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Volcanoes of The Savior

Frank Voris

El Salvador, The Savior, is a tiny country packed with two things—people and volcanoes. No fewer than 25 volcanoes run along the country’s 150-mile east-west length, and El Salvador has the highest population density of all mainland countries in our hemisphere. Volcanoes are scattered randomly across the map as if positioned by long tosses of not-so-straight flying darts. At the base of each is a city or town proudly bearing its name. About 85 percent of the population live in a volcano’s shadow.

Volcanoes are to El Salvador as oil wells are to Kuwait. Volcanoes pump wealth in the form of coffee. A perfect combination of rich soil, altitude, and cheap labor make them geological bonanzas. The “gold” never runs out—a new crop appears every year. A fortunate few benefit from this perpetual source of hard currency.

I can see volcano San Salvador from the front step of my house. The volcano dominates the North horizon of the capital. This volcano last blew in 1917, but is already fully grown over with trees and coffee fincas (plantations). One can drive up almost to the rim of the crater Boqueron (Big Mouth). Sad but true, the crater was a favorite body-dumping spot for the Death Squads of the 1980s. Strange but true, while hiking to the bottom, I realized that Boqueron was inhabited by 100 or so campesinos.

Volcano Santa Ana, 25 miles west of the capital, is the largest and highest in the country. At the trailhead to the crater, a platoon or two of well-armed soldiers is always hanging out. Their presence is welcome as they discourage robberies and vandalism. The hour climb is straight up and steep, but well worth the trip. The rim and immediate perimeter are as rocky and barren as the surface of the moon. The crater is deep, with awesome plumes of steam continually hissing from an open fissure at the bottom. The venting steam was so loud and constant I had to raise my voice to be heard. The trail circles the existing crater, and to the west are semi-circular remnants of three other craters, created as the active region moved with the subducted continental plate.

Thirty miles east of San Salvador is another giant, Volcano San Vicente. I gaze in wonder at it every day from my jobsite at the international airport. Although the three cones dramatically crowning the top are dormant, the mountain seems an evil presence. A Boeing 737 from my client company slammed into its side last August—the pilot had drifted off the normal approach. A friend from Boeing and I hiked up to the crash site in October, and found what can only be described as a 1000’-long dump for scrap aluminum. The flight recorder was never found. The only intact item I noticed was a lone aircraft tire. Maybe San Vicente really is evil… San Vicente appears to lurk and wait patiently for the next confused pilot.

North from the capital in the war-torn state of Chalatenango stands the fortress-like Cerro Blanco. Long dormant with non-disccernable crater, Cerro Blanco is a broad plateau covered with pine. I visited here with a large group from San Salvador. As we arrived at the edge of the plateau, a young man became excited. He had been a soldier here eight years prior, and had fought guerrillas on the very ground we were treading. Our hike instantly became a battlefield tour. We were shown old trenches, ramparts and bomb craters. The ground was littered with the detritus of war—shell casings and spent rounds. Numerous pine trees were charred and felled. The two sides must have fought terribly hard for this high ground.

At 250 years, Izlaco is the youngest member of The Savior’s volcano family. The last eruption was in the mid-1950s. The perfect, very steep cone of Izlaco is bare and covered with gray rubble. I tried once to crawl to the top, but after an hour of taking one step forward and sliding back two, I quit.

I have lived and worked in El Salvador since September 1994. I have visited several volcanoes, and no doubt will visit more before my assignment is over. Each has proven to be distinctive, and some seem almost alive. Currently I have plans for scrambling Volcano San Miguel, which towers over El Salvador’s number two city of San Miguel. Want to come along? Just hop on a TACA Airlines flight out of San Francisco and you’ll be here in about six hours. Hiking here is much less complicated. We only need five essentials. They are called the “Five Extras”—extra food, extra water, extra sunscreen, extra-dark sunglasses, and extra ammunition for your sidearm. Happy Trails!