Blogs from Guayaquil, West, Ecuador, South America - page 6

Guayaquil, like Quito, is one of the biggest cities in Ecuador. Being located right on the coast it is huge with importing and exporting goods. However its climate is more comparable to that of Galapagos because again of its coastal location. Guayaquil is the destination of most people in the Galapagos when they need to do shopping, complex medical procedures, schooling, etc because it is only a short (and reasonably cheap) hour and a half flight. I am not a big city person, so Guayaquil was just another Quito in my mind. It was still nice though and I enjoyed my time! ... read more

Hola noch mal... fuer alle, die sich ueber den letzten Blog amuesiert haben... hier kommt mal was anderes, wirklich schlechte Nachrichten: ALLES WEG!!!!! Sind vogestern abend AUSGERAUBT worden (dh. der Carina die Tasche runtergerissen)... und wir waren nicht total unvorsichtig, aber wir waren nur 30 sek von der Touristenstrasse entfernt und es ging so schnell und der Henkel der Tasche ist gerissen und weg war er! Keine Chance! Naja, und so fehlen uns jetzt BEIDE Cameras (eh super, das war das erste mal, dass wir ueberhaupt beide mithatten und noch dazu in einer Tasche - und mit ALLEN fotos - also sorry, nix is mehr mit Updates aus Peru!), Maxi´s ganze Geltasche mit Fuehrerschein und Kreditkaten etc. und Carina´s Reisepass! Haben mittlerweile Stunden am Telefon und Internet und am Konsulat verbracht, uns geaergert und die Nerven ... read more

One of the mysteries of this trip was why Globus booked our flight home the way they did. Instead of flying from Baltra to Quito and staying there overnight and just catching a flight to Miami, instead we flew from Baltra to Guayaquil. And tomorrow morning we have a ridiculously early flight to Quito to change planes for Miami. I really think it´s silly! But, I have faith it will work out and I'll get home at some point. This morning was the walk to the boat to the bus to the Darwin Center back on the bus to the ferry to the bus to the airport. If that sounds like a confusing morning, it was. Left the hotel at 6:45-ish (in South America, it never seems we are actually leaving the time we say we ... read more

On arrival at our hostel there was some confusion as to our reservation so we ended up having to wait an hour in the lounge area till the owner arrived. Thankfully all was sorted and we were soon shown our beds. Our plan for Guayaquil was to make enquiries about going to the Galapagos Islands. The intention had always been that Sharon and I would go together and explore the islands and then Sharon would do a cruise as I always maintained it was out of my budget to do a cruise. Things quickly changed!! Having slept for awhile Sharon and I got up and decided to head into the centre of Guayaquil. We went around the history museum which was interesting at the beginning however became a bit waring towards the end as it was ... read more

JULY 16. LEAVING GUARANDA. 2500M. SEAT 12F. THIS BUS COULDNT BE ANYMORE HOT AND CROWDED. "I've got lots of pictures in my head...you better not turn off the pro-jec-tor" -SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM It turns out that finding the right bus to your next location is actually quite easy in this country..all you ned to do is stand in the middle of the bus terminal with your backpack on and a confused look on your face, eventually 20 different bus drivers assistants will approach you yelling their destination. After storing my luggage, I board the bus and sit directly above the under-carriage so I can keep an eye on my backpack. You can never be too careful. Climbing through the mountains outside of Guaranda we hit roadworks...the minutes turn into an hour and in the scorching heat ... read more

SCROLL DOWN FOR ENGLISH. Salut tout le monde!!! Ca fait un petit bout! Je suis arrive ici a Guayaquil la semaine derniere (Mercredi) sur un avion en provenance de Quito. Je reste ici chez mon ami Andres et sa blonde Paula (avec qui j'ai reste a Bogota en Colombie) est aussi ici pour quelques semaines. Guayaquil est la plus grosse ville du pays. Je pense qu'il y a environ 4 million de personnes ici mais tuez moi pas svp si j'ai tort. La premiere journee que je suis arrivee nous sommes alles visiter le Malecon 2000. C'est une espece de promenade en bois qui longe une des rivieres dans la ville et il y a pleins de petits restaurants, magasins, un cinema IMAX, etc. Aussi nous avions visite le Parque Historico. C'est un espece de parc ... read more

Before I 1st came to Sth America I had a vision in my head of mountainous jungles ,the Sth Am we see in all the movies.I saw many desert like mountains ,without even a blade of grass and I saw great jungles but never the 2 together.In Argentina and Chle the have beautiful snowcapped mountains but still not what I had imagined.I crossed the border into Ecuador ,this week ,and almost imediatly it was the Sth Am of my dreams and as I travel further Nth the jungle gets thicker. Well Im getting a bit ahead of myself so Ill backtrack and tell how I got here.I was a bit worried that I might have forgotten all the Spanish Id learned last year but as soon as I got on the LAN flight ,in Sydney, I ... read more

UK - Ecuador connections (Banco Central, British Council, Olon & Ballenita etc etc...) Visa dilemma and panic - Viviana illegal in her own country?! Health scares and costs - "life" turning full circle near the old British Council... Sofia´s school...and dog training with Ñato. A good gig, a 50th anniversary couple and mutual applause! $2 parking argument! Breakfast! Sofia´s beach pool and 7 little helpers - faith restored in the human race - pause for philisophical and sociological thoughts! A duck, chicken or a goose? More mad driving in Ecuador! A satisfying weekend... Sofia´s "smoke tattoo"... ... read more