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San Salvador, El Salvador

Safety

  • These contacts are very cautious about safety. 
  • El Salvador used to be considered much more dangerous than it is now.
  • We didn’t have any trouble there and felt safe, but there was one time where we did feel we were being followed after we were using our iPods out in the open. 
  • Don’t use iPods out in the open.

Safety in San Salvador, El Salvador
What do other Racers need to know in order to be safe? Current safety protocols/precautions in place? Any relevant issues/concerns? Any precautionary suggestions?

People’s Opinions

  1. My all girls team always felt safe in San Salvador. We often took the public bus and taxis without any issues. We were out as late as 10pm (near the Metro mall) and never felt like we were in danger. Obviously, still be wise and walk in groups or with men if possible.
  2. We lived with the family in their neighborhood, Las Cedros, it is a gated community and it is VERY safe. It was a huge blessing. The whole area, even outside is pretty safe but obviously, be wise with how late you are out and always be in with two other people at night.
  3. I’ve always felt safe, but we always travel in groups (preferably 3 or more) and always with guys at night. Always keep electronics hidden, especially in public transportation and highly populated areas. We were told that gangs don’t target Americans (they don’t want the trouble that comes with it), but if you have the right types of items to make it worth their while, they will.

Ministry Summary

Ministry Summary in San Salvador, El Salvador
Breakthroughs? Suggestions? Concerns? On a scale of 1-4 (1 being not at all, 4 being absolutely) how strongly would you recommend another World Race team go to this ministry location & why?

People’s Opinions

  1. YWAM San Salvador– This has been our team’s favorite ministry in Central America. We were treated like family by the staff at YWAM. Invest in them and receive from them. They’re people who regularly hear from God and are more than willing to share God’s heart with you. Our only suggestion is to be intentional to learn what ministry is expected from you on a day-to-day basis. A couple of times we expected to have free time during the day, but were asked to jump into ministry last minute. Ask for clear expectations for better time management.
  2. Tabernaculo Bautista- We worked alongside the church in several of their ministries, including kindergarten visits, feeding/ministering to the homeless, and visiting kids with cancer in a hospital. There is a lot of manual labor that could be done in the church across the street, so ask to visit that church immediately. We fixed a drainage system, started clearing an abandoned building, and helped farm coffee plants while we were there. We were a Gap Year squad so we stayed for three months and there was not usually a lot of ministry for us to do. Make sure that you question especially Mariela about possible ministries and take initiative.
  3. Tabernaculo Bautisa with Alberto and Mariela Santos 4, they are a sweet wonderful family that really allows you into their space. Mariela is amazing at taking care of us when we are sick. We worked at a different campus with the Tabernaculo church and did manual labor cleaning an old house for the church’s kids ministry. They always help us figure out free days and help with transportation. the one suggestions I have is make sure that you are communicating well with both husband and wife. Wife is super organized and understands schedules, the husband doesn’t communicate great and is often on his own time. If you have multiple spanish speakers, make sure you pick ONE person to be the point person for relaying information and schedule planning.

Lodging

  • Lodging is a house behind a local beauty parlor. 
  • Tatiana is the hairdresser and sometimes gives haircuts. 
  • Housing includes:
  • Two showers with warm water (sometimes the water cuts out in the afternoon)
  • A twin bed
  • Room to tent in the backyard

Lodging in San Salvador, El Salvador
Where did you stay? What were the accommodations (sleeping arrangements, toilets, showers, etc.)? Cost (per person per night in USD), Contact info.

People’s Opinions

  1. We stayed at the YWAM base in San Salvador. Our team had our own large room with our own private bathroom. The water was cold, but it was running water. We had a washing machine at the base! Guys, there’s even a pool. We felt like we were living in luxury.
  2. Tabernaculo Bautista- While we were there, the family built an open air shelter with concrete floors in their backyard. There is enough space to hang two or three hammocks. It is okay for a few people to sleep out there but the floors do get wet so elevate your backpacks. Partway through our time there they rented another house for us to live in, which was preferable. However, the family may be moving soon so the set up might change.
  3. Tabernaculo Bautista- lodging was at the house in the gated community. They have one small room that they give to the leader and then set up two huge tents for the boys and girls. Two showers, no hot water. There is an electric fence onto of the concrete walls in the back which is great.
  4. While staying at Ximena’s guesthouse a couple of us guys played basketball at the park nearby. It was a great way to minister and get to know the locals, but be weary of staying there past dark. One evening around 7 PM we had an incident with an attempted car-jacking that could have been much more serious. Please be aware of being out in the neighborhood after dark!
  5. We stayed at Ximena’s Guest House as well and loved it. We didn’t have access to the kitchen, which was listed on the website. We were able to work with her to let us use it once a day (during lunch, when other guests weren’t around). This made the food budget a little more difficult. Lena did allow us to store our backs in an office, while we visited other contacts during Unsung Heroes month. She was very accommodating and we were able to negotiate a better price (still above the amount budgeted per night for lodging). Internet is decent, but there are times you can’t get on. Usually, when we asked them to reset it, it worked for us.

