January 23, 2024 – Suchitoto and Cinquera

I had a typical Central American breakfast today – 2 eggs, refried beans and rice, plantains, a roll, fresh squeezed orange juice, and coffee.
After breakfast we rode to Cinquera. During the ride there, Julio gave us background on the Salvadoran Civil War which officially ran from 1980 to 1992 but actually its beginning in the 1880’s.   When we arrived we listened to Rafael,  a former guerrilla fighter, talk about his involvement in the Civil War.  
Next we hiked on a path through the jungle.   The whole hike was about 2 1/2 miles.  The path was dirt, rocks, and logs. We has both steep up hill stretches and steep down hill stretches.  Walter, Julio, and Walter helped us during the hard parts of the hike. I was exhausted when the hike was over.  We heard many birds and actually saw a few of them.
After the hike, we had lunch in Cinquera. Finally we walked to the central square to see a helicopter that was shot down during the war before ending at the Cinquera Museum.  This Museum is divided into 3 parts – Before the war (rich landowners owning everything), the war, and after the war. We said goodbye to Rafael and rode back to our hotel.
At 4pm after a short rest, we went by bus to the lake with Walter and Julio. For $5 each, we had a 1 1/2 hour bird watching cruise.   It was great. Julio easily identified birds flying by, birds in the trees and birds in the water.  The bird pictures were taken by Julio and Walter.
We had our Welcome Dinner tonight. Wonderful sea bass.  We had hibiscus tea which was very refreshing.
Tomorrow we visit a post-Mayan archaeological site and then move to Ataco which is in the mountains and much cooler.

Don’t ask what kind of birds they are because I don’t remember.