Hey Everyone.

Im having 2 days rest from the dog sanctuary ive been working at and trust me, its much needed rest!

The wednesday evening before we went to the sanctuary, we all went from the hostel to San Salvador and immediately got stuck in traffic at 5:30pm. As we crawled up the hill a little way there we could see the issue that caused the jam. A chicken bus had overturned quite obviously through speeding and there were 2 bodies covered with white sheets. It was horrible to see and there was a huge crowd almost in silence around the bus. It was a shocking realisation of what can happen on these buses. hopefully it shook the drivers around here a bit and theyve all been told to slow a bit, but doubt it. thats not the way its done here i guess. We eventually got there an hour later than planned and all went to the cinema. Me and Kerry saw Capt America. It was ok, but i realised a little way in that i had watched it 1 week beforehand on a copy in Antigua! Anyway, when we left there at about 10pm we drove towards the beach and straight into a CRAZY storm. There was thunder shaking the road and the car, lightening bolts all over the place. The whole road is lined with trees either side and so dark, the lightening was lighting up the whole road. its not like lightening we have in england, its constant, like strobe lighting, only rumbles of thunder are spaced out. Some bolts were scarily close to us. The rain was creating rivers down the road too. Darren was driving in silence and in the middle of the road in case the trees fell down, and low and behold, a tree was strewn across the road having been struck. Luckily we got the car just around it but could have put us in a bad situation if we´d had to move it. I have never ever seen a storm like that let alone been in the centre of one with bolts all around the car. It was scary. We got back safely and Darren admitted to us, in his 4 years in el roble, he´d never driven in a storm that bad. So we were lucky he kept his cool and drove us carefully home. we all thanked him! It was an experience.

Next morning we went to San Salvador and got picked up and taken to the sanctuary to meet and work with the dogs. The sanctuary is in the mountains outside and overlooking san salvador and is cold and in the clouds! Its in a tiny village called El Boqueron. We had to get buses and pick-up trucks there and back. Katty and Georgi are the women who run the sanctuary and are completely dedicated to saving and rehoming the street dogs that are in the sanctuary. Some are in a bad way when they arrive at the sanctuary but they do so well there and got to homes that are trusted. Its a small sanctuary with capacity full at about 25-30. When we were there we had 19 at the most. It is so frustrating because there are no animal rights laws here so dogs are abused and seen as vermin most of the time, so its nice to see people caring for them. They live in the sanctuary as they cant trust anyone to look after it, having empoloyed locals before who abuse the dogs also. They are untrusting nowadays which is a shame. They have 1 man who works there as a handyman from 1-9 mon-fri and although he didnt like dogs to start with, they see that he has developed a soft spot for the sanctuary dogs.

We had such an experience there! We stayed in Kattys house in San Salvador the first and second night, which was infested from floor to ceiling in ticks. me and kerry got ticks everywhere, and in our bags also. Therefore we offered to live at the sanctuary until it had been fumigated. So we dealt with the fumigators just in Spanish! That was something i never thought id have to use my limited spanish for eh! Then we moved in to the sanctuary and they lived with family in the city.Which meant we got limited sleep for all the barking and got woken up early. First day it was 6:30am. We got up and started doing all the cleaning. We were told Katty and Georgi would be there at 10. They had a meeting with a possible donator, but he turned up and they were not there yet. 7 people were all asking me and kerry all about the project and it was our 3rd day! they turned up and hour n half later than the man and some people had already left. Similar incidents happened later in the week also which meant me and kerry ran the sanctuary until around 1 or 2 pm everyday. Because of this we were absolutely shattered. There is no working shower at the sanctuary too so you can imagine how we smelt with doggie poop and smells all over us. We were gross! one of their friends in santa tecla offered us to use their shower so we got a lift down there and had the BEST SHOWER i have ever had in my life even with WARM water. We hung out and gave our knackered bodies a rest for a while then went back to the sanctuary for the night feeds etc. I have honestly never felt so exhuasted phsically and mentally as i did those days living in the sanctuary and i have nothing but admiration for Georgi and Katty and i have no idea how they do it. to make matters worse 2 beagles turned up within days of each other and barked all night. We had hatred for the puppy who was day and night barking, and renamed him Diablo. When katty and georgi moved back in when we went back to the tick house, they had no sleep and understood why we call him that and why he had to be given up- coming later! The house was still full of ticks but again we slept there and moved our for our final night. We went to a hostel in san salvador for the last night. Didnt sleep that well cus i kept imagining i was seeing bugs!

