#Images of waterfall gif drivers#
#Images of waterfall gif driver#

A city erecting a huge, colorful mural on Main Street, or a town painting a set of angel wings. Not only did I find many videos confirming everything I’d heard from travelers on the ground, but I also saw that some TikTok influencers (or wannabe influencers, I’m not really sure the threshold) offered an added benefit of hiring a driver: you have someone to take your picture during the trip. I don’t have TikTok, so, when I returned to the U.S., I borrowed my nephew’s phone to watch some of these videos myself.

#Images of waterfall gif driver#

In several cases, Americans told me they contacted a guide or driver directly through TikTok, told them which sites they wanted to visit (which they had also learned about on TikTok), and showed up with some cash.

#Images of waterfall gif drivers#

The guides that took them around had been promoted by TikTok influencers, as had the taxi drivers they used to whisk them around the country.

Hotels and B&Bs they stayed in were featured on someone’s TikTok page. The restaurants they ate at (and, often, what they ordered off the menu) had been recommended through TikTok. Every attraction they visited, they had learned about on TikTok. Not only had these travelers learned about El Salvador through the TikTok pages of friends and influencers, but they also used the app to help plan their entire trip. But wherever one draws the line between justifiable policing, public safety, and civil rights violations, there is no denying that El Salvador has become a much safer country, and travelers are taking note. There is a fair debate to be had about the potential civil rights violations that have accompanied Bukele’s crackdown on gangs. Many of these reforms have been sharply criticized both internally and internationally due to the government becoming a full-on incarceration machine, which you also likely haven’t seen covered much by mainstream U.S. El Salvador is now one of the safest places in Central America. Thousands of gang members have been locked up, and a new prison is being built to house an estimated 40,000 suspected gang members. But over the past few years, El Salvador’s new president, Nayib Bukele, has made sweeping reforms (including incarcerating an estimated 64,000 people), and as a result, the homicide rate has fallen precipitously. Most Americans likely don’t know much about El Salvador, partly because our news outlets rarely cover the country, and when they do, they only focus on its tumultuous past.

But that’s changing quickly and dramatically. Central American countries have varied reputations, such as Costa Rica being the golden child for adventure seekers and Guatemala and Honduras being the place to head for Mayan archeological sites.Īs for El Salvador’s reputation, up until a few years ago, it was pretty much known for being the place to avoid because of gang violence.

Every country has a reputation, be it for especially flavorful food, extraordinary architecture, or stunning natural beauty and historic sites.