We spent a nice Sunday afternoon at Casa L & L, the home of Lynn and Lou expats from Carmichael California. They own a lovely casa on the estuary and every Sunday invite cruisers and other expats for a barbecue and some pool time. We bring something to grill and something to share. It is a fun way to meet people and relax away from the boat for a few hours. On Easter Sunday we are all bringing deviled eggs to share. I need to do some internet research to see if I can find something a little different with the ingredients we have on board. There is a fine line between creative and yucky.

Casa L&L

Casa L&L

Casa L&L

I guess we’ve been spoiled in Mexico with a market or grocery store within walking distance or a short bus or taxi ride away. We have a few options here but they take much more effort and in this heat I mean effort! After eating all the protein we had in the freezer, we had no choice but to do one of the options. Our first choice was to take the dinghy four miles up the estuary to La Herradura a small village with a grocery store and a open market. The challenge for us is our outboard is only 6 hp so we have to time going upstream and back with the tide. And if you’ve read previous posts you know our outboard has conked out and refused to start a few times. So with that in mind we took a test run and sure enough we got out in the middle of the estuary and it died and would not start. We were smart enough to head out against the tide so we drifted/rowed back to the boat. On to our second choice. A 1 1/2 hour bus ride to Zacatecoluca. Sounds easy but it also involved a transfer at a place called Arco unless we took the ‘direct’ bus that took two hours. So off we went with directions from fellow cruisers on how to transfer busses. Get off at Arco and walk up the right side of the bridge to the road above and catch the 133. I always write on a piece of paper the name of the place we are trying to get to. With the help of the bus driver and his attendant, we got off at Arco and using hand motions they also told us to walk up the side of the bridge. When we got to the bridge it looked like we were walking into someones backyard. But following someone else willing to help, up the steps we went and sure enough there was a bus stop. We then boarded the most crowded bus we have ever been on. I spent the next half hour sitting beside the driver with my back against the rod that opens and closes the door. Gary was standing on the stairs and when others boarded (yes they let more on), he had to sit up on top of the bars in front of the first row of seats to get out of the way. This is no way to travel even for 50 cents! I can’t say much about Zacatecoluca. We shopped and went in search of the bus station and found the ‘direct’ bus back to the marina. This seemed the best option because we had been warned that the busses at Arco may stop running later in the afternoon. Would not want to be stranded there! We scored seats the whole way back and it took only ten minutes longer than the bus there.

This is the ‘193’ direct bus from Zacatecoluca, El Salvador to Bahia del Sol (the Costa del Sol bus). While we sat at the station and when we pulled in to stops, vendors walk up and down the isle selling everything from food, drinks, and I even saw someone selling toothpaste. This is an old school bus from the USA. The seats are made for little kids!

So we are set food wise for awhile. The outboard is back running. I’m the one who hooks the gas up and I screwed something up. Which was a bummer because we missed out on an invite to happy hour at Bill and Jean’s.