Hacienda Pradera

This new-to-us port #7 was made possible only because our ports of call in Peru were canceled due to unrest in that country. We get an overnight here to explore the city while we await the return of our Galapagos adventurers.

The commercial port is about a 30-minute drive from the city center. The Port Authority provided complimentary shuttle service for those of us who wished to explore the city independently. Mui and I were on the first bus at 8:30a … with maybe 10-15 other passengers … and a police escort to ensure we didn’t get stuck in traffic.

We’d been warned that Guayaquil is not the safest of cities. Friends had said so. And so had Javier, our guide in Manta yesterday. But he gave us some specific areas where we would be safe. And we were.

The shuttle dropped us off at Parque Seminario, which is famous for its iguanas … and in fact, the shuttle rep called it Iguana Park. Of course, we checked them out. Then we stopped into Catedral de Guayaquil near the park for a bit before continuing onto City Hall where we were told that there was a tourist info center on the first floor … more like an office where you could pick up a map. They were willing to answer questions, but no one seemed to speak English and our pigeon Spanish was not sufficient to have a meaningful conversation.

From City Hall, we made our way to Malecón 2000, a 2.5-km boardwalk along Rio Guayas. It was hot — 82F around 11:00a. Worse … it was humid, humid, humid. Sweat was pouring out of every pore … no lady-like “glistening” here. But we persisted, guzzling water like crazy and giving thanks to the mostly cloudy skies that minimized the sun’s heat just a bit. We strolled the length of the Malecón, stopping frequently to take photos of statues, monuments, the clock tower, the gardens, and of course, the ubiquitous giant letters that spell out the name of the city.

Our plan for the day, included hiking up to the top of Cerro Santa Ana by way of one of stairs built into the hillside. But by the time we got to the end of the Malecón, we were drained. So, we decided to put that on tomorrow’s agenda and go to the Museum of Anthropology and Contemporary Art instead … forgetting that it was Monday and the place was closed. Oh well, we’ve put that on tomorrow’s agenda as well.

Javier had suggested that we could find a place for lunch on Calle Panama, so we headed there next. The couple of places we had in mind were closed, and we ended up at La Taqueria de La Doña where we had tacos. The food was very tasty, but perhaps the best thing about the place we selected was that there was a light breeze to cool us off during our al fresco meal. Perhaps even better, when we went into Chokolat, a “bar de postres” (dessert bar), they had air conditioning. By the way, the chocolate desserts we ordered were yummy … very rich, too.

We decided to retrace our steps back via the Malecón to City Hall and check out a museum we had spied across the road from it. Turns out that the primary exhibits at Museo Nahim Isaias are of Colonial art from the period between the 16th and 19th centuries … all of which were religious in nature. But on the second floor we found a photography exhibit featuring the work of expat Philip Hall, a graduate of the California Institute of Arts. The images all featured classic cars … in a colorful, abstract manner that we enjoyed.

When we left the museum, our feet were willing to continue exploring. Our bodies were not. We were drained.

We walked back to Parque Seminario to pick up the shuttle back to the port. Unlike this morning when the shuttle wasn’t even half full, the 2:30p bus was packed … every seat taken. It was a quiet ride back … everyone seemed as drained as we were. No police escort this time … the driver managed to navigate the smooth flowing traffic on his own to return us to Insignia shortly after 3:00p.

Tomorrow’s another day of exploration.Read more