Guayaquil

Wednesday 16th March 2011After an incredibly hot bus journey, we arrived in Guayaquil, our final stop before we leave Ecuador. Guayaquil is the biggest city in Ecuador and there's a rivalry between it and Quito.

It was a bit of a shock arriving. We'd dropped to sea level during the journey and as a result both the temperature and humidity were up. It was easily in the 30s.

Apparently crab is a speciality here so we headed to the Red Crab restaurant for dinner. It's fair to say we got a little confused by the menu and what to order. Despite a nice meal, we left feeling we hadn't done it justice as we hadn't taken a hammer to a crab as most locals seemed to be doing.

Back at our hotel we met Hector and Tamara, a lovely couple from Chile who gave us some things to think about after our upcoming trek in Patagonia.

Observation:
Judging by the attitude of the locals, Guayaquil is the most dangerous place in Ecuador. It's not recommended to pick up a taxi on the street, although it is recommended to get a taxi everywhere! It has a very different feel to Cuenca.

Thursday 17th March 2011
This was our one and only full day in Guayaquil so we set about being proper tourists for the day.


A sloth eating.

 First up we headed to the 'Parque Historico Guayaquil'. The park recreates the 19th century city but the highight for us was the wildlife park. We saw many animals we hadn't seen before, including a two toed sloth and an ocelot, plus old favourites such as monkeys, parrots and an increably large Harpy Eagle. We also enjoyed the vegetable garden. There were barely any visitors but we suspect it gets much busier at weekends.


James relaxing in the garden.

 From there we headed back towards the centre to walk to 'Cerro Santa Ana', a hill with a lighthouse that offers great views over the city and the immense river Guayas. It was over 400 steps up and our legs still felt weak despite all the hills and steps over the last fortnight.

The view down the Malecon 2000.

After lunch we enjoyed a walk along the Malecon 2000, the promenade between city and river. This houses everything from museums to shops selling absolute rubbish and it is an enjoyable walk. One highlight was finding a machine that offered change. It's a shame that we only found this on our last day in Ecuador, but it did mean that our last few purchases were quick and stress free.

James and a tame iguana.

One final tourist attraction that had to be visited was 'Parque Bolivar' or 'Iguana Park' as it's known locally.  The many iguanas here are so friendly that people stroke them. Set in the shadow of the cathederal it's quite a sight.

For our last meal, we went traditional to an Ecuadorian restaurant recommended by our hostess Andrea, La Canoa. James had ceviche and an Ecuadorian tasting plate, while Emma had yuca and a seafood stew. It was a lovely way to finish our time in Ecaudor. Following a full day here, we have a much more positive view of Guayaquil and it's worth a day or two if you're ever in this part of the world.

One more sleep then we head off to Santiago and another new country.

Observation:
It is quite incredible to hear the number of car alarms that keep going off here. Not only that, the alarms are always all-singing, all-dancing ones that most people seem to just ignore.