Guayaquil - (that's whay-a-kill, canny lad)

  Guayaquil, Ecuador
Friday, April 4, 2008

So, Wednesday morning, we're at sea level with Jane still dizzy and wobbly but thankfully not nauseous.  We flew to Guayaquil in Ecuador, a place that sounded like it had been discovered by Geordie explorers.
 
The flight, our last on LAN, was on a half-full brand-new Boeing 767, with full entertainment.  I started to watch the Golden Compass.  I knew the film was two hours long and the flight only one and a half, but I was strangely drawn to it....idiot.  I'll have to buy the DVD now.
 
We were met at Guayaquil by our guide William (William, Oliver....they all sound a bit Surrey really.  Can't wait to meet Nigel at our next stop).  He gave us a quick run down of the city (safe, great river front walk, better than Quito...errr - that's it) then dropped us at the hotel.  We were due to meet him the next day for a city tour.
 
We had  a long walk that afternoon. The town was really buzzy and typically South American.  Manic drivers, taking no prisoners; haughty pedestrians showing no fear and refusing to acknowledge the cars.  On every street corner there were old ladies and urchins selling coca cola in plastic cups from 2 litre bottles for 5c. (is that too Dickensian, urchins?  Lummee governor, errr, senor, you're a real toff, thankee).  Jane points out that there were also lots of smart young men selling the cola.  Funny, I never noticed.

 

The architecture was a mix of fairly low rise buildings with the odd office block.  All had colonnades providing some shade and shelter from the regular rain showers.  Every now and again we would come across the inevitable town squares full of statues of liberating heroes of the past. 



One of these, outside the cathedral, was bizarrely teeming with land iguanas.  These creatures had no fear of humans, and crawled around on the ground as well as basking in the treetops and crapping on the crowd down below, with a mass and force simply unimagined by the pigeons in Trafalgar Square.
 


As Jane was still feeling dizzy, we had a quiet meal at the hotel at..... the Fondue Restaurant! No, really. 


 
The next day we called in the hotel doctor as Jane was still feeling wobbly, and we were about to set off for a one week cruise of the Galapagos.  The last thing she needed was motion sickness before she had set foot on board. 
 
The hotel were great.  They sent up the Doctor, the Doctor's Assistant, the Doctor's Translator and the Hotel Representative. With me, that was five off us all crowding around Jane, who was sat at the bottom of the bed.  You don't realise how small a hotel room is until you try having a party in it. 
 
The Doctor diagnosed an inflammation of the ear, and prescribed two sets of pills, which cost about £1.50 in total.  Who is ripping off whom in the international pharmaceutical trade?
 
We had a tour of the city with William, spending a good deal of time at the Malecon, the riverside walk.  The locals (Guayaquillians? Guayaquilados?) are all justifiably proud of this development, which has given a real focal point to the town.  It has a botanical garden, bars, restaurants and a cultural centre as well as a kids' park, and is really well used. 
 
We went round the old part of town, and came across a local TV station filming Barney the Dinosaur (I thought Entertainment Rights owned that?)We also had a stroll through the market, which was a bit lively and where, for the only time I didn't feel 100% safe. 


 
There were dozens of shops selling knock-off  DVDs for $1.  You see this kind of thing and wonder what the Studios are doing about protecting their IP.  Well, I do anyway.
 
With Jane already running up and down her perch and a lot happier, we went out for a meal at the Blue Snail restaurant, were entertained by Flamenco dancers, and actually polished off a bottle of wine.  Normality had returned.  Now for the Galapagos.