Restfull Guyaquil

After a busy busy time in the Galapagos we decided to take a few days to rest and relax, ee chose Guayaquil as its the first place our flight landed from Galapagos!

Guayaquil is the biggest city in Ecuador, with 2.5 million people, although not the capital. We managed to avoid the crowds and had a nice hotel by the river with a nice swimming pool, and more importantly a comfy bed!
Guayaquil is an old city, it was already a city of 200,000 when the Spanish arrived and they found all sorts of pottery that shows that they were trading with the rest of Central America and even up into Mexico. The city has evolved over time and spread across the different islands created by the Guay River delta. Transport was always a bit of a problem in this city but their new Cable car which runs across the river and through the newer downtown region has helped alleviate some of the traffic and its a fun way to get around.

We're staying in the Malecon district which has a new board walk stretching for 2kms down the western shore of the river, it feels very authentic and is always full of young families enjoying the free entertainment and playgrounds which have popped up. There is a small ferris wheel, a few statues and monuments as well as a Navel sailing fessel to explore. At the northern end of the Melecon is the Santa Ana Hill, a small hill with 444 steps to the top where an old lighthouse would illuminate the delta. Its a bit of a sweaty climb but the views from the top are pretty decent, across the river and the downtown area, it isn't the most inspiring sky line but still quaint.

We hit the arechological museum, contemporary art galleries, a few churches, saw the town mascot and even found a park with some iguanas because we still haven't seen enough of them. We enjoyed out time here, expecially the sleeping part, we didn't realise just how tired we were after the Galapagos, looks like we are going to need another holiday to get over this one😁Read more