Despite the relatively close proximity (after Australia and New Zealand so many places seem "close"), my travels to Ecuador too awhile. I had to go to Philly before I could go to Miami, but blessedly I had no delays or cancellations, and no lost luggage. I'd scheduled the hotel shuttle to pick me up and when I got to the arrivals area at Guayaquil airport there was a man with my name on a sign - always a welcome sight when arriving in a country for the first time. I met another couple, David & Alice, who joined me on the shuttle and were also in my tour group. They were mid-70's, I would guess, and were from Albuquerque, NM.
With most people arriving late in the evening this tour began with an orientation meeting on the 2nd day of travel. After breakfast we all headed to one of the conference rooms to meet everyone, and our guide for the week, Antonio. We all went around the room and introduced ourselves and said where we were from (only 1 Brit and no Aussies this time). The group is quite small, only 20 people, which Antonio believes is due the misguided travel warnings for Ecuador. Yes, there is crime (who doesn't have crime?), but it's contained to specific areas and is all drug-related. The scheduled power outages are not related to the crime, but are due to the drought. The country switched to hydro-electric about 10 years ago and this year they've been having an extreme lack of rain. Most businesses and all the big hotels in the touristy areas run diesel generators to keep everything functioning. The official name of the city is Santiago de Guayaquil (pronounced "why-ahh-keel") and it is the capital of the Guayas province. Surprisingly, it is the largest city in Ecuador and is also their main seaport.
Our first stop for the day was the brightly colored Las Peñas neighborhood where we climbed the 444 steps to the top of Santa Ana hill for gorgeous views of the city below. The steps actually have little bricks with the step number in them, so you don't actually have to count them. At the top there was a lighthouse and a small chapel. The additional 68 steps to the top of El Faro was worth it for the delicious breeze on a humid morning, and for the additional views out into the Guayas River and the city beyond.
From there we headed towards the La Rotonda monument, located on their Malecón 2000 riverfront promenade. This monument is located on the Avenida 9 de Octubre (today is October 8th and tomorrow is a holiday), named for the date of their independence from Spain in 1820 (Guayaquil was the first city to gain its independence). The statue depicts José de San Martín (from Argentina) and Simón Bolívar (from Venezuela) meeting to make plans to liberate the people from Spain.
It was at this monument that the following exchange occurred with one of my fellow travelers:
Subash: So where in Pennsylvania are you from?
Me: I'm from an hour north of Pittsburgh, I don't actually live in the city. It's a small town, no one has usually heard of it.
Subash: I'm from Ohio, so I might have heard of it, what is it called.
Me: It's called Butler.
Subash (giving me a strange look): Everyone has heard of Butler, PA!
Me (palm to forehead): Oh my goodness...the assassination attempt...I'd forgotten.
ALL of these years I've been traveling the world it was instinct to respond that "no one has heard of it". We both had a good laugh, but that being said, I'll still probably stick with "north of Pittsburgh".
Next we headed to Parque Bolívar (or Seminario Park) which is more commonly known as "Iguana Park". It was very odd to see so many large green iguanas in such a small place! Since the city feeds them, and they're protected, I suppose they have no reason to leave. Our visit to the beautiful Guayaquil Metropolitan Cathedral, at the end of the park, was sidelined because they were having mass and we couldn't go inside to look around and I could only get one photo through the glass in the entryway.
From there we headed back to the Malecón for the variety of options for lunch along the riverfront. I enjoyed some fresh lemonade and a brocheta at La Vaca Purpura (the word "brocheta" is Spanish for "kebab"). By the time we were back on the bus I was beat. We had free time for a few hours and I ended up falling asleep for 2 of those hours. After showering for dinner I took a walk to the huge mall next door to our hotel for a browse (basically the same as any other mall you'd find) and then headed back for our official Welcome Dinner.
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