A tropical splendor and a land of Gardens
I was very lucky to be invited along on my daughter and son in laws trip to El Salvador this summer. Also lucky that my son in law is originally from El Salvador, so he is fluent in Spanish and familiar with the customs of the country. We were a happy party with my two grand daughters along and my fellow Arbuela who is also an El Salvadoran native plus other family and friends residing in El Salvador. It was a van full of fun!
In June 2025 we visited the coast, mountains, small towns and the big city of San Salvador. Of course, I was busy looking at all the beautiful tropical plants and trees! El Salvador is a garden in itself with lush forests, blooming trees and shrubs, exotic fruits and nuts plus the verdant fields of sugar cane and grass where cattle graze. Coming from California, the green surround was a welcome change from the dry hot summer with brown hills and mountains.
Tropical Flowers on Day 1
Along the coast we stayed in a local resort enjoying the huge swimming pools, warm ocean waters and indoor-outdoor dining. The pathways were lined with these lovely flowers.
I looked across the lawns one day and thought I saw a squirrel in the grass but it turned out to be this guy
He or she gave herself away when it started running! There were lots of Iguanas and they were both entertaining and benign. They were also a lot of birds. I recognized the Snowy and great Egrets but most of the local birds were not familiar. The songs they sang added to the overall beauty of the experience.
The beach areas of El Salvador are hot and steamy so swimming each day and having air conditioned rooms really helped to cool us down. The evenings brought so rainfall and a pretty intense lightening storm out over the Pacific. A few beach photos to set the scene.
Going up in the Mountains
El Salvador is ringed with Volcanos. They isolate this small country and provide a backdrop for the fields, towns and cities. The volcanic soil is perfect for growing coffee on the mountain slops below the canopies of the tall, tropical trees. Special pruning is needed to provide a light shade for the coffee plants. Going on onto a volcano, Cerro Verde National Park in this case, we could feel the temperatures cool and we ascended into the clouds.
This perfectly round lake at Santa Ana lies in an old crater. At Cerro Verde you can see the cinder cone of a Volcano that had continuous eruptions from the 18th to the 20th centuries. More volcanos are visible in the distance. From the photos you can see the dense forests of the mountain region.
In El Salvador there are lots of opportunities to stop along the roadside and buy fruit, candies and snacks from small stalls. I was interested to see the collection of fruit syrups, wine and honey produced by this vendor. Most are unavailable in the U.S. so they were all new to me. It was wonderful to be able to sample the fruit and nuts plus load up on snacks.
Some one has quite a sense of humor or someones. A row of Topiary Characters welcomes visitors to the vista point area and trail parking area.
Below the forest canopy we found wild begonias, ferns of many types, and creeping vines.
Some of the prettiest flowers here were planted by the staff- orchids, bulbs and mixed flower beds
To my delight, the kind family and friends chose restaurants on the mountainsides that had beautiful gardens and one even had a nursery. The restaurants have open air courtyards and dining rooms decorated with antique items, rustic farm implements and holy relics. Eclectic and truly unique. You may wonder what we had to eat?! Well, Pupusas of course! The traditional staple of El Salvador, is a hand made thick corn tortilla wrapped around a filling of cheese or meat or vegetables/beans then patted flat and cooked on a griddle. There are many other offerings too with BBQ meats being very popular. Anyway, I very much enjoyed to food and touring the gardens around the restaurants.
For our stay in the mountains we visited the small town of Concepcion de Ataco, which had some colonial influences including a central plaza park. We were out early one morning and caught the parks gardener doing his maintenance caring for the many flowers and plants. Some quite extraordinary like this unusual, tropical trumpet vine.
We very much enjoyed poking around in the shops and strolling the park. The Ceiba or Bombax Tree we saw was absolutely huge and produces flowers that make a large tuft of cotton like fluff after the bloom. The fluff is used as a stuffing or fill for pillows and furniture. The common name of the tree is Kapok.
Our hotel had a central courtyard garden, which is a common building style in the towns and cities. It has lovely and very old tile roofs complete with succulents (Sedums) growing on them. A lovely fountain and gazebo invite guests to come out and enjoy the quiet and very green garden.
Several of the hotels and restaurants we visited had these lovely arrangements of floating flowers and petals at the entries. They used corn grinding bowls as the vessel for the arrangements.
At the end of our trip, a friend invited to stay in her home in San Salvador. What a treat- and very much in the gracious tradition of the El Salvadoran people. With a view of the giant Volcano in the heart of San Salvador and a garden of special ornamentals, it was the perfect end to our trip.
I wanted my readers to experience some of the beauty of El Salvador. Quite a few of the plants I photographed on the trip are ornamentals introduced to El Salvador from other regions. You will see these same plants in other tropical areas too. Many of the plants I had only see in Conservatories in Botanical Gardens.
I was very amused to see so many plants that we grow as house plants, growing in peoples gardens outdoors in El Salvador. We even saw air plants (Tillandsia) on an outdoor patio- they were huge and blooming! Wow.
If you enjoyed this post you might want to check out my Travelogue which has articles about Botanical Gardens all around the U.S.A. and abroad. It is a subscription based newsletter that is emailed once a month. Here is the website link to my landscape course and the travelogue, which I also list as a course.
To read more about the Cerro Verde National Park in El Salvador I have provided this link:
