Guayaquil (with photos)

March 11, 2012. 10:02 pm. Guayaquil.

We have decided this hotel is a vacation from our vacation. We are spending a lot of time in our room. We did manage to get out a couple of times though. This morning we went to the Malacon and walked in the other direction (South) because we saw there was a mercado artisanal (artist market) in that direction. We left at 10:30 but it was already so hot. After a couple of km, we found the market. It was unspectacular. Yes, I bought a bag, but a tiny one (just in case my pen explodes again...).

We had a Sweet & Coffee (a coffee shop) ham and cheese sandwich and coffee (of course) for breakfast. After the 'mercado' we headed back to the hotel but we found a local market. The artist's market was about 10 stores, the local market must have been 500 stores. Fortunately, we don't need plastic buckets, kids clothes, pet supplies, knock off shoes or other daily products. So no purchases there.

We saw a church steeple as we walked back so we went there; if there is a church, I must photograph it - I think it is an illness (genetically lapsed Catholicism??). The church was pretty but the awesome part was the square out front. It was full (FULL!) of iguanas. (It was like the Bolivian tree lizards had invaded Springfield and nobody was importing Chinese Needle Snakes to deal with them). People were touching them and feeding them. I wasn't too keen to make contact and Val outright hated it - not a lizard fan apparently.





A non-Iguana interloper



The church

Anyway, we got back to the room at around 2. Then it started raining a bit so we watched TV and I uploaded some pictures to the Otavalo post.

At around 6 the rain had stopped and our movie ended so we headed out for sandwiches. But the sandwich place was closed so I convinced Val to head to the touristy area called Santa Ana. But it is hilly. Here is where I discovered that I hate stairs more than I like dinner. There are (famously) 444 stairs to the top of Santa Ana. So we turned around and headed back to Avenida 9 Octobre. When we had left the hotel, there was a faint rumbling of thunder and the occasional distant flash of lightning. We knew it was going to start to rain again but we risked it and walked the 45 minutes back to Americaville. By the time we got there, I was so hungry (all we had for lunch was some pan dulce and a coke from the lobby) we contemplated Pizza Hut. But the pies were almost $20 so that definitely wasn't a go. Then we found a Chinese place. There isn't a lot open on a Sunday here. So we each ordered a $3 plate to go and hightailed it back to the hotel. It was definitely raining as we got to our street. It started to really pour (full tilt thunder and lightning too) a few minutes after we got inside. We watched it come down as we ate our Chinese. Good timing.

One more day of rest (slackassery) and then we are back on the vacation migration again. We leave for Galapagos first thing the morning of the 13th and I doubt very much we can post while we are there so I will post this tomorrow night. But now I am going to bed. Left over Chinese for breakfast unless the ants get to it first (I said it was a nice hotel, I didn't say it was clean).

March 12. 7:57 pm. Guayaquil.

We had a much busier day today. Val finished her book and I am almost finished the Onion Field so we had to find new material for our boat trip. Seven days without a book is too much to contemplate. We checked the LP book and Trip Advisor and both said that we had to go to the mall for an English book. It cost us $4 for a cab. The mall was just like a North American mall. Overpriced shoes, clothes and housewares. It was fun to window shop but we had a mission: to find Mr. Book (actual name of the bookstore). Mr. Book had a whole corner dedicated to English novels but it was the weirdest selection. And they seems to be priced by height. Pocket books were the cheapest (the shortest) at $8. So we each bought one novel. A Tammy Hoag and a James Clavell. That should be enough considering all of the Sulidae online comments say they keep the guests pretty busy.

After a coffee, we left the mall and headed to Santa Ana. Val's calf is much better but she doesn't want to push it but she figured she could do part of it. LP assured us that there were restaurants up there and we needed lunch. Plus, the weather was holding up. Last night we knew it was going to rain and we didn't want to get stuck 444 steps away from the nearest taxi. So up we went. But it turned out that either it was too early for the restaurants (1pm) or nothing is open on Monday because nothing was open. Val decided to bail at about step 178. Knowing that there will be swimming and volcano climbing for the next seven days, she didn't want to bully her leg into anything it wasn't comfortable with. But, fool that I am (and the camera holder), I pressed on. There is a lighthouse at the top which promised some very good views.