  6. If you’re looking for a hotel for your team and/or squad to stay in, use Ximena’s Guest House. This place is run by a really amazing woman named Lena. She is from Europe so she speaks excellent English. She is really hospitable and easy to work with/contact via phone or email. I absolutely loved working with her. She gave us a good deal for our whole squad to stay at her hostel and was extremely accommodating to us. She also sells organic coffee and her own post cards. 🙂 http://ximenasguesthouse.com/http://ximenasguesthouse.com/en-ximenas.html Email: ximenas.guesthouse@gmail.comPhone: 7860-8632

Food / Meals

  • Jenny cooked for us each day and it was wonderful.  
  • Make sure you let her know what you like and what you don’t.  
  • She may feel insulted if you start passing around your food. 
  • Also, don’t let her do all the work!  Let her know you genuinely want to help.  She has a great servant heart.

Food / Meals in San Salvador, El Salvador
What did you eat? Where did you get the food? Cost (per person per day in USD)? Contact info (if applicable).

People’s Opinions

  1. At the YWAM base, we ate with the staff and students! They did a great job of accommodating allergies and we had a good mix of Salvadorian and Western food. There are also a ton of restaurants in/near the mall and within walking distance.
  2. Tabernaculo Bautista-Mariela cooked for us or we went out with the family. She is great cook and will make special meals for anyone who is vegetarian or can’t eat specific foods. She cooks with filtered water. Please make is a habit to not expect her to wash your dishes. Take turns as a team to wash them when the meals are done.

  3. We did Unsung Heroes this month and the $4/day budget was very difficult. If you have access to a kitchen, USE IT! Pupusas are a great option- it was our dinner for about 10 days straight. The Wendy’s has a great value meal that is just above our budget for a meal, but there are days when you’ll go under budget (if you have access to a kitchen or you have a potential contact that treats you to a meal). In San Salvador, we’ve always had a grocery store within walking distance. Tiendas are around almost every corner and can also be a great option, but the selection is limited.

Transportation

  • Taxi or local bus.  Taxi is safer, but be ready to cram in them. 
  • On local buses don’t take out iPods and watch your bags.  They are crowded, but are a good place to make friends and funny memories.

Transportation in San Salvador, El Salvador
What transportation did you use to enter the country? Where were you coming from? What transportation was used to move throughout the country? Be sure to include the cost per person in USD and contact info if applicable.

People’s Opinions

  1. Traveling from San Salvador to Honduras we used the bus company Pullmantur. It travels to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. It was within our budget of $40 a person. It was actually only $29.50 USD a person to travel from San Salvador to Guatemala City. We had to get a separate shuttle service to get from Guatemala City to Antigua/Chimaltenago. For that information, check the Guatemala section. Pullmantur is high class. It was super clean, comfortable seats with good leg space. They serve 1 meal and 3 drinks for free and the meal was pretty decent (eggs, beans, bread and plantains). The border crossing was super easy. We stayed in our seats and the attendant collected the border crossing form and passport from us then handed them back out after they had been stamped. As far as I remember, there was no extra visa fee.<spanclass=”comment_text”> The location of the Pullmantur company in San Salvador is in the bottom of Hotel Sheraton Presidente, final avenida la revolucion, Colonia San Benito. To make a reservation you will need everyone on the squad’s full name, birth date and passport number. I found it easiest to go to the company in person and make the reservation that way. El Salvador: +503 2526-9900 Guatemala: +502 2495-7000 Tegucigalpa (Honduras) : +504 2232-0216 I HIGHLY recommend this bus company. Easy, painless, the squad felt like royalty and they even stopped in Santa Anna to pick up 6 members of our squad. Posted by Taylor White on 9/30/2017   Squad: WR-V Squad (Aug ’17)   Team: Lighthouse
  2. YWAM San Salvador- Our hosts were willing to take us to most places we wanted to visit, but we did have to pay for gas money. Otherwise, many things are in walking distance or quick to get to via public transportation. The bus costs 20cents one way. We were even able to get to the beach for less than 2$ through public transport.
  3. Tabernaculo Bautista- We never took public transport because they had a pickup we road in the back in. It was wonderful and safe but your butt and legs will start hurting so it helped if we all brought a sweater or coat to sit on. They also rent a microbus on our free days but obviously, that comes out of our own pockets.

