Route of the Maya Oat Trip, Dec 2023 - #2 - Joya de Cerén (UNESCO World Heritage) & Historic San Salvadore city center

 

Route of the Maya Oat Trip

San Salvador, El Salvador

10 Dec 2023, Joya de Cerén (UNESCO World Heritage) & Historic San Salvador city center

Started the morning with a meeting.

Turquoise Browed Motmot

White Winged Dove

After a short break to run back to our rooms & potty, we hopped on our bus for a drive to Joya de Cerén, it is an archaeological site in La Libertad Department, El Salvador, featuring a pre-Columbian Maya farming village. The ancient Maya site of Joya de Cerén is located in the Zapotitán Valley, 36 kilometers northwest of San Salvador, El Salvador.  It is a UNESCO Heritage Site.  Joya de Cerén was a pre-Hispanic farming community that, like Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy, was buried under an eruption of the Laguna Caldera volcano c. AD 600. Because of the exceptional condition of the remains, they provide an insight into the daily lives of the Central American populations who worked the land at that time.  Although it's always interesting to see this kind of place, I was most excited about seeing the Turquise Browed Motmot which is the National Bird of both El Salvador & Nicaragua!!!  It was on display for us almost the entire time we were in the building.  Unfortunately it's beautiful colors were not showing since we were under a roof.  But we even got to hear it calling.  Maybe not quite as exciting, but also got a nice picture of a White WInged Dove.  Ended up with 15 birds that I could id that day at the museum!  Cool, huh?  

In between the 2 covered archeological sites was a beautifully manicured park area.  Would love to have spent a couple of hours just here in this park!  Heard sooooo many birds, but couldn't locate them for good visual for identification.  

This truly is an amazing historical site.  I don't mean to downplay it's importance, but I just get more excited about the birds!  This is one of the only Mayan sites with actual relics.  Like Pompeii, they were preserved by a volcanic eruption about 500 AD and discovered in 1976. 

Ran through the museum portion just to say we'd been there.  Wanted to be outside!!!

Then to lunch at La Pampa.  Meal was absolutely fabulous.  Argentine steak - thick, tender, tasty, & cooked to perfection.  

Straight on to the Historical center of San Salvador.  Spent a little over an hour wandering around the square.  Went inside the church to hear about the killing of the priest who had been the champion for the indigenous people.  Spent a few minutes listening to the locals singing/playing/dancing.  A few of our group got involved!  It was fun.

Great Kiskadee

On the way back to the hotel Walter started giving us our afternoon options.  Amazingly enough, we all voted to continue on to the Plan de la Laguna Botanical Garden!  We continued on there & spent a lovely hour and a half wandering the enormous grounds.  Tons of birds (couldn't identify the majority) and also a couple of iguanas in bright breeding color, and several agoutis.  It was a lovely way to end the day.  We wandered some on our own & some with a few of the single girls.  

Back at the hotel, we pottied & prepared our back pack for purchase of enough wine for our days in Honduras.  Headed out & walked a huge square stopping at several small neighborhood groceries & the fancy bakery Walter had taken us too before deciding we had enough & going back to the hotel.  We stopped in the connected bar for our complimentary drinks.  Back up to room to play computer games & called Dan & Linda.  Then downstairs to meet Walter, John & Dale, Marge, & Merry.  George & I had beer, but Marge ordered a frozen (non alcoholic) lemonade!  Looks wonderful - have to try it!  We also had the El Salvador's most notable dish is the pupusa, a thick handmade, tortilla-like corn flour or rice flour flatbread stuffed with cheese, chicharrón (cooked pork meat ground to a paste consistency), refried beans or loroco (a vine flower bud native to Central America).  George had 2 which was a mistake, they were plate sized!!

Back up to room & called Richie & Lucy.  He's having Barriam chamber procedures for his kidneys.  He has 33 left.  Ick.  

Did some repacking for tomorrow's trip to Honduras.  Gonna have a back pack on the bus (including all the wine!!) and then everything else is on top of the bus in the duffle bags.  Watched some TV - NCIS from George's computer for a bit to relax & to sleep about 11:30p.