Las Flores road trip

Road trip to Las Flores

Two French guys, (Antoine and Francois), a squeaky, unresponsive Mitsubishi Montero sport and some car keys and we headed to Las Flores for a 5-day camping trip. The goal: find some unreal, un-crowded waves away from society. Mission definitely completed.

To start things off, the roads are insane; imagine a normal road but all patched up with random earthquake holes left and right. While dodging cars that are coming at you in both directions you have to watch out for the cracked out truck drivers that will plow over anything and everything that gets in its way. In this case, it forces bikers, small cars and of course us off the road for this to pass. This equaled an adventure in itself.

The overall drive down to Las Flores from West to the East coast was about a 4-hour drive. For us, it took a bit longer because we were stopping left and right at little towns. A small 3-hour tour brought is to Play Costa Del Sol. This random village town had about 5 nice multi-story tall bungalow looking restaurants. Right when we pulled up, a group of guys ran out to silicate us to park in the restaurant. In return, we get a free parking spot but a obligation to eat there after we surf. Which was fine. This gem of a beach was a powerful beachbreak and from the look of it scary shallow. It offered this hollow 3-4 foot speedy barrel. If locked in, you get a solid fast ride, if you fail; you get worked and thrown into the sand and fun deep breath to hold in.

We watched if for a while and decided to paddle out. The current was pushing hard, and before we knew it we were a half a mile down the beach. Constantly paddling and dodging walled up waves. 9 out of 10 waves I got tossed straight into the sand. You get out of the water covered in gold sand, filled with adrenaline. It was pretty fun! The couple of waves I did get though were pretty fun. Fast, tucked down and holding my rail, if you lift you life your head too high up the waves would smash your face and throw you over the falls. This session turned into a long one. You would see your friends way down the beach, catch a wave, then run back up to the zone, and do it all over again.

After the session was over, we headed back to the car. But actually, instead of the car we got funneled into the restaurant to eat. We ended up upstairs with a private, old school jukebox playing a mixture of Spanish and English jams. One song would play, then stop for 15 minutes, then start again. It was a nice treat when it turned on.

The menu here was a surprise, it reminded me of back home. Fresh seafood on the menu but fairly expensive: $15-20 a plate. These sneaky bastards one this battle, well at least for the French they did. Luckily, I found the daysayuna (breakfast) on menu and got myself a big meal for $2.50. I win.

Back on the road we headed. Sometimes you see road signs, then all of a sudden it forks of into 2 or 3 roads without a sign. You cross your fingers and hope it right. Quite a few times, we were wrong. Finally after passes an incredible mountainous terrain filled with volcanoes in the background we arrived in the town of El

Cuco. This tiny village offered nothing to us. It was right on the beach but trashy and not a place we wanted to stay. Next to El Cuco was Playa Las Flores. This was the place we were looking for but from the sound of it, the area was full of American resorts and a place for the group of friends to party and surf for a week. We drove past this and found the off beaten 4x4 large gravel road that in hope would take us to Punto Mango. After about 30 minutes of driving and about 8 kilometers later, we found it. Not sure how, but we found it. On top of that, we found one of the best camp spots of all time. It overlooked the point and maybe a 1-minute hike down. This was a dream in itself and a picture perfect view you see in magazines and don’t think they actually exist.

Well they do.

We grabbed our gear and ran out there. It was almost sunset and not a single person out in the water. The waves weren’t great, but manageable. After we got back, we set up a campfire, ate some food and set up camp. Meaning, I threw my surfboard back on the grass and my sleeping bag on top of that for my bed. This night was interesting, we didn’t know our surrounding and heard scratching and noises all over. About 2 hours into half sleep/dream mode about 4 locals popped up out of the bushes walking through our campsite. This scared the shit out of me, no harm no foul, they said “hola” and kept walking. Good news but still was a interesting situation. Time went on and still heard noises all around us. We all knew something was there but couldn’t figure it out. I soon fell asleep. I then instantly woke up to a known object about 20 feet away. Shined the light onto this white unicorn looking creature and soon realized it was a cow.  A damn cow, all he was trying to do was walk by us but we were sleeping on the trail. The light scared it away…Finally fell back asleep looking at the stars. This time woke up to the same noise. Shine the flashlight in the exact same spot and this time was a white horse. They switched spots and again trying to pass by but we scared it off. At this point, it was some twilight dream state was going on. I couldn’t figure out if it was real or not…

