Blogs from Guayaquil, West, Ecuador, South America - page 5

Hola... Quito > Tena > Banos > Riobamba > Guayaquil So far Ecuador has far exceeded any expectations we might have had about the country. The people are super chill and go out of their way to help, always with a smile, and the landscape is ridiculously beautiful, I have never seen a country this green. But to start off....the plane ride from HELL!!!!!! So Van to Houston was no big deal, minor layover in Texas, then we get on the plane to Quito. All seems OK for the first minute, then the devil baby from hell in the seat right behind us starts to let loose. Teri and I look at each other thinkin just our luck, hopefully she (satan's spawn) will sleep. NOT. Imagine a consistent baby cry for the whole flight. On a ... read more

Leaving Peru we crossed the border into Ecuador late in the night, our final night bus of the trip. We arrived in Guayaquil around 6.45 am and quickly jumped on the 7.00am local bus to Puerto Lopez on the coast. Again we were looking for somewhere to relax, enjoy the beach and hopefully continue to have some hot weather. Unfortunately Ecuador didn't start out how we hoped. It was cold, wet and clouds covered the sky. Our first afternoon in Puerto Lopez was spent exploring the small fishing town and eating rice, chicken and beans for $2 dollars. We have become used to eating well for cheap!!! Puerto Lopez is famous for its Whale watching, especially in July and August when humpback whales come to have their babies. As we were there at the perfect time ... read more

Bon, autant le dire tout de suite, Guayaquil, c’est horrible ! Nous en parlons brièvement étant donné que nous y avons passé 1 jour et demi (de trop ?) et qu’il s’agit en soit d’une étape, mais bon… Guayaquil est la capitale économique du pays, plus de 2 millions d’habitants et une terrible réputation. Guayaquil est connue pour être inhospitalière pour le visiteur, laide et tout sauf sure. Et bien même si nous avons voulu croire à une exagération de sa renommée, nous n’y sommes pas arrivés ! Nous confirmons, Guayaquil nous a semblé totalement inhospitalière, laide à cœur, franchement pas la ville qui vous met à l’aise, malgré les milliers de policiers engagés il y a quelques années pour quadriller certaines zones de la ville et les rendre « potables ». En effet, on rencontre ... read more

After leaving the station around 5pm and hitching my last ride in the back of a truck (one gringa...6-10 Ecuadorians), I caught the 10pm bus straight to Guayaquil. I was picked up by children international at about 2pm. We went to the office to meet Viviana and her mother. I gave her the bracelet that I had made for her while I was at the reserve station. She was very shy at the beginning, I was a little nervous as well. It must be strange to meet a stranger that gives you contributions without ever having met you. I asked if she had a good birthday and if there was anything that she was in need of. Her mom said and t-shirt so we all went to the closest store and she picked one out. She ... read more

Upon leaving the farm on 11th April, I spent the following week in Nueva Prosperina with a local family who are friends of Father Martin Chambers from Kilmarnock who had worked in the neighbourhood for 5 years until last year. Nueva Prosperina is a very poor area of Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city. The area has a very special relationship with the people of Scotland due to Father Martin's work and that of the foundation which he set up (www.ecuadortrust.org.uk) and I was afforded a very warm welcome from the family I stayed with; Freddy Yesenia, Nicolle and Britanny. I spent the week teaching at the local school which was build by Fr Martin's foundation and found the kids eager to learn about Scotland and improve their English. The school just had a great atmosphere in general...everyone ... read more