Guayaquil

“All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous unpremeditated act without the benefit of experience.”

Guayaquil, Ecuador (1/30 and 1/31)

After coming down the Guayas River, we spent 2 days in Guayaquil, a port city of Ecuador located between Columbia and Peru. Due to their strategic location, they have a very large number of container ships loading and unloading there every day. Guayaquil was a major shipyard in the Pacific in colonial times and became a main stop over point for commerce between Asia and Latin America (as they went form the Philippines to Acapulco).

There are 4 regions in Ecuador: Amazon, Andes, Galapagos, and this Coastal area. This is the largest city in Ecuador with 3.2 million people (larger than the capital of Quito) and most industry is located here. It is 133 square miles with about 1/3 of the area under Natural Protection (parks). With 10 million people in 1980, 12 million in 1990, today has 17 million citizens, all exports go through this port as Ecuador is a big producer and exporter of bananas, roses well as coffee and oil. At Simon Bolivar and San Martin wanted the create the United States of South America but unfortunately it did not come to fruition since Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia decided to all be separate.

Guayaquil was never a tourist location for many years until the city was cleaned up, roads were built, social issues were corrected, and they developed the Malecon (large entertainment area). It is still not a big tourist spot from the U.S. but its proximity to the Galapagos has made it a busy tourist place for those on their way to/from South America.

Inflation was a big problem at 92% therefore few people had savings or ownership. In 2020, they converted to the U.S. dollar and inflation dropped to 3.6% today … of course, prices have increased accordingly. Unemployment 17-30% but many low-income households that barely get by on $500 per month. Education has become very important here and the illiteracy rate is only 2.8%. How do they do that? To accommodate children that work at home to help support the family (even though technically they are not allowed to work if under 16 years old), schools are open 3 shifts per day with the flexibility for all students to go any shift they wish. How’s that for a good idea?

The first day we took a tour which included an interesting tram ride to an island called Duran (some use the tram to commute to work) where there are some industrial plants where people work but also has some very nice areas where they live. Then we visited the old part of the city, Las Penas, which is quite a beautiful and preserved neighborhood of colorful houses as well as the newer built-up areas.

This is a photo of one of their cultural centers. You will notice that there are 2 beautiful murals of nurses which I found very intriguing, so I asked a few people about it. Ecuador was the first country to reach 90% vaccines in South America and has the lowest number of covid sickness and resulting deaths. Sadly, that was because they also had the most illness and deaths when covid first spread. Many of these deaths were nurses and these signs are tributes to their dedication and giving everything to save the population. This terrible start is what scared everyone into immediately having such a high vaccine rate. Why did that not happen elsewhere?

Cultural Center (photo 1)
Tram (photo 2)
Nurse Murals (photos 3 and 4)
Hospital (photo 5)
Here is a photo of a kapok tree. Note: the green trunk which saves water for the leaves when it is dry. Clever? (photo 6)
Bridge to Duran (we took the tram) (photo 7)
Houses on the cliff (great view) (photo 8)

Old buildings wood was covered in cement after 28 fires that burnt down 95% of the city.

Of course, we asked about living here. Apartments start at $150 per month and go up from there to $1000. Purchased houses are $90k to 300k for the most part (of course like anywhere you can spend 6 figures). (photos 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13)

Interesting Archeological Museum showing statues from 5-7000 years ago. The "tea pots" when boiling with water in them, make the sound of the animal they appear to be in ceramic! How do you do that? (photos 14, 15, and 16)

Monkeys of Ecuador represent the people because they talk with their hands! Don’t we all? (photos 17 and 18)

This photo is the Freedom Column to National Heroes was built in 1920 on the 100th anniversary of the Ecuadorian War of Independence from Spain on October 9, 1820. (photo 19)Read more