Woke up to the sunrise to some funny stories about the night. You finally look around and see your surroundings and realize the bush in fact was not a human, but the horses and cows were definitely real…because they were still next to us in the morning. Pretty funny to say the least.

We ate and headed straight to the water for 3-4 hours. Unreal waves: long, hollow barrel waves that peel for about a football field, maybe more. If you took off the wave too late you get thrown into the rocks. All of which happened to us 3 and soon learned not to do that again. My back got scratched up and a very sore back but lesson was learned. This was a bit more difficult for me since everything out here is a right and I’m a goofy. Nonetheless, great practice for me and by the end of the trip had some huge improvements.

Still no people, and a whole private world class break to us. This made no sense to us. There were resorts 10 kilometers down the road and seemed like they had no idea about this place.

We ended the session and headed in for siesta and food. Woke up to the blistering heat and about 10 people and 2 boats in the water. It all made sense now. But like idiots they arrived around lunchtime to a full blown out wave and choppy conditions. We were very happy about this.

For the next few days we made do of what we had, re-boiling cans of rice and beans for dinner and passing out at dark (which was probably around 7 pm.) Words can’t even explain the treasure we found. The photos don’t capture what you see and only long term memories get in-grained into your memory.

The last day here was a real treat. All night we heard the waves getting louder and louder. At one point the whole see was white. We counted 16 well overhead waves fill the sea with water.

That morning was firing. It took about half hour to paddle out to the point. Again very consistent and sometimes so big it was scary. Right when we finally got to the point, two boats arrived with about 6 people. Great thing was, the waves were happening so fast that it didn’t matter. Everyone was friendly and took turns. The group was from America. They were the classic one-week stay away from the family but were all super cool. This was the group that reminded me that it was thanksgiving! You know you’re on vacation when you don’t know the date.

These waves that came in on Thanksgiving were the fastest, scariest mountains of water I have ever surfed to this day. These were all steep and sucking up to barrels within seconds. You would drop down the line at mock ten-speed, grabbing your rail and praying to god you make the turn. A few times, I didn’t make this turn, but the ones I did I will remember for the rest of my life. The waves that day were consistent 8 foot slab barrels. Good god! Some the sets were bigger. These were the ones you paddle for your life and hope you can duck dive the thick piles of water. My fish had a good time, I can tell you that.  A new board in the future is coming.

This trip sealed the deal. Best camping and surf spot to this day. I know I keep saying this and will probably continue to say this but as far as rights go and pure adrenaline this is at the top of the list.

Well played El Salvador…

San Salvador

City bound. San Salvador was where I first arrived but got picked up and headed straight for the ocean. Therefore, I never even saw the main city of the country. Better yet, this time, I had owner of the hostel here, and two local girls who live here to show us a good time. Where we went, I still don't actually know. I say this b/c for the 24 hours I was here, it was all Spanish and no English. Which made it fun, but equally frustrating. We heading from downtown San Salvador directly up windy roads to the top of some mountain park. Mainly to kill time but we walked up and down these steep trails that overall, looked over the whole entire country. If I didn't know any better I may have been looking over Guatemala or Honduras. That view was incredible. We finished and hung out in the park for a while. Two gringos and two very attractive local girls draws attention. The local food stand slowly DJ'd there way into playing a random "Now 15" music jam CD. I mean, were talking 7th grade asking the girl to dance jams...You know what I'm talking about. Which was pretty funny. We left, and headed back into town for food and drinks. We made our way to a semi-backpacker district (though not too many backpackers were seen, but a area lonely planet recommends). Overall the city is spread out with semi-tall buildings, no skyscrapers. This is because of constant earthquakes. The city is surrounded by large mountains and green lush trees (only Ian would know the names of)

