Abandoned Great Estate in San Salvador, El Salvador

I often walk by this grand estate in gorgeous decline when I'm staying in downtown San Salvador, El Salvador. It is surrounded by a mildy ugly and gritty looking area which abuts the very heart of the super crowded city center, where many blocks have been converted to markets with stalls. The property is surrounded by an ornate wall with old ironwork. A guard is always posted by the main gate to prevent the public from coming in. The lush, glamourous vegetation evokes associations to Fragonard, the great 18th century french painter of gardens in immense, frivolous for the sake of it detail. Central America is to gorgeous green landscapes what northern Alberta and the tar sands is to oil.

Pictures of San Salvador, capital of El Salvador

I went up to the volcano on one side of San Salvador to hike, "el boqueron," the big mouth in english. I walked a long time through coffee cultivations and finally interesected with the main road. It started raining heavily and of course my shoes got soaked which is the worst part of rain. On the way down i discovered a garden around an electrical transfer tower and took the nature shots.

When I returned to downtown San Salvador I walked around and took the urban shots. The downtown area is packed with street stalls and has a bustling character. The surrounding suburbs are more upscale and packed with modern malls. Presumably, the downtown area is the most dangerous.