St. Ana is an interesting neighbourhood. I'm sure it used to be slums since it is only accessible by stairs. But now the houses are all spiffied up and painted bright colours. In fact, many of the buildings have pictures posted of what they used to look like - generally mud brick shacks. I can only imagine what happened to the property values. I wonder if the original poor people were assisted to upgrade or just booted to the next hill.

Santa Ana on the way up:

The stairs were pretty easy (haha - it's ok, I am saying it not a tour guide), nicely spaced. I made it to the top (stair 444) and then climbed the lighthouse too. And, promise held up - the view was wonderful. There was also a little church at the top of the hill and a museum (which I didn't visit) with some original fort ruins (which I did). New bird sitting on the ruins (saffron finch).

The stairs and the top of the hill (church and lighthouse):

First step



The last step (444) until you ascend the lighthouse, that is.

The church of Santa Ana, from the top of the lighthouse



more stairs.

proof that I made it to the top

The lighthouse



The ruins of the original fort.



Saffron Finch

Then back down to retrieve Val from her shady perch. Then we headed back along the Malecon and had lunch at the same restaurant where we saw the heron last time. Believe it or not, this time there was a yellow-crowned night heron (juvenile). It's a good restaurant and the food is ok too. After lunch we headed back to our room. And again, it started to rain just as we reached our hotel. But this time, it didn't develop into anything serious.

After a rest and a rehydrate (again, I will mention it is freakin' hot here), I decided to find the cemetery I had noticed from the cab in the morning. Strangely, Val didn't' want to come. It turned out to only be about 8 blocks away. Getting to the street was no problem. But it was on the other side of a highway and it was busy. I started to figure that you had to die on the road to visit your dearly departed (no irony there). Eventually I discovered I could skootch under an raised overpass to get to the other side.

Then I had to get past the guard. He wanted to know what I wanted to do there? Visit. Visit who? Ummm, the graves. Why? To visit, respectfully. He then insisted that I don't take any pictures. He even checked my bag. Fortunately, my camera was in its case and under some other stuff. So I promised that I wouldn't take any pictures, I wouldn't bother any people, living or dead. He let me in. From the road, I had seen a lovely little treed graveyard but the gate was locked. I had hoped that I could access it through the mausoleums but not such luck. It was closed off. Multi-story above ground graves (like tiny apartments for the dead) are not very interesting and certainly not the beautiful spaces I have come to expect. But since I had insisted to the guard that I wanted to visit, I kind of had to stay a little bit. So I wandered in the other direction, where I did find a some more interesting headstones.

Of course, I had promised not to take pictures, so of course I took pictures. I am a bad anthropologist but I would have been a good anthropologist in 1936. But I had to hide behind things and skulk around suspiciously. There was another guard at the photo worthy end. The problem was that there were all of these graveyard cats but they were in full view of the guard. I really wanted a picture of the cats sitting on graves. So, I most respectfully asked the guard if I could take a picture of the cats, just the cats (I am going to hell, photos of graves and lying - two sins). He was very nice and said it was fine. Then he asked if I wanted one more of the walkway. Yes, please, are you sure?? It's ok, he said that he said so. So, a final picture of the entrance. He then told me I would get killed if I stayed there after dark. I can take a hint (not a very subtle hint) so I left. Picked up some sandwiches on the way back.

The cemetery:

The mausoleum, there were dozens of halls like this one.



The graveyard cats.

My 'permitted' photo of the grand entrance to the cemetery

This is the locked old cemetery that I couldn't access.  I took this and the one below through the fence.

It was a rough day on my stuff apparently. When I got to the room, I discovered I had a blow out in my capris. After a total Frankenstein patch job, I noticed that my watch was falling apart. A dozen tiny strips of duct take applied. It may hold until we have to leave. The battery holder on my camera is looking pretty tired too but so far that is holding.

Anyway, I checked online and it seems there are a few locations (mostly docks?) that have Wi-Fi on Galapagos so I may be able to post but don't hold your breath. If not, I will update from Quito, we have a 6 hour break between the flight back from the boat and the overnight bus departure to the Amazon trip.

Wish us luck (and gravol).

　

　

Guayaquil and Puerto Lopez (with photos)

March 7. 8:26 pm. Guayaquil.