Exploring El Salvador

Overall the country of El Salvador is small. You can drive the country in 5 hours but the exploration going up and down the coast searching for waves is a month in itself. A few days ago we (2 french guys, one Alaskan with a old volkswagon van) headed West. In my mind, its north, but on the map you can only go West or East. There is no North or South. Its a trip. Regardless, we headed west looking for some uncrowded waves, and on top of that, head inland to hike up some volcanoes and check out the scenery outside of just the ocean. So it began...crazy ass drivers, kids, dogs, monster transformer looking trucks speeding faster than small geo cars going straight toward you on the zig zag f-ed up roads. Oh yea, and this is in the daytime, nighttime is a whole other story in itself. As were driving were also on the prowl for unspoken beaches with no access and small villages that populate 50 people. Even when we found a cool looking beach overhanging the top of the cliff, we couldn't get to it. You would have to swim for a mile just to get to it. Which could be fun but we kept on moving. Break after break we would look on the map and realized they were all world class breaks (well we did know this but wasn't sure where they were)...check, found, but not necessarily utilized...well get back to that later. We passed all the spots, knowingly, but the main mission was to head inland to hike a mother f-ing volcano! right? Inland we headed, still dodging random people crossing the freeway and cows walking on the sidewalk like a human. We drive through random villages, open farm faces and slowly but Surely approach a massive mountain landscape with shoots up multiple volcanoes and soon to be exploding ones in the future. Though, the closer we approached, the crappier the roads got. Potholes left and right we were dodging, turning a normal 2 lane road into 1 just so we could make it a smoother ride. Finally we arrive to, what it appeared to be a opening to a local, Oregon garden park. Some spanish dude pops out of his booth, wearing his park ranger outfit and start talking to us, asking us questions in spanish, we say "si" and give hime a buck, were in! Well, we thought so. To the left of us was a gigantic volcano that we already drove up but another one was to our right. We were trying to hike this other one...We start to drive up to another gate. A bunch of kids soliciting guides up the volcano. We say no, like stubborn tourist who think there broke. "we can figure this shit out on our own, were all growns up and I'm a man". Lets do it! We park and onward we went. Oh wait, Theres 4 trails and no trail map, just a big spanish sign that tells you what you shouldn't do: drink, get lost, cry for help, certain age, etc. So we started with the first trail we found and we walked. Problem is, this trail circled around and connected with the other trails, which then connected to the other trails, which led us back to the parking lot! These savvy Salvadorians and making money! We kept being stubborn and searched all over for a hidden trail. Finally we found some gate, locked up and a obvious trail to flavor country. We say, screw this, lets hop this and become volcano bound! Half of the group jumps, the others bring up horror movies and how were about to start one. Majority votes and we turn back like a bunch of pussies. Though smart, b/c when we got to the parking lot a huge group came out of that exact trail. What really happened is that they close the trail off at a certain time, and we got there too late (safety reasons b/c of the wind and danger)...I guess. We leave in disappointment and more so pissed off b/c we drove for 3 hours on some crazy roads. Luckily the map showed a cool lake at the bottom so we headed there. About 2 hours later we arrived at this amazing lake! The lake was surrounded by volcanos and mountains 360 degrees around us. This was all worth it. We found some shack to post up at and get food. Only thing on the menu: Parascada (deep fried lake fish) Sold! Overall, the long trip was worth it. All we did was explore all day, without any local tours or better yet anyone who knew the area. This adds a huge bonus for figuring out point A to B. We won.

