with a local named Burro. It went good; he was got the hang of it and stood up a couple times! But the surf in El Tunco is so good because you go out about 150 yards and when you are really good, you can ride the waves all the way in. However, when you are leaning it is exhausting to keep swimming out that far! After his 2 hour lesson, Darren was beat and we just hung out on the beach for the rest of the day.

The owner of the hotel gave us 2 hammocks that we strung out on the beach and while we were relaxing, Rachel thought she saw something way out in the water... she swore it was a whale. Darren went to grab his binoculars and sure enough, it was a HUGE whale, jumping out of the water!!!We went to grab our friend Jay and we all just watched the whale until it swam away.  It was playing in the warm water for about 30 minutes; jumping, flapping his fins, and blowing water out of his blow hole. It was one of the coolest things that either of us has ever seen!

Every night, we would finish up our day on the beach with a cold beer at a restaurant right on the beach and watch the locals play volleyball while the sun went down. Once it was dark, we would head over to a less expensive restaurant and split their $3.50 burrito platter. ¡Deliciosa!