like a bunch of surf spots in Central America, El Salvador offers a steady blend of world-class waves and third-world lawlessness.
two of bojon's finest, bryan mcmandon and carl segerstrale, are currently getting a heavy dose of both as they carve waves by day and fend off criminals by night.
here is an email report bryan sent in:
First night in town, after surfing all day, we ate some dinner and went to bed at around 9:00. Itīs crazy hot down here, even at night, and our hostel/hotel didn't have AC. It also smells of cat piss, and there is only one shared bathroom. But that was OK because we were super tired (couldnīt really sleep on the overnight flight) and the fans were blowing.
What we didnīt realize was that a band had setup right across the street and was going to play latin hip-hop rock all night long. Needless to say it was impossible to sleep with the noise as we lay in the room sweating. Finally, the noise stopped, but we soon realized it was because there was a power outage -this also stopped the fan. During this time the band continued to play their drums and a couple of locals fired off some pistols - no kidding.
Finally fell asleep around 3:00 am and slept right through the morning surf. Found out later that day the pistols were fired because of a fight - one guy was shot in the head and killed. Evidently this is not uncommon in Libertad.
Anyway, we upgraded to a better place and have been surfing and sleeping as much as we wanted the last two days. The water is polluted and nasty, but the waves are absolutely insane. Unfortunately, we can't take photographs at the main break "Punta Roca" because locals tell us we will risk being robbed by the crackheads who hang out up there.
Not really sure what to believe, but why risk it. We will be in this town - La Libertad until tomorrow (leaving wed.) and then we travel to the less populated East side of the country.
whoa nelly . . .
a few pics from the trip:
shapely point break . . .
carl securing the moon rig . . .
the sun rising over Las Flores . . .
