My HomeExchange Story: Lago de Coatepeque, El Salvador
The Knight's family shared their latest adventure with HomeExchange to Lake Coatepeque in El Salvador.
Where did you go on your home exchange?
El Salvator in Central America, near a lake called Coatepeque.
How did you find your exchange?
I did some research on the HomeExchange website and contacted our host.
What was it that attracted you to this exchange opportunity?
Our family has always wanted to travel to El Salvador as we had heard great things, but were a little nervous as it can be a volatile country. We thought doing a home exchange would allow for us to feel safe as we would have a contact (the host) in the country. The lake retreat also was appealing as it was located in a crater lake.
Tell us about your arrival:
We did get to meet Mauricio our host who we believe is the nicest person living in El Salvador. He picked us up from the airport hotel and we are going to do the same for him when he comes to our house in July. We also got to meet up with him two other times during our stay. We had dinner with him and his lovely wife Clara after they took us on a boat trip, and then another day we picked us up to take us to his coffee plantation and the town he grew up in. Every time we met up with him he had a wealth of knowledge to pass on to us in terms of tips and recommendations.
What did you see or do during your exchange?
El Salvador is a beautiful country that allowed us to do a lot of things that we could not do in our home country of Canada. My family climbed our first volcano together on this trip which was a must for us as this region is known for so much volcanic activity. We also enjoyed visiting the nearby colonial town of Santa Ana, the girls really enjoyed the cathedral. Each day we went into the local village to try some new food/fruit that we can't get back home.
What is the favorite memory from your exchange?
Our favourite memory would be climbing the Santa Ana Volcano together. Our daughters were very proud of themselves for getting to the top. We lucked out with the weather and had amazing views once we reached the summit and basically had the volcano all to ourselves. Our guide Irvin was very informative about both the volcano, but also told us lots of stories that really helped us understand El Salvador's history.
How would you describe home exchange to your family and friends?
When we were first introduced to home exchanging we were skeptical. Now it is how we plan all of our trips with hotels being only used if necessary.