Salvadoran students and Explorica staff raise the roof in Centro Escolar, Bernardino E. Zamora, a local school in the western hills of El Salvador.
Explore El Salvador while helping out local communities in our latest addition to our “Make a Difference” educational tours, Make a Difference: El Salvador. We recently took our own trip to the Central American isthmus, to test the waters for our newest Make a Difference tour. We met some amazing locals, students, and sea turtles on our journey, and brought back a few of our experiences to share with you!
Billy Torres releases a baby leather-back sea turtle, on a beach in La Unión, for its very first swim in the Pacific Ocean.
Learn Spanish from the locals, while immersing in Salvadoran culture. Teach schoolchildren or contribute to the natural habitat by creating a sustainable garden in the area. Share bananas with the monkeys at Jiquilisco Bay Biosphere Reserve or send off the offspring of endangered sea turtles that emerge every year from the ocean to nest along southern El Salvador’s Pacific coast.
Other notable stops along this exotic educational tour include:
Joya de Cerén
About 1,500 years ago, the Laguna Caldera volcano erupted in what is now Joya de Cerén in the Department of La Libertad. This catastrophic event preserved the everyday life of the Mesoamerican farming community that lived and worked the land there.
Like the ancient communities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, in Italy, where natural snapshots of a time long ago still stand, Joya de Cerén provides an unparalleled glimpse into the lives of the pre-Hispanic inhabitants of El Salvador, through personal belongings, garden tools, pots of beans, sleeping quarters and religious artifacts that were frozen in a time capsule more than a millennium and a half old. The exceptional condition of these archaeological gems grants great insight into the Central American peoples of antiquity.
Suchitoto Indigo Factory tour and workshop
Learn about the history of Indigo, the main export of El Salvador, visiting an Indigo factory and using the color to tie-dye a creation of your own. Then spend three days volunteering in the local community, teaching schoolchildren, or painting houses.
Ruta de las Flores
A mural in the Village of Ataca, along la Ruta de las Flores, that depicts La Esquina de Ataco, or “the corner of Ataco.”
Ruta de las Flores, or “Route of the Flowers,” was named for the blossoming kaleidoscope of wildflowers and coffee plants that line the route, from the mountain villages of Sonsonate to Ahuachapán, in western El Salvador.
Stops along the 35km (22-mile) scenic stretch of highway, in the heart of El Salvador’s coffee country, include Juayúa, Apaneca and Ataco. Head into the village of Juayúa, which features the region’s largest food and artisan festival, as well as a renowned Christ statue. Drop by Apaneca for a zipline canopy tour. And stop into Ataco, which is filled with some of El Salvador’s most unique art.
Santa Teresa Hot Springs
Relax in the warmth of thermal pools, that originate deep beneath a geyser, at the Santa Teresa resort on the west side of El Salvador. Absorb the rejuvenating and healing effects of this Central American fountain of youth.
Clouds wrap around a volcano in El Salvador’s Department of La Unión.
Make a Difference: El Salvador |
Immerse in Salvadoran culture while volunteer teaching local schoolchildren in El Icacal. Visit Ruta de las Flores, San Salvador and Portezuelo Adventure Park. |
