After eating in one of the best pupserias in El Salvador for dinner Thursday, we woke up on Friday for one last excursion before heading back to San Salvador. We spent the morning exploring the Río Sapo (meaning “Toad River” or according to Tori, “Frog River”…honestly not sure which is correct…still working on the Spanish). Anyway, the Río Sapo is a beautiful river that runs down from the mountains and cascades over rocks of all different shapes and colors. There are several swimming holes in the area, and the water is said to be turquoise. It didn’t look too turquoise to me, but we are in the last few weeks of the dry season so the river wasn’t running too deep and I think that may make a difference in the color.

The Río Sapo basin is an ecotourism site and home to lots of endangered wildlife including pumas, snakes, and tropical birds. All we saw were some brillantly colored birds. Unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough with the camera to capture them on film but they were breathtaking in turquoise, orange, and red hues.

The kids loved exploring around the river.  They don’t often get the freedom to run and climb so freely and that was one of their favorite parts of our two days in Morazán. We stayed in a house with a big yard, and there was lots of outdoor space at the museum and the river. In San Salvador our house has a tiny yard inside a concrete wall so they loved the extra space to run and play.  It’s such a contrast to see the wide open spaces and simple life out in the rural parts of El Salvador compared to the urban world where we live.

After enjoying the beauty of the river and hiking along the banks we headed back to San Salvador. Since it was Good Friday, we saw procession after procession re-enacting the crucifixion as we passed through all the little towns on our way back to the city. We were glad we took the trip and it was nice to have some time away.

Amazing mountain views can be seen from the roads in Morazán.

The view behind the house where we stayed. We were lucky to have a connection through a friend for a great place to stay.

The view down the road from where we stayed. This type of cobblestone street is typical of the moutain towns in the region.

A view down the river. The trees and plants were so green even as we are coming to the last few weeks of the dry season.

The water level was low, but still so pretty.

Checking out the waterfalls with Daddy.

The rocks were really beautiful.

Some locals were enjoying a swim in one of the pools along the river.

One of the little waterfalls along the river.

This was a big thrill…throwing sticks under the bridge and watching them come out the other side. This entertained the kids for a while!

With all the water, trees, and rocks this place reminded me a lot of places where we’ve hiked in Western Maryland and Western Pennsylvania.

The view from up on a high bridge that crossed the river.

One of the views of a street procession winding away from us as we passed through the capital city of Morazán called San Francisco Gotera. This stopped traffic for about twenty minutes.