Guayaquil

Iguanas in Parque de la Seminario, Guayaquil, Ecua

The best thing in Guayaquil are the iguanas. They cover the entire Parque de la Seminario where they climb the trees and if you are not attentive you may get a gift from heaven placed on your shirt. Some are very large and command most of the attention but all are quiet and not afraid of the many people that pass daily through the park. In the night they seem to embrace the base of Simon Bolivar’s statue, going to sleep possibly infused by his unfulfilled dream of unification…

Parque de la Seminario, Guayaquil, Ecuador

…a dream that unfortunately could not deliver for many of the residents of Latin America.

Shoeshine

Post office building, Guayaquil, Ecuador

Not much remained from the old architecture of Guayaquil, a city-harbor close to the Pacific. But what made the news in the past years was the remarkable rejuvenation of the city’s Malecon, made into an elegant promenade along Rio Guayas, full of attractions, restaurants and terraces.

Malecon, Guayaquil, Ecuador

City Hall, Guayaquil, Ecuador

Teleferico

The city has also an “aero via” – a funicular – that connects the river shores and rides on on top of the avenues till Parque Centenario at the end of Avenida “9 Octobre”. It’s a cool thing to take a ride in the “funiculario” and watch from above a not so appealing city marred in sprawling urban development

Cerro Santa Anna, Guayaquil, Ecuador

A nice walk was climbing the Santa Anna hill covered in tiny old houses, an explosion of colors that seem to cascade towards the river bellow. On top of the hill with great views around are the ruins of the old Spanish fort that defended the city and the lighthouse that guided ships for centuries. After climbing the 400+ steps to the top the most sensible thing to do is to stop on one of the terraces hanging on the side of the hill and enjoy “una cerveza fria” admiring the lazy flow of the river bellow in the sunset.

Guayas Riverfrom Cerro Santa Anna, Guayaquil, Ecuador

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Protests

Newspapers in Guayaquil

The plane tickets were purchased. Rain jackets, boots, large backpacks, all were ready for the planned hikes in the Andes. Everything was timed around Inti Ramye, the Inca solstice fiesta, celebrated in the entire Mundo Andino. Many years ago when we traveled to Peru we missed just by a couple of days the famous celebrations that happen yearly in Sachsayhuaman, the mountain top Inca citadel overlooking Cusco, the old Inca capital. But now we had everything planned to nail the celebrations in Ecuador.

And only three days before our departure all hell turned loose. The indigenous protests that simmered in the past year exploded just several days before. Marches and riots entrapped the entire country’s highlands. The protesters organized by the powerful indigenous syndicate CONAIE closed most of the roads. Its leader, Leonidas Iza, was arrested and swiftly released under street pressure and all three districts around Quito were completely paralyzed. Roads barricaded, stores closed, police making arrests, burning tires on the roads and life of thousands placed on a temporary hold. Meanwhile the Quito government and the president moved to Guayaquil. Our contact Carlos in Quito kept updating us on the fluid situation but nothing looked good. He tried to bring some travelers to Otavalo but could not go too far and had to return to the capital.

The protest started on June 13 and right after we bought the tickets the government declared on June 18 a state of emergency.  We were advised to cancel our travels and it seemed that this may have been the reasonable thing to do but some of our flights were not cancelable.

I knew about a site galapagoslastminutes.com that sold boat cruises to Galapagos Archipelago, a two hours flight from Guayaquil. These were the islands where Darwin came up to do his research that introduced the revolutionary concept of evolution of the species.

On June 21 we canceled all flights that could be cancelable, bought other needed flight legs, paid for an 8-day cruise to Galapagos, changed our boots and raingear for bathing suits and on June 24 we landed late evening in Guayaquil, close to the Ecuadorian coast of the Pacific spared till then by protests but ready to face them if needed.

I never thought that using that site would ever come up exactly as they state in its name: last minute.

Police ready to quell the protests near Parque Centenario, Guayaquil, Ecuador

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