Exploring El Salvador | Virginia Aquarium

Upon arrival in San Salvador, after clearing customs and immigration, you will be met and transferred (with boxed lunch) to
Boquerón Volcano. Our Group Leader will take us on a walk on local paths to a lookout point where we can get good views of the crater. Next visit Museo de la Palabra y la Imagen "Museum of the Word and Image" to learn more about El Salvador’s history and culture. The museum is dedicated to documentation of the historical memory for peasant communities and also organizes workshops on human rights. Afterwards we’ll go on a walking exploration of historic San Salvador. We’ll gain an appreciation for the country’s capacity for revival at the Metropolitan Cathedral. Since its construction in 1892, the Cathedral has been damaged and rebuilt three times and is viewed as a symbol of the nation's ability to rebuild after tragedy. We’ll also visit El Rosario, the striking Rosary Church, built in 1971 by architect and sculptor Ruben Martinez before dinner at the hotel.

This morning visit Hacienda Los Nacimientos, the main indigo producer in El Salvador. A certified organic plantation, it also produces and exports products such as hibiscus and cashews to Europe, Central, and South America. The hacienda owner will give us a presentation and we'll participate in a hands-on indigo production workshop, where we will get to learn the dying techniques and dye our scarf. After lunch travel to Jiquilisco Bay. Recognized both as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and a Ramsar wetland, Jiquilisco Bay encompasses a variety of habitats including forests, coastline, islands, and the largest mangrove estuary in the country. The mangroves provide vital habitat for 37 endangered and 58 threatened species, including the only primate still found in El Salvador, a critically endangered subspecies of the Geoffroy's spider monkey. The bay is also the largest nesting area in the region for hawksbill sea turtles.

This morning, attend a lecture by a local biologist to learn more about turtle conservation programs and the importance of Jiquilisco Bay to local communities as well as conservation efforts. Afterward, head to the bay's largest island, La Pirraya, home to an important fishing village and one of several turtle hatcheries. Here, explore the island while discussing its role in sea turtle conservation. After lunch, take a panga boat ride to Samuria, where mangrove seedlings are grown for habitat restoration. Gather mangrove seeds at the site, which you'll be able to plant tomorrow. Return to the hotel.

After breakfast, transfer to Puntarenas to plant the seedlings collected yesterday, with assistance from community volunteers. This afternoon, visit one of the most important hawksbill turtle nurseries in the area at Punta San Juan. Here, you'll have the chance to help NGO volunteers; activities may include cleaning nests, releasing turtles, and recording data on population growth. Tonight assist researchers with a turtle patrol at Punta San Juan. After receiving an orientation to the evening's turtle walk, patrol the beach to watch for turtles nesting on the beach.

This morning depart for the Joya de Cerén archaeological site "the Pompeii of the Americas" a UNESCO World Heritage Site that preserves a pre-Hispanic farming village buried by volcanic eruptions in 600 A.D. As the UNESCO inscription states, the exceptional condition of the remains provide an insight into the daily lives of the Central American populations who worked the land at that time. We’ll have a presentation by our Group Leader on the discovery and importance of this site then explore with an expert archaeologist. We’ll move on to the nearby San Andrés archaeological site, relatively small but one of the largest pre-Hispanic sites in El Salvador. It was an agricultural community, a trading center, and a regional capital of the Mayan empire. Our archaeological expert will again lead our exploration. Lunch at a local restaurant before departing for Suchitoto, a beautiful, historic colonial town with panoramic views of Lake Suchitlan. Suchitoto is often called the cultural capital of El Salvador due to its abundance of art galleries, cultural centers, and shops featuring local handicrafts. After checking in to the hotel and dropping our luggage, we’ll walk through Suchitoto with our Group Leader.

Travel to Volcanoes National Park today where we'll take a nature walk with a local park expert and our Group Leader. The altitudes of its three main peaks range from 1,640 feet to 7,808 feet above the sea level. Ilamatepec - Santa Ana Volcano - is the tallest in the country and one of the most active, with an enormous, boiling crater lake in its center. Izalco Volcano is one of the youngest volcanoes in Latin America, "born" in 1770 and has been quite active in the past. Wooded trails encircle Cerro Verde and the mountain forest is home to birds, coffee bushes, and exotic flowers.

Next, we'll travel to a nearby farm home for a workshop on pupusas, the national dish of El Salvador. For thousands of years, corn has played an integral part in sustaining the peoples of Mesoamerica. Pupusas are thick, hand formed cakes made of corn stuffed with either white cheese or ground pork and beans. After the filling has been put inside, the pupusas are grilled and served with curtido, pickled cabbage slaw, and salsa roja, a tomato sauce, for dipping. After seeing how it's done, we'll try our hands at making our own pupusas. After lunch engage in a "Share Smiles" activity with children from the community. Share Smiles is a local non-profit organization whose aim is to help children in rural areas complete high school. For 15 years they have provided children in local communities with school supplies, transportation to school, leadership and development programs and English classes. They also offer children exposure to the tourism industry, so that after high school graduation they can benefit from the economic opportunities of a growing industry in their country. We'll also have a presentation on non-profit work and community development through tourism.

Check out of the hotel and transfer to the international airport for flights home.