El Salvador: Anyone been since Bukele took over?

I was there last summer (July 2024). I went to El Salvador for a week of Spanish school, studying and practicing the language from 8:00-noon everyday, with afternoons off, while staying with a local family in the city of Santa Ana. Santa Ana was a small country town until the big coffee-growing boom in the mid-19th century, when its pretty neo-Gothic cathedral was built. Santa Ana became El Salvador's second-largest city (though still only about 250,000---much smaller than San Salvador).



The rest of the main square is more Art Nouveau and Art Deco:




On one of my afternoons off, I took a little colectivo across some tiny, twisty mountain roads to the town of Juayua, which may be the highest town in the nation (a relief on a hot afternoon). Its pretty little church has striking red accents.



Here it is from the upstairs terrace of one of the nicer restaurants in Juayua:



On my final day, my tutor took me out overlooking Lake Coatepeque.



We also went to the national park by Cerro Verde, which has erupted in recent years:




Overall, I enjoyed the week. El Salvador was pleasant. For me, as someone who speaks the language at the lower level of an advanced learner (I can almost always say what I what to say, but I often struggle with listening comprehension), it was certainly comfortable, though I think that some aspects of the trip would have been more difficult for someone without any language ability.

But the hard truth is that nothing was in any way truly remarkable. Nothing that I saw in El Salvador was amazing (but do remember that I spent no time in San Salvador and definitely didn't see all of the national parks, so I might have missed some of the better sights). I have traveled to 44 countries and don't regret visiting any of them, but most other countries have had some kind of "wow" moment, and there weren't any for me in El Salvador. So, my verdict is that, if I decide to do another week of Spanish study at some point, I might go back, because it was pleasant and interesting enough, but I'd have a hard time actively pushing the country as some kind of amazing tourist destination. For me, it simply wasn't.

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I have traveled to 44 countries and don't regret visiting any of them, but most other countries have had some kind of "wow" moment, and there weren't any for me in El Salvador

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Do you have like a Top 5 list of countries that wowed you ?

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It was 30% cheaper than the same period to Costa Rica/Roatan.

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Those are both great. Personally, though, I think that, out of the three Bay Islands of Honduras, Utila and Guanaja are more interesting than Roatan, though maybe not so much if you don't dive.

I also think that Costa Rica kinda has too many American tourists right now, and Panama offers better rainforest for less money.

And do consider Guatemala. Lake Atitlan is fascinating, and Antigua is one of the best-preserved colonial cities anywhere.

The only Central America country I haven't traveled in is Nicaragua.

I went on a mission immersion trip in 2023 with Maryknoll. Walking in the Footsteps of the Martyrs..it started at the shrine of St Oscar Romero on his feast day and covered the other North American Martyrs among other things.

Life changing event. It's one thing to read about something in the papers and quite another to talk with people that were there as it happened.

Highly recommend that trip.