Behind iron gates...

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I passed my dirty underwear and socks through the little trapdoor in the iron gate, depositing them in the waiting hands of the tiny, wizened laundress. She smiled and said: mañana... Thus is business done in Guayaquil.

It is hard to believe that Quito and Guayaquil are in the same country. Although only a 35 minute flight apart (or a torturous 8 or 9 hour bus ride down the slope of the Andes), the cities are different worlds. Guayaquil pulses with frenetic energy, the streets alive with screeching, careening traffic. Quito is a bit more stately. Guayaquil is tropical, the air dense with humidity (and not the cool type of the cloud forests!), the heat arriving early and lingering long after dark. Quito, even with the intensity of the high altitude sun, still tends to be cool in the shade. Here the focus is on the new, making it big. Quito seems to treasure its past.

Guayaquil also used to be considered one of Ecuador's most dangerous, though it is obvious the muncipal government is doing much to change that image. The downtown river frontage, stretching for several kilometers along the muddy, churning Río Guayas, has been transformed into the Malecón 2000, a glittering park of gardens, food stands, and monuments. The neighboring neighborhoods of Las Peñas and Cerro Santa Ana have been returned to their former glories, providing a glimpse of an earlier, colorful Guayaquil. Still, one passes laundry - or buys groceries, or gets shoes repaired, etc. - through iron gates in some parts of town. Still, behind the new paint and thechic cafés are dangerous slums. Still, there is a great clash of wealth and poverty.

On a different note: the parks crawl with prehistoric iguanas, munching on lettuce. Sort of reminded me of the "monsters" in the original Flash Gordon series!

A fascinating way to end my stay in Ecuador. Now on to Peru!

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Comments

[k8southern]

Iguanas!
Lettuce-munching iguanas - they sound so cute! Stay safe during your travels! I mean that. As your elder I command it. :-0

[DAD]

Jame, Do those iguanas eat those bugs from previous blogs? Been passing around your blog. Love, Dad

[Sheldon]

Incongruence
Yeah even within the city it seems like a total mixture of modernity and antiquity, affluence and penury. What's really interesting for me is the scene of houses on the hillside; it could be Trinidad or Venezuela with ease.