Blogs from Guayaquil, West, Ecuador, South America

South America - just what is it that allures so very many to this continent, and just how many vital superlatives does it play host to? Well, clearly, something must have worked out in the realm of the positive, since it was this traveller's third visit to the continent, and an experience which would amount to a total of 7 countries visited on the continent. Ecuador is neither the wealthiest nor most prominent nation in South America, and in tourism terms, is perhaps most famous for visitors to the Galapogos, an outlying set of islands just off the western coast which this traveller was not even going to touch upon. The first port of call happened to be the nation's largest conurbation of Guayaquil which turned out to be a highly strategic starting point for an ... read more

In 2008 I spent a night in Guayaquil before finding a last-minute flight to the Galapagos Islands. My only memory of the city is my bewilderment as I ventured into the raucous, bustling concrete jungle on a Friday night. A friendly local approached me and I had little choice but to let him help me navigate the chaos. So the only thing I was looking forward to this time around was finding some warmth after the relative cold and rainy Cuenca. I had two days to wait for my homeward flight, so I tried to make the most of it. ISLA SANTAY It's worth the visit just to get some peace so close to the city itself. There is a walking-biking bridge across the river from near the malecon. It's free to enter, but take a ... read more

Original plan of meeting Nadia at 09:00 was changed to 10:00 as Nadia thought Daisy would like a little more time to rest and she was correct. This gave me a bit of time to catch up on the travel blog as well. At 10:00 Nadia drove us to the Guayaquil Historical Park, which was the main attraction I planned to see but unfortunately when we got there, we were told the park was closed just for that day for maintenance, so that was a bit of bad luck as I originally planned to go there the day before but as it closed at 16:30 we didn’t think we had enough time. You win some, you lose some. Instead Nadia drove us to an interesting commercial development which has offices but also lots of cafes and ... read more

Suzanne here... We didn't plan to come to Guayaquil. I'd heard damning reports about the place, merely a necessary stop before the Galapagos. But after much soul-searching, we're not going to the Galapagos. I know, I know. It's practically obligitory when you visit Ecuador, right? Well, not for us. One reason is that we know the place is over-visited. This is a concern partly as we don't really want to be crammed together with hundreds of other people. But also because we are very aware that this level of mass tourism is damaging all that makes the place special. Plus it's incredibly expensive, and our budget has been hit hard as it is. The main reason for going is the wildlife. But none of the wildlife excited us as much as the animals and birds we ... read more

We flew from Lima to Guayaqui, Ecuado. From the window of the plane we could see large houses sitting on canals, it looked similar to Fort Lauderdale. We rented a room through Airbnb and Manuel was waiting at the airport to walk us to his apartment. The neighborhood near the airport is not very good but we are only spending the night so it is convient for a short turn around. We decide to visit The Parque Historico, it is listed as the #1 activity on Trip Advisor. We grabbed a taxie but I do not think it was an official taxie because the driver did not know where the Parque Historico was, so we showed him where the park was on a map. We ask him how much the ride costs and he said $8.00, ... read more