San Salvador, El Salvador

Early start from the port in Acajutla for an excursion to San Salvador which is said to be 90 minutes from the port. It took more like two hours to get there because of heavy traffic so we were on a tight schedule. We visited the historic area downtown which was colonial and in the process of being restored.

Tourism is relatively new to El Salvador given its past - civil war and gang crime. Its first cruise ship docked only seven years ago; ours was the seventh to visit just in January. The government is investing resources to build the sector as well as to make tourists feel safe and looked after.

And boy did they! Once we arrived at the city square, Brad noticed there was a police officer with our group at every turn. And a large police presence in general. That said, we didn’t find it scary and went off to the local market in our free time.

We learned about the most significant event in El Salvador’s recent history - the assassination of El Salvador’s Archbishop on March 24, 1980. It’s reported that a car stopped outside the church, a lone gunman stepped out, aimed down the aisle and shot him as he was saying mass. He had been critical of the government and his assassination had been ordered by the president. The public outcry and outrage over this assassination led to 12 years of civil war. His crypt is in the church where he was shot and died.

The country is recovering and rebuilding and we sensed an energy and optimism in the streets.

As I mentioned, traffic was terrible and it was clear we’d be late to the port for the on board deadline time. We weren’t concerned because we were on an Oceania excursion so the ship wouldn’t leave without us🤣 What we didn’t expect, is an actual sirens-blaring police escort all the way back to the dock! It was like out of a movie. What was particularly hilarious, is that our guide said the locals would assume this was a prisoner transfer. Typically, when buses have a police escort, that’s what’s going on – a transfer of the most dangerous criminals in the country.

A memorable visit on many levels.Read more