Meet Your Guides

José Rivera

Lead Guide, Western El Salvador · Ilamatepec Range Specialist

José made his first ascent of Santa Ana Volcano in 2010, back when the trail was still hard to follow just a few years after the volcano's eruption. He went on to study biology at university, which still shapes how he guides today — he knows the ecosystems along the trail, not just the route. He holds official CORSATUR certification as a Western El Salvador guide, earned through a formal review of his field experience, first-aid training, and reference letters from hotels and park operators across the region, along with a full written exam on the trails and terrain.

He's the only guide currently leading the full multi-day trek across the entire Ilamatepec range, a chain of roughly 15 volcanoes, and is widely known across the region simply as the guy who knows the mountain range.

"I always try to make people feel confident with me from the very start. I explain the terrain, the timing, what to bring. I'm equipped, I know what to do in any situation, and you don't need to worry about anything."

"Last year I guided a French couple through five days in the mountains. There's a spot near Bosque Lya where you come out of the forest to this incredible view of Santa Ana Volcano at sunset. That night I asked them what they loved most about the day. They said it was that moment."

Favorite spot

Los Andes, high in the Santa Ana highlands at about 1,800 meters, for camping under the stars and a sunrise hike on a route most tourists never see.

When he's not guiding

Drinking Mahahual coffee at home. After a decade exploring these mountains, he's become something of a coffee person too.

Francisco Mejía

Lead Guide, Eastern El Salvador · Morazán & Tecapa Region

Francisco's path into guiding started with a high school camping trip to Montecristo in 1995, on a French-class excursion that brought him face to face with El Salvador's wilderness for the first time. He joined the Salvadoran Federation of Mountaineering and Climbing shortly after, and has spent the decades since learning the trails, stories, and history of the country's east, an area far fewer visitors ever see.

He specializes in the technical, lesser-known hills of Morazán, along with Chaparrastique and Tecapa Volcano. He's guided travelers from a dozen countries, including Salvadoran families returning from the US to finally climb the volcanoes they grew up seeing from a distance.

"I've guided people who left El Salvador as children and always dreamed of climbing the volcanoes they saw from home. Now that they've come back as adults, that dream has finally come true."

"I love sharing the history of our regions, the names of these places and what they mean. If we don't know our history, we're sometimes condemned to repeat it."

Local tip from him

Wait a few days before trying pupusas or shellfish so your stomach can adjust — advice he gives every first-time visitor so they spend the trip enjoying it instead of feeling sick.

When he's not guiding

Cooking for his kids, resting at home, or heading to the beach. His pick for El Salvador's defining dish is pupusas, and his song is Rubén Blades' "Todos Vuelven," an album the Panamanian artist dedicated to El Salvador.