Akwaterra Surf Club : Eco Adventures

ALL-INCLUSIVE EL PORTEZUELO ECO-ADVENTURE PACKAGES

Includes private rooms, 3 meals and drinks, private bilingual guide & equipment, private transportation and vehicle support, and tour of choice. Fully interchangeable with Las Olas Beach House packages. Same pricing applies. Advanced booking recommended.

EL PORTEZUELO INTRO

Nestled among the Ilamatepec Mountain Range in western El Salvador, El Portezuelo thrives within a 800 acres of an active coffee farm. The park offers nature, adventure, and breathtaking views. The rustic mountain retreat, “ La Escondida” is secluded in the heart of the farm. This artsy mountain B&B offers many colors, comfort, privacy and security. There are a variety of recreational activities and exciting natural adventures to enjoy or if you just want to avert the crowds and relax, you can savor a hammock and take in the sounds and essence of nature. Whether you seek the thrills and adventure of our extreme nature or the serene sounds of the cloud forest, El Portezuelo Adventure Park (EPAP) offers you a piece of heaven on earth.

La Escondida Lodge

This place is ideal for spending a couple nights. The house is well equipped with three chimneys, kitchen, refrigerator, hot water, music stereo, TV, DVD, 24 hour security personel and other amenities. The mild climate and deep silence will make you have long conversations with Morpheus “the god of sleep”. Our cabin has one suite with private bathroom and chimney, two regular rooms with a shared bathroom, and a small service room with bathroom as well. The cabin also has a colorful living room, a full kitchen, screened porch and a dining room. It can hold a maximum of 12-13 guests.

ACTIVITIES AND TOURS

Mt. Bike Tours: At EPAP, we have an exquisite terrain for mountain biking. We use 4 “Specialized” front suspension bikes, 1 Schwine front suspension, and 1 trek double suspension for our tours. Our most popular tour starts at 1900m at either Laguna Verde or Cerro Cuyanunsul and takes you on a downhill of about 23 kms all the way into Juayua, the colonial town at 900m. The peak is reached on horse where the bikes and gear will be waiting for you. At this point, our guide will provide helmets and explain the route to take. He will carry all emergency tools needed to fix any problems or flats in the tour. We provide water in our tours but riders are responsible to carry their own water along with any other personal belongings. We encourage riders to bring their cameras and backpacks along as the views are breathtaking. This tour lasts anywhere from 3-5 hrs from the moment you get on the horse at EPAP until you transfer back from Juayua. Tour includes horses to reach the peaks, bike guide, drinking water, mountain bike and helmets, transfer back to EPAP from Juayua, and sales tax

For those of you who are up for a real challenge, we have designed other routes where you finish in the same place you started. These selected routes combine different uphills and downhill and are recommended if you want to work out your leg muscles. No horses or transfers are used in these routes. The duration of the tour is anywhere from 1 ½ - 3 hours. Tour includes bike guide, drinking water, mountain bike, helmets, and sales tax.

Horseback Tours: Horses in El Portezuelo have been present for a couple of generations now. Arquitect Carlos Alfaro and his lifetime passion for Peruvian horses are what allows us to offer this top notch tour. There are about 17 horses all together at El Portezuelo, but we only offer to take a maximum of 6 riders at a time to watch unexperienced riders closer. These horses have been doing the tours for around 4 years now, so they are very familiar with the trails and the tourists. The tour that takes you all the way to the peak, through the cloud forrest and around cerro Cuyanunsul lasts around 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Believe us, if you haven’t ridden on a horse a quite some time, your ASS will hurt big time if you go longer then this. Shorter rides through the coffee plantation, to the geysers, or to laguna verde are also available. All of them have spectacular views so don’t forget your cameras. Rene, our horse caretaker, will always ride with the group as he knows all of the horses. Tours include appropriate horse according to riding level, horse guide, drinking water, bike helmets by choice, and sales tax.

For kids and infants, we offer local donkey rides and horse riding instruction without leaving the camp headquarters.

Moto Enduro Tours: This tour is packed with adrenaline. Ride local tours with great guides and explore not only El Portezuelo, but the whole Sierra Ilamatepeque on ideal dirt roads. This tour is full of adventure and usually if riders follow the guides instructions, they tend to be very safe and accident free. Our bikes vary between 125 cc and 250 cc motorcycles, and our guide will make sure to set you up with an appropriate bike. All the gear is included as well. Tours usually last anywhere between 3-5 hours. Because we keep our bikes at La Libertad, we usually offer this tour with a minimum of 2 riders and a minimum of 2 days riding, but lodging at El Portezuelo or around is available. Tour includes appropriate motorcycle, fuel, all the equipment including helmets and pads, moto guide, vehicle support, and sales tax.

Hiking/Trekking Tours: With such an exquisite terrain, hiking or trekking at EPAP is one of the most popular activities. There are many natural attractions nearby and trips to the geysers, the cloud forest or the crater lakes offer hikers a diversity of trails that will suite all levels. Trails are rustic and natural, the same ones local use to walk the area. You can choose from different options, but short hikes of an hour-hour and a half are available to close destinations. Other longer hikes that last up to 10 hours are recommended for people used to these kind of hikes. Tour includes appropriate local guide, drinking water, entrance fee, parking, and sales tax.

Paragliding Tours: We have just started offering Paragliding at El Portezuelo. The area was originally explored by the experienced pilot and good friend Simon Vacher. The area is naturally beautiful and great for experienced pilots. EPAP offers 4 different take offs facing all directions and the wind pattern and weather conditions are consistent for flying year round. Because the “sierra” offers steep territory, it is ideal for dynamic wind flights from on shore coastal winds and passive north fronts. Its natural topography and location make it perfect for gaining altitude in the thermals that form in the proximate valleys. There are many vultures and birds of prey in the area that can be used as biological indicators. Our dry season (Nov-May) definitely opens the flying window and pretty much on most days we can fly all day. The rain patterns for the rainy season (May-Nov) in EPAP narrows the window to pretty much morning and mid day flights. All tours and logistics for Paragliding have vehicle support. At the moment, we use local pilots as guides.

Activities
Horseback rides
Mountain Bikes
Hikes
Donkey Rides
Bird Watching

Destinations
Cloud Forest
Geysers
Laguna Verde Crater Lake
Juayua Colonial Town
La Ruta de las Flores Colonial Town and shopping Tour
Volcano Trek - Santa Ana and Izalco