As for the dogs themselves I will write about them now!

4 puppies of the same litter: 8 weeks old

Chele - small white male, I completely love this dog, we bonded immediately and i will struggle to say goodbye to him as he is so cute and loving. When he sees me, he bounds over with his tiny little legs and tries to climb my leg to be picked up. He would rather sit with us on our laps than play. So trying to change that but its difficullt cus i just want to cuddle him all day.

Mr Spock - looks just like Chele but with 1 black ear and little spots over him under the white fur. just as cute.

Spunky - Sandy coloured pup, really cute but more independant, not worried about lots of human attention, has been adopted.

Nina - White with sandy patches, really shy and doesnt approach humans or dogs except her litter. has been adopted.

others:

Scooby - little pup who is a bit bigger, when we visited he had hardly any fur and was so skinny and timid, 4 days later when we left he had lots of fur, was very playful, chased feet around biting anklesand causing havok. much fatter too.

Chiquita- cute 12 weeks old, has been adopted now by the hostel who took us to view the sanctuary, shes adorable and love her to pieces and hope she flourishes in her new home. very confident and independant.

Kahlua and Mocha - 2 older pups 5 months old, lots of energy, get on very well even though not related. adorable, like to jump on us! Kahlua hates baths and freaks out big time. took 3 of us to hold her and she still escaped!

Poochie - collie type dog who can be a bit agressive at times through fear or not wanting to do things. very stubborn dog.

Nino- bassett hound, very peacful but has some bark in him yet, is 7 years old and just plods along.walks very well on a lead.

Hannah - Part pitbull. such a sweet dog but has a switch and turned into a pitbull when she saw a football. obviously some trauma in her life before rescued. Has a home to go to providing they dont have footballs now we know!

Sparky - older dog who has problems breathing because of a tumor in his nose. sweet dog though but kind of looks crossed with a fox i think!

Morgan - Agressive, 1 year 7 months and had 2 lots of major trauma in his life and is a huge black lab who hates everyone except 2 female dogs and katty and georgi. Theyre scared of him too though. Such a shame.

Loba - Betos mum i think, has limes disease and is a real sweety though

Beto - the logo mascot of the sanctuary, he is almost years old and has limes disease and not expected to survive until 2. he is so sweet, and shakes all the time with a tick. he also has epilepsy. so sad to see a dog so happy with such problems. he is happy though and that is the main point. they treat him so well.

Pinky - young lab who has so much energy but is a real sweety once he chills out!

Paco - 13year old German Shepherd who has just about most things wrong with him but he is still affectionate with few people and we became two of them and he is such a sweety. can barely walk as his back legs are so weak and he is getting worse by the week but he has some fight left im sure.

Canela - part pitbull as well but no problems with her. shes had too many litters but shes a cute one too.very porky though!

Koota - has to put up with Morgan all day and night to chill him a bit. such a sweet dog though. barely get to see her which was a shame

Thule - Adult beagle who barks at night and in the mornings to keep us awake! fat and sounds like a pig when he scoffs his food.

Toto- the devil in disguise. the only dog i couldnt stand. barked all day and night, stood on all the puppies, uncontrollable completely.

Maggie - turned up pregnant just before we left, due this week. in a bit of a state. stinks and fur all matted but nothing abusive wrong i dont think.

so thats most of the dogs.

we are going back tomorrow for the weekend and then a few more days here chiling and sorting out then off to Nicaragua on Friday.