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| The view of the Pacific Ocean from the balcony outside our room. |
Our last 24 hours in El Salvador were spent at a beach resort in Playa Pimental. It was soooooo relaxing to just "chill" for a while before going back home. In fact, one of the first things I did (after booking a massage!) was to climb into a hammock and take a nap. I fell asleep to the swishing of the palm trees. It was awesome.
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| Rancho Estero y Mar - the back side. |
The place where we stayed is called
Rancho Estero y Mar, and it's now on my list of places I might disappear to, should the need ever arise. It's only about a half an hour drive from the airport, and is relatively quiet and uncrowded - at least it was when we were there.
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| One of the many capuchin monkeys at Rancho Estero y Mar. |
There's lots of wildlife here, and we saw everything from alligators to toucans. But the species that captivated my attention was
cebus capucinus -- the capuchin monkeys. There were warning signs all around their cage, telling us not to get too close: apparently they're excellent pickpockets and will take sunglasses, cell phones, basically anything that's loose, on your head, or in your pockets. S leaned in to take a photo and one of them flew out of nowhere and grabbed her hair. (It has hard not to laugh.) Their little hands are like tiny people hands, with thumbs and everything, and they're so agile. Even their faces have a sort of human-like appearance. They remind me of tiny old men. Obviously, they're very smart. One of them spent several minutes with a pair of sunglasses, staring at his reflection as if he were a primate Narcissus. And there was a Mommy with a five day-old baby on her back. So cute. I could have spent hours watching these guys.
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| Mommy & baby |
I'm so glad we had the opportunity to decompress before the long journey back home. It was just what we needed. And the massage was awesome! It was in a little hut right on the beach, so I could hear the waves of the ocean. Forty-five minutes, Swedish, for $15. Wowwwwwww!!!
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| Sunset on Playa Pimental. |
We had a wonderful experience in El Salvador, and hope to go back again someday! If anyone out there would like to chat more with me about this experience or get more info on Charlotte Habitat, send me a message and I'll share what I know. Now, back to reality! :-)
