On Saturday morning we met Leslie's cousin Sally for breakfast. We were craving "platos tipicos," so we went to a full breakfast buffett that was ricisimo! Salvadoran tortillas, as Sarah mentioned, are thick like pancakes and the taste is out of this world. They also have a very different type of quesadilla, which is much more like cornbread from the Southeast US - it is a sweet bread with a cream cheese based flavor. Papusas and frijoles with the tortillas are popular for breakfast. The view from the restaurant was also really beautiful... It looks a big foggy here but the sun was in and out all day.
After breakfast, Sally's driver took us to her house. We were able to see her BEAUTIFUL city house and walk around the yard a bit. They have three houses and we were able to go and visit all of them - the city house, the Finca (or farm / estate) near the lake, and the beach house.
Saul joined our team again at Sally's house and drove us to the beach. We had about a two hour drive which allowed us to see some of the other areas around El Salvador. Once at the beach, we pulled off onto dirt roads for a while and eventually went into a gated community. I believe the beach area was called, "Costa Azul" but I'm not sure.
The house was INCREDIBLE!! We lived like total queens; Sally and Ricardo's generosity was beyond words. They were out of town and they opened up their entire house for us. Jorge and Antonia, the housekeepers, waited on us hand and foot. Saul also escorted us when we walked on the beach or took walks. We were going to leave on Saturday to stay in San Salvador, but we had such a nice stay at the beach house that we ended up staying over on Saturday night and leaving at 5am.
Friday night we relaxed by the pool, talked, and took walks on the beach. We had a wonderful dinner and then drank a bottle of wine on the couches on the outside patio. It started pouring rain (as was customary in the evenings), and we got to comfortably sit under the palapa during a huge thunderstorm - it was still probably 80 degrees out. It was so peaceful.
That night, Sarah was bitten by a native bug or "animalito" - I can't remember the name but it bit her on the cheek. Sarah had a small panic attack over it; I think she was scared that she might have been bit by a scorpion or something poisonous. Luckily it turned out to be OK by the morning.
Saturday we did more of the same. We had wine and sat poolside all day. We napped in hammocks for half the afternoon; which, for me, was the single most relaxing moment of 2007 to date.
Saturday night, Saul, Jorge, and Antonia brought us out on the beach and we got to see a very large sea turtle hide her eggs far off the beach. Locals search for the turtles, take the eggs, and resell to the restaurants (at which point they become a delicacy). This is a major concern as sea turtles are endangered. Ricardo, the owner of the house we stayed in, buys the eggs back from the locals and his staff (Jorge and his wife) hide the eggs until they hatch. Once hatched, they send them back into the ocean. Apparently, it was a rare opportunity to see the turtle hiding her eggs. Once she was done, she struggled to get back to the ocean. One of the locals carried her like a puppy dog back to the water's edge. She was a huge turtle too so it looked hilarious to see the turtle's fins gripping onto the local's waist.
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