fresh seafood delivery

For our last meal in El Salvador we took advantage of the opportunity for fresh seafood by asking our friend Gervin ( about one hour before dinner) where we could buy some oysters and prawns.
He found these guys to dive for the oysters and brought along a large bage of prawns.
Now that's service...and check out that smile.

Oyster shucking

These oysters are a lot harder than the ones back home, this fellow worked at these for quite a while - it was really quite a show.

La Libertad Coast

Michel enjoys a swim at this abandoned resort

Resorts

It's hard not to notice how many "tourist" opportunities are lost in El Salvador.
There are so many places to go and explore. There are resorts and hotels throughout the country that are really nice places but they are empty. The strange part is there is more tourism development going on and the tourists are not here to fill them. I suppose it is a "build it and they will come" mantra, or something like that
This is an abandoned project on the rugged surfing coast of La Libertad.
The rock pools were amazing. Swimming in these with waves crashing in was exhilarating. The fact that the waves were so powerful on a "no swell" day made it even more interesting. I don't think such a facility could exist in our litigious North American society. The labour in the rock work is something to be considered

plantation workers

This the home of a family that "works" the Dardano plantation which is a new plantation in full production this year.
Next to sugar cane work this has to be the most grueling type of work I've seen. Salvadorans are hard workers. The coffee grows on steep mountain sides, it is cold in the dry season and extremely muddy in the wet season. Everyone picks coffee even the smallest of children. I imagine they are the ones climbing down the steep mountain side.
The family who lives here has been promised a small plot of land if they work the farm for a number of years. Land ownership and stewardship agreements are a plantation workers dream.

coffee plantation workers

The coffee plantations are high up in the mountains and it is really quite cold. Kind of like a September day at home. Along the drive you can see small children going to collect water or wood for cooking fires. These kids we getting water.

coffee

The Dardano family took us to thier plantation, a small farm producing about 30,000 pounds of coffee on 40 manzana's which is around 60 acres.
They the 'Owners ' get about a buck a pound and the pickers get a buck for every 25 pounds they pick