Guayaquil

My friend arrived and took me to a nice area just imediately south of my hostel, and I was immediately impressed with everything except the overcast grey skies, that reminded me very much of Lima, warm and yet no chance of a tan and never the best background for taking photos.

Being a holiday weekend it was almost empty as all the locals that could afford to were either off to the beach or up to the mountains, so we almost had the place entirely to ourselves, but also because it was a holiday the place wasn't open and so we didn't stay here too long and instead headed off down to the area called Malecon 2000, but not before we visited a few other places of great photo opportunity.

You can just get around by foot, if you don't mind long walks, and there are several cross city bus routes, but they are not as exhaustive or widespread as they could be, so unless you fancy a bit of a walk at both ends the usual option is to take a cab, and here just like anywhere else in South America, you must be just a little careful and also ensure to fix a price before getting in and not just hop in and hope that the meter is not rigged or that you wont get shafted at the other end.

My friend likes to haggle about as much as I did, as I didnt seem to hear her complain or try to get the price down once, but then at around US $2 or US $3 for each journey I didn't see much room for negociation and would only have stepped or complained if any had been nearer to US $10.

The first place that we went to was a nice park, just to take a few photos more than anything else and also it gave me a chance to grab a red bull and snickers, as I was desperate for some recognisable chocolate and ice cold caffeine to give me a buzz enough to last the day, as I hardly managed to get any sleep the previous night.

We passed the Inca museum and of course it was closed, but the inca chairs outside were great opportunities to take a photo or three and even the building itself was impressive enough with a huge corner all embossed with artwork.

Next stop was a place that the locals call Iguana Park and it is right next to the cathedral and is home to a large number of the beautiful lizards. Here in Iguana park ( iguana is also the historic symbol for the city of Guayaqil ) the beats are free to roam, to burrow, to eat, sleep as well as have their picture taken by hordes of tourists daily. They also like to lounge in the high branches of the parks many trees and my advice is to do your best to remain in the sun and out from the shadow of the trees as Iguanas do not bother to climb down before going to the toilet and I saw at least two tourist get sprayed on, and the end result is a lot more than from a pigeon, trust me on this!

Then we took a stroll past the governments building and again some nice fountains, architecture and statues enough to give Vienna a run for its money kept me amused for many miuntes.

Finaly reaching Malecon we went past the restored pirate ship, the Henry Morgan and then after a bite to eat on the keyside restaurant overlooking the bay, before just taking in the beauty and the nature that the city recently provided for tourists. There was a bit of Inca and Mayan influence in the overall design of the place, and I loved the funky glyphed signposts that were everywhere, and then there is the many plants, lake, fountains and the main material used is wood, which gives a warm and ancient feel to the place even though it is less than ten years old.

Next we took a climb up the scenic stairs to the highest point in central Guayaqui.

To reach the summit, where there is a tiny church and several antique cannon emplacements, you have to climb up 444 steps, but they are in flight of about 50 are narrow and large enough so as to have plenty of room to pass each other, and the whole region is a sloping haven for souveneir shops, beverage stalls, arts and craft exhibits and some of the trendiest night spots and restaurants in the region, able to serve no more than 25 patrons at a time.

At around step 350 there is a nice plateau where they have set up a harbour scene with pirates, ships, cannons and wall mounted plaques tell brief glimpses of the regions naval history, in both Spanish and English which goes to show how many European and American tourists visit the area.

After this we had to return to my friends house, as it was her daughters birthday and the party that was already being prepared was about to start and so of course my friend could not miss it, and I was very greteful that she had given me as much time as she had already, seing as it was such a special day.

Her house was in the southern part of the city, a decision she views with mixed feeling as it is cheap and near to her friends and family, but not the best place to live in terms of health and comfort and is also very far from her job in the opposite side of town. However, much like me, she has done a lot with a little and her place is a tardis in both size and appearance, and I would have gone right past it and not realised that there was anything of worth inside with a first or even second glance.

As a guest of honour I was given the quick house tour and met many family and friend members, before I got to sing Happy Birthday in English to the birthday girl, something that hopefully she will remember long after I leave and will be a fond and happy memory for her, of the time when the crazy Englishman came to her birthday party.

After the cutting of the cake I had to say my goodbyes and return to the hostel, as I didn't want to run the risk of getting locked out and also I had a lot of sleep to catch up on.

The following morning I slept in, and missed breakfast, before my friend and I who had returned to meet me for a second day, once again hit the town.

After a big breakfast we went back to the bus terminal to catch a long bus to the nature reserve, and this was one of those memory moments. The houses we past on the bus were the very oldest I had seen, wooden huts on stilts that were probably as old as the fruit trees alongside and without any of the mod cons that I take for granted on a daily basis.

Midway on the route we passed a small town and here a entire procession of venders entered the bus and went up and down the central corridor of the bus offering everything for hats, sunglasses, toilet paper, tooth paste to just about every kind of local food or beverage I could imagine, so much so that I thought if they remained any longer then they would be running the risk of the ticket inspector demanding fares from them, before they finally got off.

At the reserve we got off and my friend then informed me that this was her first time here and that we should perhaps be prepared for the occasoinal mosquito. My friend was not wrong, and after the tiny visit to the authorities just to sign in and pay the US $2 each, we set off. However we had barely gone ten steps when already the white shirt of my friend and guide had been turned black by an entire swarm of mosquitos, and the worst of it was that they were not an occasional flying swarm but they were just everywhere.

After no more than another fifiteen seconds my friend had been bitten, despite my best attempts to shoo them away and it was clear to me that without nets, heavy clothes and a complete tub of insect repellent we were not going to make it five minutes in to the reserve before we would be spending more time scratching our bites than we would be taking photos, thus it was that I made the instant and unfortunate decision to give it up as a loss and return back to central Guayaqil.

The place offered a great natural place to see much of the wildlife in Ecuador in their home environments, but I would have to say that advanced planning and preparations are essential for anyone hoping to visit the area unless of course you are blessed with skin / an odour that the mosquitos don't like or unless you enjoy playing dot to dot with mosquito bites for the next few days.

Following the unexpected early retreat I decided to treat us both and paid for us to take an hour cruise on the Pirate Ship that we had passed the previous day, and it was great fun and so many photo opportunities that I had to remember to relax and that it is not a crime to just sit and enjoy the cruise. We shared a plate of chicken and beef with chips and my only gripe is that he drinks were not big enough as in this heat I almost downed mine in one go, ice and all.

My friend had also never been on the boat before, and despite it being a fairly smooth ride on a calm sea, she began to feel a bit sick and headache by the end, which was a shame as we had also already agreed to visit the Imax cinema there and watch the latest Batman movie, yet with a headache she was probably not going to get the most out of the experience. It was both of our first visits to an Imax theatre and although it was great for the experience, the surround image is just too much to take all in and I was rubber necking to see all the subtle background action all the way, which got a little frustrating by the end.

This rounded off another fun and great day in Guayaquil and it is only a shame that for some reason the hostel have rules that forbid non guests to remain in the hostel for more than an hour, as we could easily have stayed up and chatted after dark for a few more hours, but in the end as shes in the other side of the city we said our goodnights and I retired to the tv room to watch a movie in english and enjoy a delivered pizza and coke. Regrettably the receptionist forgot to order my pizza til I reminded her almost an hour later, the coke was Pepsi and they also forbid eating and drinking in the tv room, which sort of ruined it a bit, the last straw being that the dvd itself gave up half way through and then refused to play so I just headed off to bed.