an uphill battle

Last time I climbed a volcano (two weeks ago), we had the luxury of driving the car directly to the crater. No so this time. Yesterday my sister, two other volunteers, our coordinator Joaquin and I scaled Volcan Santa Ana- the tallest volcano here in El Salvador. And at 7,812 ft above sea level we had a lot of climbing to do. Well Joaquin had told us to be prepared it was going to be a challenge, I must admit that I didn't fully believe him. (He has a tendency to exaggerate the difficult of physical activity). We began our trek and leisurely strolled through the "cerro verde" forrest. I began to wonder if I should have stayed in bed. When we reached the "look out point", we in fact couldn't see a thing as the cloud cover was so thick. Two hours into this trek I was ready to abandon mission...and then the real climb began. Suddenly the lush forrest gave way to ash, rubble and steep rocks for us to scale. Now three hours into this adeventure I was weary. As we walked through what looked like a nuclear wasteland, in and out of clouds, exhausted and thirsty, I truly felt like we were in one of those NBC end-of-the-world disaster mini-series. And then we reached the summit.
Incredible. The volcano which erupted just five years ago, had carved out a lake (green from the sulfur) and left essentially no vegetation anywhere. There we stood at the top of El Salvador.
The trip to reach the top of this volcano reminds me a lot of my feelings about El Salvador, the country, as a whole- a constant uphill battle. This country has so much potential but everything here always ends up becoming more complicated, more difficult, than it needs to be. You start of cruising and by the end, can barely manage to go on. For example, this country's tourism industry. You start of with all of these amazing landmarks, sites and cultures- perfect for tourists. But unlike its neighbors, El Salvador doesn't even have a tourism department. As you travel to learn there are no banks or hotels or businesses that except traveler's cheques (or sometimes foreign credit cards). There are no roads that link certain parts of the country to major cities. To navigate here as a foreigner you are constantly fighting an uphill battle. An to no fault of its own, the country just can't seem to get ahead. Everytime they make progress some natural disaster (flood, earthquake or hurricane) "erupts" and leaves the country in ashes.
This story sums it up perfectly- (this is how everything seems to go here) A few years ago a hotel was developed in the area near Santa Ana Volcano. It was a beautiful hotel that prided itself on the amazing views of the volcano- a resort with pools, restaurants and tours. The day it opened for business, the volcano erupted (for the first time in centuries) and destroyed the resort.
the climb was worth it... I hope it is for El Salvador someday too.

Link to photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/VictoriaLHertlein/VolcanSantaAna#