El Salvador, Part 8: Cafe Albania & Alicante Hot Springs

Stopped at Cafe Albania first, which is up in the hills surrounded by tea fields along the Ruta de Flores — cute setup but costly. With a hedge maze, ziplines, a hamster wheel, Air Bikes, and Air Surfing, everything would have cost $50 per person, so we decided to divide and conquer. Xander and I gave the Maze a shot while the rest of them hung back (smart choice as it was a lot of running up and down on the sloped maze. Also found some very photogenic wild mushrooms growing out of a stump on the walk in, and a tire painted into a smiley face guarding one of the garden paths. Honestly, kind of overpriced for what it was, but we had fun getting lost in it, so mission accomplished, I guess. Axel and Enzo enjoyed the thrill of the Rainbow slide, which was a lot faster than expected.

Alicante Hot Springs was the real win of the day, though. A series of pools tucked into the jungle, ranging from “pleasant” to “are we being slow-cooked,” plus a green pool under a canopy of mango trees where the boys just floated face-down like they’d given up on life. Enzo and Axel couldn’t stop fighting with each other in the water, which was on par.

Closed out with the obligatory “Bienvenidos Alicante” angel-wings mural photo — I did my best holy pose, Enzo went full prayer-hands underneath his own halo. Worth the stop just for the springs alone.

#unpavedparenting