El Sunzal Point continued

Day 3: Each day the swell is getting bigger. First day was head high. This morning is was couple feet overhead. Large and powerful, yet still the most peaceful looking wave I've seen. When you paddle out and look back at the land, all you see is bright green mountains filled with trees I've never seen (Ian you would know) with bungalows scattered on top of them, filled with strange looking thunder clouds that have yet to break open and rain. All of this I think equals some sort of heaven. Especially when the sunsets over this. I'm not sure what else it could be. Besides surfing, today was a different adventure. I needed to go grocery shopping so I can cook at the hostel and save some dinero. This meant me going to La Libertad. This is a hub for food and importing/exporting goods. In order for me to to this I needed to find the bus. I asked another hostel how to do this: "go out into the street and wait for a bus, then wave" Still no idea where La Libertad was, since we drove by it 100 miles an hour. Either way, I went into the street and waited. Then this average looking school bus from home pulls up around the corner blowing off black smoke. Oh wait, not average at all. Think of a bus size rub on tatoo, mixed with trival icons spray painted all across this bus. It was like those weird jewelry shirts you see people wearing or one of those sparkling hats you wear crooked. You know? This thing was off the fu*#ing charts. Some dude swinging outside of it looking at me and I keep waving at it. I knew this had to be the bus. The bus barely stops and I run to get aboard. Its great, cause I'm a gringo and super white. There not, they look at me. I say "hola" cause thats all I know! We drive for 1/2 hour or so, and I still have no idea where were going. But the bus did say La Libertad so I had to be in the right place. We then pulled up to town and the bus stopped. I was here. I got off, got hageled immediately and started my search for the market. Easily found, I went in and got some goods. Then headed across the street to check out Punto Roco. Again, firing, but never seen anything like this in my life. check it out here: http://www.surfline.com/surf-report/punta-roca-el-salvador_5800/travel/ I found some restaurant and sat down for a beer and some seafood. I've heard of a few seafood soups out here and had to give it a go. I ordered Mariscada en crema normal. This was full dish. Lobster, Crab, Oysters, Shrimp, a few other oddly shaped items. About 30 minutes later I crashed. Stumbled over a hammock for a mid day siesta. Woke up to some expat talking English across the way. I got up and headed over to pay. He must have heard my American voice and we started to chat. This dude lives out here, surfs Punta Roca everyday and offered me hospitality and a guide to this surf spot within 5 minutes. Kinda strange but maybe cause I was a fellow gringo. I left and headed to the bus. On the way got haggled for any type of drug imaginable, chatted with some locals who knew bad English and made some weird friends in which they think i'm "maybe" coming back to stay at there hostel and buy all of there drugs. Well see. Got back on the same bus somehow, paid my quarter and hoped back on. Made it back in one piece and headed back out for evening surf. Pretty standard day out here in paradise.

El Sunzal Point

I may spelled Zunzal point wrong in the previous post...Moving on. Day 2 Woke up and headed straight for the beach. This time I broke up the session into two. Morning and Afternoon. Both about 3-4 hours in the water each time. When you get out of the water, all you do is sit in hammocks and relax. Not bad heh? As far as the point goes, you start out on the beach. This beach is all black sand from the near by Volcanoes and lots of round rocks. Too large to skip the rocks but big enough to stub your toe. You then paddle out at least a half mile before the wave first starts to break. At any given point you could half-ass it and catch a wave that has been breaking for a while. But thats no fun. As you finally approach this point, large, constant sets come in. If you in the wrong spot, you get worked by some white magic. Like I said before, there is a great channel that takes you out, where the wave doesn't break, and if you don't even know how to surf, you could go out there and watch your friends and never ride a wave. But again, thats no fun. The point break peels to the right (if your in the water, looking at land, it goes right). And boy or boy does this thing peel. I would easily say each ride has potential for about 2 football fields long, 1/2 mile or something. Your basically on a training ground to learn all of the best moves. After an all day session I head back to the hostel. I didn't mention this before, but when I got there, I was the only other person staying here. Very quite. When I got back, there were 3 new folks. One aussie, and two people from England. All here for the same thing I am. The aussie is on a different story though. He bought land here and is grown a ton of fruit and vegetables to sell to the locals. Apparently he has been here on and off for the past few years. A good person to know, since I know zero Spanish and this dude is fluent. He showed me around town, where to go, other surf spots and some secret street foods not on the strip and close to the hostel. The hostel is about 1/2 mile away from the town, safe and quite. The town is filthy dirty. The street food vendors around pretty much our neighbors. The sell you beer and water for a local price for some reason. Best food I have had in these few days have been here: pupusas Unreal treat. You get 3 for a $1. Its basic, Torrilla, cheese and beens. Its like a grilled cheese sandwich on steroids and a mouth full of flavors. They cook them on there small charcoal grills and make them in about 5 minutes. Look them up on the google. The day once again ends pretty early. Swapping stories with the fellow hostel friends but all cashing out early for the morning.

