This morning I woke up to find messages from home on my phone. I swiped in and read them, and was surprised to see a video of my gorgeous niece Tessa. My sister in law had managed to catch Tessa in the bath, calling out my name. She then said that she wanted to see me. That was it. I started to cry!! (I still get teary thinking about it). I miss all my family so much, so seeing this actually made me feel home sick. For the first time in 3 months, I was homesick. I don't think it helped that I had just lost my amazing glamazon friends, who would be on a plane back to oz as I type. I really need to get out of this funk.
So up I jumped, I got ready and then headed down for breakfast. Breakie for one, wasn't really doing anything for curing my homesickness. Really, eating is now starting to become a chore. Strange for someone who really loves their food as much as I do to say this, however buffet breakfasts really does nothing to spark my interest in food. Luke warm, dry food.... Need I say any more??? I finished my bowl of cereal, my cup of coffee and an orange juice and went back to my room.
I packed my bag for the day... Today I was just going to walk around and explore. I wanted to head back to Malecon 2000 and check that out a bit more.
So backpack on, I walked the 15 or so blocks down to the Malecon. It was busy as always.... and the same decision plagued me.... Left or right. I thought I would go back down to the left hand side first. I had already seen a lot of it, however I didn't go all the way to the end.... so that was the aim. I thought that I would be able to do this side a lot quicker as well. So I walked down, and saw the same things that I saw the other day. The children's play ground, the carnival (which was a lot quieter today, as it's hours of operation are between 4 and 11pm. I walked past the botanical gardens with their wooden boardwalks. A notable difference today, was the fact that a lot of the fountains were working today. The other day they weren't working, so it was great to see all of the fountains in full swing. I then reached the end point that I had gotten to the other day, so from this point on was all new. I continued along the garden lined walk way. The flowers were in full bloom, making this area just so colourful and welcoming.
I walked to the end of the walkway, where I was greeted by some amazing views of the river. There was also this beautiful colourful town that had been built up on the mountain side. At the very top of this mountain side town was a blue and white lighthouse. It looked like a candy cane, with it's blue and white diagonal stripes painted on its exterior. As I looked around, I noticed that there was another pathway. Does this lead up to this town and the lighthouse?? No better way to find out than to try. So off I went.
I started to walk up some stairs, and as I looked up I saw a sign with a picture of this township and the lighthouse with the words 'Barrio Las Peñas'. I'm heading in the right direction. I started to walk up the narrow cobble stone road, and the houses started to resemble a rainbow. The colours that these houses were painted were just so stunning. Bright blues, yellows, and purples, with all the window trimmings painted in bright white. It just looked like a happy town!!
I then reached another set stairs.... Up I went. There were a hell of a lot of stairs... Safe to say that I don't need to pick up a reebok step class this afternoon. As I finished one flight of stairs, I was greeted by the next flight. Scattered all the way along the trail up to the top of the mountain were security guards. Just a constant reminder that you are in a different country. Again, I felt safe... but more so because of the security presence, rather than the general feel of the neighbourhood. I honestly believe that if you took a wrong turn and ended up on the mountain at night, things might not be feeling as safe!!
I eventually made my way to the top.... and I noticed on the last couple of flights of stairs, each individual stair had a number on it. I climbed the 444th and final step, and looked up to find the big blue and white lighthouse towering above me. Surrounding it was a large number of cannons.... and just to soften the mood a little, some beautiful purple and pink flowers. There was also an old church located up on top of the hill, right along side the lighthouse. I walked around and took in the amazing panoramic views of Guayquil and it's surrounding river system.
There was only one more thing that I needed to do, climb the lighthouse. I braved the iron spiral stair case, and climbed my way to the top. Again, the views were just spectacular!! I just stood at the top of that light house and took all of those views in. Still so surreal to think that I am half way across the world, embarking on this once in a life time journey!!!
It was time to climb back down. So down the spiral stair case I went. I investigated the entire area on top of the hill... they had built some replica sail ships and had some old anchors just lying around. I'm guessing they were going for a nautical theme!!
Finally it was time to make my way back down to the Malecon. What goes up, must come down.... and I descended down the 444 stairs back to the boardwalk. I did have to stop off for a bottle of water on the way down though. It was hot, and I was thirsty!!
I eventually made my way back to the concourse, and started to walk back to where I had started. Even though I had walked through the botanical gardens before, I decided that as it was such a beautiful walk that I would do it all over again!!!
I made it back to where I had started my walk this morning. It was time to go right. This side of the courseway was going to be new territory and again it didn't disappoint me. There were statues and monuments strategically placed all the way down the walk way. The gardens also continued, all in full bloom. It just made the walkway so attractive.
