Guayaquil

I'm very much fond of this city. Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador and founded in 1538 (although it existed already as a peasant village) by Spanish Conquistadors and named after St. James of Guayaquil. Currently, over 3.3 million people reside here, so it is a busy, vibrant and bustling metropolis.




Traffic is crazy here! The main streets are wide and full of cars, honking taxis, noisy motorcycles and absolutely NO sense of order. There are no lanes to stay in- one just weaves and squeezes into any open space available! Even though there are traffic lights, no one really pays much attention to them. On my 10 minute ride from the airport to my hotel, my taxi driver ran through about 100 red lights. (I was so increbily tired from 23 hour journey that I didn't really seem to care much!) Crossing the streets downtown requires concentration, a St. Christopher's medal and incredible timing!



One of the very first things I noticed on my first morning here is that Guayaquil is FULL of magnificent Spanish colonial architecture - massive, palacial structures and glorious cathedrals crawling with imbellishments and intricate details. I am finding myself wandering around in AWE at some of the buildings and trying to record all of this grandeur with my camera.

Another striking observation that came immediately was the this city is swarming with armed guards, so I feel extremely safe in Guayaquil. Every single street corner has at least one security officer (most of whom look rather bored), and there are three different uniforms present indicating to me that it must be a combination of federal, municipal and private security forces. Even the public restrooms are manned (and womaned) with their own guards. I'm making sure I don't litter just to so I won't be deported.

The people are friendly and helpful. Ecuadorians are very laid-back, gentle and kind. I've already had a number of people help me without solicitation after seeing me conspicuously studying my trusted city map. Several times, these generous souls have tried to give me directions in rapid-fire Spanish (much to my frustration because nothing they said made a bit of sense to me), but still I smile and say, "Muchos gracias, amigo!" and continue on. Fortunately, I've been blessed with good navigational skills and can generally find my own way around any unknown city. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for the inate GPS system!

I'm staying in THE most upscale part of Guayaquil on the famous "Malecon"- a 1.5 mile brick-lined boardwalk that stretches along the Guayas River and home to many of the city's major landmarks as well as many museums, restaurants, historic monuments, gardens full of tropical plants and palm trees full of multi-colored iguanas sunning themselves in the branches, statues, shops and fountains. Last night, at around 11 PM, I strolled down the Malecon feeling the cool evening breeze among the thousands of others out and about when suddenly a 200-man Ecuadorian naval band all dressed in their crisp white uniforms appeared, set up their instruments and began playing the most wonderful, lively, sensuous Latin music with a cadre of vocalists and instantly an enormous and appreciative crowd gathered singing along and dancing to the wonderful, enchanting and soul-stirring sounds. The spellbinding, moon-lit concert lasted over an hour, and I stayed for the entire time treating myself to a decadent, double scoop ice cream cone to celebrate this unexpected, magical experience. As the band finished its set, the leader came to the microphone and called out, "Viva, Guayaquil!" and the audience responded with an enthusiastic and heartfelt, "VIVA!! VIVA!! VIVA!!"

Indeed, long live the city of Guayaquil!