  4. Other teams’ hosts didn’t let them/recommend buses, but we’ve always felt safe during Unsung Heroes month. We never used buses at night and always had a guy with us when we did use them. Taxi rides/distance within 20 minutes cost about $6, but traffic adds cost. More than 4 people adds cost, as well. Usually, you can talk drivers down from their initial price. Watch all electronics and money on buses- don’t pull them out. We were told that the rule of thumb is to not take anything on the bus that you’re not willing to give up.

    Other teams’ hosts didn’t let them/recommend buses, but we’ve always felt safe during Unsung Heroes month. We never used buses at night and always had a guy with us when we did use them. Taxi rides/distance within 20 minutes cost about $6, but traffic adds cost. More than 4 people adds cost, as well. Usually, you can talk drivers down from their initial price. Watch all electronics and money on buses- don’t pull them out. We were told that the rule of thumb is to not take anything on the bus that you’re not willing to give up.

Medical

Medical in San Salvador, El Salvador
Information on local hospitals / doctors / pharmacies. Where would someone go in a medical emergency? (addresses and contact info).

People’s Opinions

  1. Tabernaculo Bautista-Mariela is a basically a doctor. She will help so much. BUT, the church has a free medical center and a (not free) dentist where you can get service.
  2. There are pharmacies (San Nicholas) everywhere. There are several in Metrocentro (the big mall). They sell antibiotics, cold meds, parasite meds, and toiletries. My team has never had to go to the hospital (thanks, Jesus), but we were able to get the meds we needed.Super Selectos (grocery stores) have limited meds, but if you need something basic, it’s a good option. If you’re ever unsure whether Super Selectos has something, go ahead and go to the pharmacy (San Nicholas)- they’re more likely to have what you need.
  3. Have made several visits to Hospital de Diagnostico. There are very friendly, english speaking doctors. The hospital is very clean and well equipped. Every time we visited we were able to walk right in to the emergency room and see a doctor. The pharmacy across the street is also wonderful.

Communication

Communication in San Salvador, El Salvador
Did you have cell reception / Internet service? Where? Carrier / Provider, where did you get phones / SIM cards, cost? Country code?

People’s Opinions

  1. We used Tigo for our cell provider. Ask your host for help buying minutes… we accidentally bought minutes for international calls only. There was a Starbucks within walking distance with great wifi. Our host recommended it over Coffee Cup because it’s cheaper (?!)
  2. Tabernaculo Bautista-There is wifi at the house; it’s a little box you can move around. Keep in mind that you are sharing it with the whole family as well as your team. The signal is only strong enough for about 8 people at a time. If you want to make a video call, make sure you are the only user.
  3. No wifi at the house, we had to use their internet stick that we would buy minutes for. It’s quite annoying because you purchase minutes and then it stops. Their son, Cristian is a genie at fixing things like that and he also did the runs to buy more minutes for internet and phone. The shop to buy these at is own the street. We used Tigo which was good BUT I suggest that you all make a plan on which provider you will try to get because if you all have the same provider, talking minutes are unlimited. We continually had to buy more.

  4. My team has had great internet/cell reception, but we were doing Unsung Heroes ministry this month. MetroCentro (the big mall) has different stores and coffee shops that have good wifi. The Coffee Cup and Ban Ban had pretty good wifi. The Food Courts wifi was hit or miss. I’m pretty sure we had Claro as our carrier/provider this month, which was good. Tigo is excellent as well. SIM cards and minutes were within budget, as long as you’re wise with your use.

Financial

Financial in San Salvador, El Salvador
Location of banks or ATMs, notes about transaction fees, best places to exchange money, and other money related advice.

People’s Opinions

  1. YWAM San Salvador- We had to take team money out from BAC bank because it was the only ATM that would let us take out a large enough sum to pay for lodging. We also frequently visited the Mister Donut ATM because there weren’t any transaction fees.
  2. Tabernaculo Bautista-We had a few problems with the family over money during our time here. Keep in mind that you are paying for food and transportation every day, including off days (unless you want to go somewhere far away on an off day). Just be mindful of money, especially if the family asks you to pay for something for them. Mariela is easier to deal with than Alberto in these matters.
  3. Tabernaculo Bautista-In the area that you will live (Lourdes) you will not have an ATM, you have to go into town for that.
  4. They do use USD! They do give you 1$ coins that are ONLY good in El Salvador.

