Puerta del Diablo

When I lived in the US and came to El Salvador to visit Hugo, we would go on tons of adventures. Since I've moved here, we haven't gone on any fun outings. This was the first time in over 3 months that Hugo has had both Saturday and Sunday off work. By Sunday afternoon, Hugo was going a bit stir crazy and didn't know what to do with himself. He flopped on the couch and said, "Let's go somewhere."
I was all for it! I love taking adventures. I don't usually ask because I know Hugo works hard during the week and deserves a break on the weekends. But if it was his idea...heck yes!

This country has so many beautiful parks, historical sites, and ancient architecture. Instead of the typical trip to the beach, I wanted a bit of an educational experience. I had heard of "Puerta del Diablo" (Devil's Door). Supposedly, it is the site of a mass grave from the civil war. From what I've found in my research, the government likes to cover up the nasty parts of the war. So, there isn't a lot of information available. But, it is rumored that 75,000 bodies were tossed off the cliff at Puerta del Diablo. If you would like a less disturbing story of the place:

"La Puerta del Diablo is a tourist site in El Salvador. Its main attraction is the crack formed in two massive boulders nestled on the hill El Chulo, whose tops you can see a wide panorama of the surrounding territory. According to historians, two seperate hills formed due to heavy rain in early October 1762. After eight days of rain, the massive hill was undermined at its base by teh storm and a significant portion of it, in the midst of a horrid noise and thunder, rolled into the abyss." -Wikipedia.com

Anyway, I recommended we go visit on our Sunday afternoon adventure. Hugo was all for it. Other than the history, I really didn't know much about the place. Before we left, I asked Hugo about what we were getting ourselves into.

"I'm going to be able to do this, right?" I asked Hugo. "I mean, is there a lot of walking?" We had gone to places like this before. Typically, most of the trip is spent driving up the mountain. Then, you park the car and walk around a nicely landscaped park and enjoy the view. I was assuming Puerta del Diablo would be similar. He said he hadn't been there since he was 12, but he remembered it as "doable."
Well, we drove and drove and drove until we finally reached the parking lot for Puerta del Diablo. I got out of the car and saw this...

What.the.heck.

As we started climbing, I turned to Hugo. "I'm really out of shape, you know. You go to work all day and run around. I sit on the couch."

Hugo, grinned and said, "You'll be ok. We'll take it slow."

"And I'm pregnant."

"I know...it'll be ok. We'll stop for breaks whenever you want."

"And I'm afraid of heights."

"We'll go as high as you want. If you don't want to do the whole thing...ok."
"And...um...I don't think I'm wearing enough deodorant. "

Hugo laughed, "Ok. If I'm walking behind you, maybe I'll be the one who will need a break!"

Funny. Real funny.

So, we started the climb. I think we stopped about 20 times on the way up. I think when it comes time for me to go into labor, it will be nothing compared to that climb. I felt like I was going to die! The worst part was...people were passing me on the way down who were 2 or 3 times my age. Great.

When we finally reached the top, it was amazing. So beautiful! It was a 360 view of San Salvador and the surrounding area. Facing south, we had a distant view of the ocean.


To the northeast, we could see Ilopango Lake, which is about five miles from our house. We couldn't see our little city because it was behind the other half of Puerta del Diablo.

To the northwest, we could see the entire city of San Salvador.

Looking down, I was amazed I had actually made it to the top!!


The other half of Puerta del Diablo looked much harder to climb. We had carved steps and hand rails. The other half was totally unassisted. I think we chose the correct side. The other side also had a little cave. From the cave's landing, you could rappel down the cliff or take a zipline to the parking lot. We opted out of both options.


Here is a photo of the opening of the cliff were the bodies were supposedly dumped.


Other than the grizzly history, it was a beautiful place. Standing on top of that cliff, it was hard to remember the poverty and violence that dominates so much of the country.