Cowbright: Can you say Guayaquil? (me neither)

We didn't have an excursion planned in Guayaquil but we could ride the shuttle from the port into the city center so we did just that. I was really in search of nothing more than a postcard. You would think in a city of this size that would be an easy thing to do, but no (sorry, Josie!) But we were still glad we were able to see a bit of the city which we wouldn't have otherwise.

Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador. It is known as the gateway to Pacific beaches and the Galapagos Islands. A bit of history from our Currents publication - "Guayaquil was founded on July 25, 1538 by Spanish conqueror Francisco de Orellana in the location of a native village and given the name Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de Guayaquil (Most Noble and Most Loyal City of Santiago of Guayaquil). It has a fascinating history but I won't relate hat here.

I read that the typical cuisine here includes mainly seafood dishes consisting of shrimp or tuna with a coconut sauce and rice. Also (for breakfast) the fried plantain with cheese inside like I tried yesterday.

We were dropped off at Parque Seminario (1895) which is a beautiful park in the middle of a bustling area of the city. As soon as we got off the bus, I started taking pictures of the unusual trees and the iguanas in the park. We did a lot of walking within a few blocks of the square and also went into a multi-level mall which seem to cater mostly to teenagers. I tried asking in a number of places where I might find post cards but couldn't communicate with anyone enough for them to know what I was asking for. A pedestrian saw our efforts and could speak English so he tried to help us but there were none to be found in the area even though there were plenty of street vendors around. In spite of the many tour buses, it seemed they mainly catered to locals with snacks and also for objects relating to worship in the huge cathedral.

Monitor lizard in Guayaquil


unusual trees

One of the things we noticed here in this busy city is that parking spaces are premium. Drivers try to squeeze into seemingly impossible spaces. Pedestrians will stop and help a driver parallel park into a spot that only has a couple of inches to spare. Also if there are spaces too small for cars to squeeze in, several motorcycles will fill the space.


parking is not easy!

I slipped inside the open cathedral just across from the park to snap a few photos of its interior.


beautiful Catedral de Guayaquil next to Parque Seminario

I'll add a few snaps taken as we walked the few blocks of the park area. The weather was pleasant but after all the walking I think we were both ready to get back to the air conditioned shuttle!