  5. The gas station diagonal from the Wendy’s (down the street from MetroCentro) has 2 ATMs- one has very low fees. There are ATMs everywhere- the mall and gas stations are littered with them. If you have Mastercard, you may have to look around a little. There are multiple banks in MetroCentro, but there are also a good amount of banks around town. We didn’t exchange money there (they use USDs). If you have money left over money from previous countries, bus stations and border crossings are best for exchanging money. The banks in the mall would not exchange certain currencies.

Translators

  • Jenny is the main translator and speaks fluent English. 
  • Many people a part of Escala Ministries are bilingual, so communication is easy.

Translators in San Salvador, El Salvador
List any local translators – name and contact information, languages spoken

People’s Opinions

  1. Tabernaculo Bautista- A young man down the street named Vincent speaks fluent English and he translated for us sometimes. His sister Sophie is also good at English. The Santos’ oldest son Christian understands and speaks more English than he lets on. Both Mariela and Alberto were great at speaking slow and easy Spanish for us. They also understand a lot of English, though they can’t speak much at all.

Off Days / Fun Activities

Off Days / Fun Activities in San Salvador, El Salvador
What activities did your team experience? Recommendations? List locations/contact info. Any locations to be avoided? Any extra safety tips for off days?

People’s Opinions

  1. Tabernaculo Bautista-If you want to go to the beach, Costa del Sol is beautiful but El Tunco has more restaurants and lodging. Both are about an hour and a half away.The town of Ataco offers some street markets and a mountain with a beautiful view and giant cross at the top.Linda Vista Gardens is an incredible coffee shop/wedding venue on a volcano with incredible views. It is also possible to hike the volcano there.
  2. Tabernaculo Baustista-Climbed Santa Ana Volcano Went to Coatepeque Lake where there is jet skiing.Natural waterfalls (not sure the name)We went to Santa Telca one night with the family and there is a street that has a market and lots of dancing. It was SO FUN! It is very safe and has a lot of young college aged people.A water park is an option too, Alberto has a friend that can get you a good deal. It is further away though.

  3. If you’re free on Sundays, I recommend checking out Union Church of San Salvador. It’s an english speaking church with a ton of great people. http://unionchurchofsansalvador.org/

  4. Pops has great ice cream that is relatively cheap!
  5. EL ZONTE. beautiful beach. 45 minutes from San Salvador. It is exquisite and not crowded or packed with stores and shops. There is a hotel there where you can change and have lunch. A little lady named Dora has a restaurant right on the beach. She fries up a delicious whole fish if you’re into it. YUM. Public transportation is fine. Keep electronics in your bag. It will get super crowded on the way home in the afternoon.

Other Important Contacts

Other Important Contacts in San Salvador, El Salvador
Additional ministry opportunities, local pastors, etc. Relationship & follow up suggestions

People’s Opinions

  1. Guillermo Rodriguez is a former World Racer from El Salvador. He is completely fluent in English and would love to help out Racers. The Santos family has his contact information. He is a great guy and is extremely helpful if you need anything. Cannot recommend him enough!

Tips

People’s Opinions

  1. Tabernaculo Bautista- Be mindful and ready to go with the flow with Alberto. We some difficulties with him lying and he might ask you to go to “business” with him, which involves day-long car trips. While it is important to bless the family and be in community with them, make sure that this is not interfering with your designated ministry. It is okay to say no to him.
  2. Tabernaculo Bautista- If you are living in their gated community, throw a little party with cookies and juice one night for the kids and teens living there. There is a courtyard you can do that at. They are all great kids and friends. It is super chill and not hard to organize but they love it. Play soccer, swim, and listen to music.
  3. Tabernaculo Bautista- If you are living in their gated community, throw a little party with cookies and juice one night for the kids and teens living there. There is a courtyard you can do that at. They are all great kids and friends. It is super chill and not hard to organize but they love it. Play soccer, swim, and listen to music.
  4. Make sure you ask your contact if it’s okay to wear tank tops or running shorts. Because especially in the city, you could be looked at someone soliciting sex. It’s a good idea to want to be covered from neck to knees and cover your shoulders.
  5. Union church located at Calle N 4, San Salvador is a great English speaking church.
  6. Create your own ministry outside of what your contact gives you. You will be blessed by it and so will others!

Additional Info

Additional Info in San Salvador, El Salvador
Anything we’ve left out? Any additional suggestions to make travel easier for others?

People’s Opinions

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