El Salvador bound

To start things off right, I bought a one way ticket to El Salvador. Being naive and not knowing where I would end up, made this decision easy. As far as PDX international airport goes, thats another was another story all together. Regardless, I jumped on the airplane and headed to Houston, TX for a nice layover. At the layover, I was surrounded by El Salvadorians, and me the white gringo. In fact, when I got to my gate, I was alone, so I fell asleep in the corner and woke up to these surroundings. I mangled and tired, crawled over to a seat. About 5-10 minutes go by and this huge group of retired Florida grandpas and grandmas roll up. Of course, they spot me and headed my direction. Well, you know, we gotta stick to your kind...I then got up and headed to starbucks for an adrenaline shock for this next airplane ride to a hopeful surfers paradise. On the airplane is was all spanish. So really it was just me and my thoughts. My neighbor could actually speak English so we chatted on the flight. This guy jumped every border from El Salvador to America, then after this long stretch of a story, pulls out his American passport. Go America? I land in El Salvador, looking over an amazing landscape of sugar can fields and large volcanoes. I get off, and rush to customs. After filling out the forms incorrectly, I then hit this large traffic light sign (red, green, yellow...same size as we see on the street) to green! I'm in. 3 month visa in my pocket and about 50 taxi drivers looking at me for a ride. I keep walking, saying no, no. I then here this yell "ssss-en". You know, just like my old Vietnamese girlfriends who couldn't pronounce my name. I instantly knew that was for me. Look over and see this local surfer waving his hands at me. "Whats up sss-en?" high fives go down, instant friends. He also has this smoking hot lady friend with him. We swapped hugs and also, another friend. We left the airport and headed to his truck. About 80 degrees, 100% humidity and I'm already covered in my own sweet. As we drove a hundred-miles an hour, zipping in and out of random cars/cows/bicycles/whatever, we ended up at the coast in about 30 minutes. Instant waves for days as we zip the coastline. First town was La Libertad. World famous point break called Punto Roco. Which to this day is the best thing I have ever seen. We keep driving to Sanzal point (san-sal). We start to drive down this off-beaten path until we finally arrive at homebase. I'm stoked and cheering on with Brata (driver who picked me up). He looks at me and points to the beach. I get up and head straight there...Meaning I walked 300 feet to Sanzal point where there is perfect head high waves peeling for a half mile! I run back, slap on some screen, wax the boat up (surfboard) and run back out there. Luckily, Brata was right there with me, showing me where the take off point was to get in the channel, rather than get worked by some whitewash (watch the movie "north shore" and you'll know what I'm talking about). Anyways, got out there and didn't come pack until dark. Which was about a 6 hour session. At this point I have already caught some of the best/longest waves of my life and it was the first day I arrived. This is a good sign my friends. I got back, found some restaurant, ordered some tacos, ate and went into a comma at 6 or 7 pm? Early. Then, woke up in the morning.

I was that tired.

World travels about to continue!

Central America bound. Its about to get crazy.