I came across a pond, which had those big inflatable balls that kids were in. They were rolling their way around the top of the pond, laughing and giggling the entire time.
There was a beautiful old clock tower... and when I looked out on to the street I could see the wonderful old buildings that made up the old town. Mental note, I have to check out the street front on my way back.
I continued along the board walk... Through a couple of outdoor food courts, past a sail ship and eventually I came to a huge artesian craft market. My bag really wouldn't love me if I went in there and stared buying things... Neither would the airline baggage limit!! I'm already pushing the boundaries, so I resisted temptation and turned around and headed back.
This time I walked along the pathway closer to the street. Here I could appreciate the old buildings that lined the main street. I saw a really nice plaza, with some monuments and a church a few blocks up, so I decided that I would investigate this area a bit more. So I left the safety of the Malecon, and waited to cross the street to the plaza. A really sweet guy stopped and started to talk to me in English. He was telling me places that I should go to, and again explained that tomorrow was Independence Day. He later advised me that he had actually missed his bus so he could help me out. I felt so bad.... as I actually knew exactly where I was going... It must be the blonde hair.... I must just looked dazed and confused all the time!!! I bid the nice man farewell, and then continued on to the plaza.
It turns out that this is the plaza of independence. I'm guessing this place will be rocking tomorrow!!! It went a long way to explain why there were so many men around, mopping the pavement, water pressure cleaning the monuments, picking up rubbish!!
I continued along the road, heading towards the grand church that I could see a few blocks away. I came to a park, and here they again had the most spectacular sculptured gardens. There was yet another water feature, again with a pond full of koi fish happily swimming around.
I had a closer look at the church. The steeples looked as though they were made from a mosaic of mirrors, glistening in the sun. The church was open to visitors, however feeling a bit churched out, I decided to skip this one. The opulence of the churches actually saddens me sometimes.... so much money is sitting in here decorating these churches, whilst beggars sit in the garden no more than 10m from the church.
As I walked back through the park, I had to laugh. The kids were all so fascinated by the pigeons... they were looking at them, feeding them, and chasing them. I on the other hand, was more fascinated by the 5 or so iguanas that were lazily lying in the sun. Just goes to show how common these iguanas are to the kids in Equador... They would much rather play with pigeons than iguanas!!
So again I headed back to the safety of the Malecon and continued walking back to the hotel.
5 hours of continual walking had me beat. So I decided to sit out by the pool and soak up the Guayquil rays.
The pool temperature board said that the pool was 25 degrees, but after yesterday's pool incident there was no way I was going in. Instead I dangled my legs in the water, and sent some messages back home, now that it was morning there. So good to hear from my beautiful sister in laws!!!
I ended up lying on a banana lounge for a while, after all it was my last day in Guayquil, I have to enjoy the warm weather while I have it.
I watched as a mother and her two children came to the pool area. The kids were so cute, decked out in their bathers, robe and goggles. The mother I think was just happy also soaking up the sun!! The kids madly dashed to the pool and dangled their legs in. It was funny as I saw the actual moment that they realised that this pool was not only cold, but freezing!! The excitement of jumping into the pool soon evaporated. It soon came down to the mother threatening the kids that if they didn't get in the pool, that they would leave. She even started counting to 10. Eventually the older girl took the plunge. It was cold, but she was adamant that she wanted to swim. It took her younger brother a lot more encouragement to get all the way in, and eventually his sister just dragged him in!! They must have got used to the pool temperature, as I soon left them playing quite happily in the pool.
I returned to my room, and again just rested up for a while. I started to look over my itinerary for the remainder of my holiday. Time to work out what the plans are. I started to organise things for my flight tomorrow, like getting my ticket reservation paperwork out, and the hotel address. As I was no longer on my Globus tour, I actually had to unpack my brain from my luggage and start to get my head around the next few days.
I looked over the remainder of my holiday plans.... the realisation hit, I still have some really cool adventures heading my way!!!
Time for dinner. I again decided to head to my favourite Chinese restaurant for another fried rice. It was so delicious last night, that I just couldn't go past it again tonight.
After dinner I called my mum and dad back home. So great to hear their voices!!! I also wished my mum and very happy birthday for a couple of days time.... just in case I didn't have internet access!!!
It was then time to pack my bags again. I started to put all of my belongings into their corresponding bags. By this stage I have a system. Every article of clothing and every object on my trip has an allocated bag and a particular location in that bag. If I follow this system everything seems to fit.... just!!! I'm not going against the system now!!
All packed I settled in an watched the Steve Jobs movie.