Guayaquil June 3 - 5

We left Mancora around lunchtime on the Friday and boarded the cheapo local bus to Guayaquil, Ecuador. There were a few tourists on board, and being local the bus stopped numerous times. The boarding crossings were a bit more official than others we have encountered in SA so far and we also had to stop at Police check points for them to search the bus. I was just happy that my bag wasn't taken off and emptied as that would just be a pain in the ass, having to repack everything in the little space that there is.

Once we got to the border a lot of other people got off and boarded different buses as we were all going to different cities. This left Zara and I alone with a bunch of locals, many of which seemed to constantly stare at us! On arrival at the enormous bus station (which apparently the locals are very proud of) we headed through the Mall which contained numerous shops, plus a KFC and McDonalds and caught a cab to the centre.

Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador and hugely important for trade in the country. It is situated on a large river and enjoys a hot and sticky climate year round. This was good for us in some ways after spending so long in cold weather, but made for a sweaty day of sightseeing!

There aren't many hostels in the city and if you can find one they aren't very good quality so we found ourselves checking into a nice hotel which cost about 12 pounds each a night, for a large room with cable TV and a decent breakfast. It felt like we were having a bit of luxury for once. After settling in we went to find something to eat, but being pretty late most restaurants were closed so we found ourselves in an Ecuadorian upmarket fast food restaurant! The food was pretty good and even served on wooden slabs! Our initial thoughts though were that Ecuador definitely wasn't as cheap as Peru or Bolivia which I think is largely due to the huge American influence on the country.

After a random nights sleep where we both had crazy dreams (I was the front of a Panto horse yet not on stage, just in real life - I guess that's better than shouting random stuff in dorms or on buses in my sleep though), we prepared ourselves for a day of sightseeing. We set off through the Black Market (a market full of very bad fake clothes and bags) which definitely wasn't a patch on the Hong Kong markets, then through an artisan market before reaching the riverside. The locals are very proud of their waterfront as back in 2000 they received a grant to develop the area into the great promenade that it is today. It is a very different side to the South America we have seen so far, but beautiful at the same time. We wandered from one end to the other (about 3km) seeing various monuments, one of which you could stand at either end of the wall and talk to each other as it echoes along the wall. There were many large wooden sails, towers to climb for views which represent the elements, pirate ships, gardens and an exhibition of arty horses! It was really nice to see a different side and have a walk along the riverside!

After this we decided to head up Santa Ana hill. The ascend this hill you have to climb 444 steps in the midday sun, through cute little cobbled streets lined with cafes and restaurants. Once you reach the top you are presented with a well kept lighthouse and great views of the city. Also at the top of the hill is a cute little chapel. Apparently there are still many original cannons on this hill that were used to defend the city many years ago.

Feeling energetic we decided that we would get all the touristy things done in one day and headed out to Parque Historico. This is obviously a park, but it is divided into three sections, one of which has lots of indigenous animals and plants, including beautiful parrots, sloths, caiman, monkeys, tapir, crocs to name a few. The pictures we took made it look like we were in the jungle, but that is yet to come! Another section shows a replica of a doctors house, but it looked unfinished and the third part has an urban farm and indigenous persons house which you get to look around. They show you the different areas of the wooden house and also how they use eaten corn on the cobs as toilet paper! Looked a bit painful to me!

The evening was spent enjoying some good food and watching House on an English cable channel! We know how to party!