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

Last day in Ecuador after 9 amazing days exploring the "Avenue of the Volcanoes" Highlights included: Standing on the Equator on March 20, one day before the Equinox - sun was right overhead. The irony of being 50 miles south of the Equator, 15,000 feet above sea-level and throwing snowballs at each other (Cotapaxi). Visiting an indigenous market full of textiles and crafts on Market day (Otavalo). Relaxing in thermal baths heated by a nearby active volcano (aptly named Banos) Eating some of the best (tasty and cheap) food on our whole trip (Posado del Arte hotel in Banos and El Jardin restaurant in Cuenca) Driving through scenery that makes the Lake District look amateur by comparison (Riobambo - Alausi) Riding on the Devil´s Nose train named by the engineers that built it as the most ... read more

Suggestion one. Tranquilizers and sedatives. Lots of them. They might be the only thing that keeps you from turning into a raving anarchist in this process. By the time you drive all the way through Central America, you are going to feel like a battle-tested road warrior who can easily handle whatever the next border can throw at them. Well, as the wise philosophers of Bachman–Turner Overdrive said “You ain't seen nothing yet”. Plan One: Ship our '77 VW Westfalia via RORO (Roll-on, Roll-off car transport ship). RORO has one big advantage which is that it is less than half the price of shipping a car in a container. Because we don't have deep pockets, we were sold. However, here is the thing; shipping companies don't like shipping single cars RORO. It is not a big ... read more

Sunday morn we got to meet Ben and Louise from england. They were also stayin with the family we were. Sunday night we walked around the city a little bit and then went to a karaoke/dance gathering. Met some more awesome people there too.... read more

Huaraz - Trujillo - Guayaquil Guayaquil ist das Tor zu den Galapagos-Inseln - selbst Fluege aus Quito muessen hier landen. Die zirka 900 Kilometer Landweg zwischen dem Andenstaedtchen Huaraz und dem Moloch Guayaquil legten wir mit Ormeño zurueck - einer weder puenktlichen noch ansprechenden panamerikanischen Busgesellschaft. De jure sassen wir knappe 40 Stunden in nach Pisse stinkenden Bussen, de facto waren wir jedoch hoellische 60 Stunden unterwegs. Erster erzwungener Zwischenstopp war Trujillo, eine postkoloniale Einoede mit bunten, maximal dreistoeckigen Gebaeuden, 700'000 Einwohnern und keiner einzigen anstaendigen Buchhandlung. In den sogenannten librerías werden leere Einbaende oder esoterische Heftchen verscherbelt und hilfreiche Ratgeber wie "Windows 97 fuer Anfaenger" feilgeboten. Klug wie wir sind, versuchten wir Geld zu sparen, indem wir auf ein Hostelzimmer ... read more

Kwesi and I are here! After way too many flights and way too many airports, Kwesi and I arrived at our hotel in Guayaquil today. I arrived around 1:30pm and Kwesi around 5:30pm. It took us a long time to get to Ecuador... We don't have much time here. We leave tomorrow morning at 8:45am for the coast. It's going to be very interesting though! This afternoon I walked around a bit and saw some interesting sights. There is a river nearby with a nice walking boulevard. I also saw a crazy park full of Iguanas... Yes, Iguanas... The iguanas went missing after dark so it's my guess that they are pets! I don't have any pictures as Kwesi had the camera. We went out as a group for dinner. It was a beautiful evening. It's ... read more