Nothing too much today. We left Cuenca on the Express bus to Guayaquil late this morning. It was indeed express until the back tire blew out. It sounded like an explosion but the bus stayed stable so I'm sure we weren't in any danger, although the smell of burning rubber and the accompanying smoke billowing out the back may have indicated otherwise. We coasted down the mountain for a bit until we came upon a pile of dead tires on the side of the highway. I guess this is a common occurrence for this stretch of road. We pulled over and changed the tire. As we learned from our Boler experience, all it takes is a squeezy plastic pop bottle full of water to put out any vehicle fires. Water squirted, tire changed and we proceeded to Guayaquil without further incident.

The menfolk fix the tire.

While other menfolk watch

We went from 3500 meters to 9 meters in 4 hours. It is hot and humid here. HOT - when we arrived it was 36 degrees. We shed our coats and then our long sleeve shirts and then proceeded to sweat in our tank tops.

Guayaquil is a very big city, it challenges Quito as the more populated in Ecuador, but lacks Quito's mountainside, colonial charm. But Guayaquil does have one major advantage: ONE bus station. It is as big as an airport but at least we know where we are supposed to be to leave.

Guayaquil:

The not very awesome view from our awesome room

We really splurged on a room here. $40 night! But it has air conditioning and American TV on a flat screen and an elevator and a hair dryer. A HAIR DRYER!! This is big time. No worries, Book of Doom watchers, we have already found a cheaper place for our night here before we fly out to Galapagos on the 12th.

Once we had our room, we just wandered around a bit. There is a lovely Malacon (water front walkway) here. We had an expensive dinner (prawns in garlic sauce). We figured we blew our budget on the hotel (Hotel Versailles) why not go all out with dinner too. We sat by an artificial pond with ducks (domestic so ignored) when a lovely little Striated Heron stopped by to be identified.

Mr. Striated Heron, Mucho Gusto.

As we were walking back, Val's calf decided to punish her for yesterday's hike. So she went back to the room and I ventured out alone to find water. We are about three blocks from American land. KFC, Pizza Hut, electronic stores, etc. Not very exciting but a zillion people. I eventually found some water in a grocery store. Everywhere else in Ecuador, there are a million corner stores selling water. But not on Avenida 9 Octobre. Too important for lowly water. I had to carry 6 litres 12 blocks back to the hotel, it would have been less but I got a bit lost - remember, Val is the usual navigator.

Tomorrow we find Puerto Lopez. Tonight we continue the decadence by watching bad American sitcoms.

March 8. 8:57 pm. Puerto Lopez.

Another uneventful day. We caught a late bus (9:40 am) to Puerto Lopez. This definitely was NOT an express bus. Again we had a procession of vendors and a constant turnover of passengers. Within minutes of leaving an alarm started. We stopped the bus and they put some water into the radiator. Then, about half way, we had to stop at a corner store and buy coolant. I didn't have a lot of hope for that bus to make the entire 4 hour trip but it did. We arrived at Puerto Lopez around 2:30.

Val found us a hostel called Sol Inn. We knew what we were getting into because hanging below the sign with the hostel name is another sign "Rolling papers sold here" Yup, a courtyard full of stoned hippies. But it is a cool place. Bamboo bungalows with hammocks on the porches. I can just imagine the vermin and insects waiting to emerge as soon as the lights go out. There is a one inch space between the walls and the floor. I am coated in DEET an d we have a mosquito coil lit. Either the malaria will get me or the chemicals will. Our beds even have mosquito nets but I still don't have faith.

I should mention the great tourist divide in Ecuador. There is a continuum of tourist types here. At one end are the full-on hippies. Dread locks, sandals, lots of cotton and hemp clothes. They keep to themselves pretty much. Tend to be in their 30s, often have kids with them. Next is the tourist hippies, same as above but younger, only here for a bit and no kids attached. The other end is the yuppies. MEC pants, matching jackets, tilley hats, sturdy hiking boots. 40s to retired age. We fall near the middle, although tending to the yuppie side. I know this because the yuppies approach and talk to us, but the hippies do not. Up north, it was yuppie territory with a scattering of hippies. But here on the coast, hippie heaven. I haven't seen one pair of quick dry khaki pants since we arrived. This hostel is tourist hippie mecca. We have found a middle ground hostel right around the corner for tomorrow. Less bamboo walls, more stucco. Same price, same beds, same wifi. But the courtyard has hammocks and no (or at least less) hippies. We have nothing against the hippies, they don't bother us and we don't bother them, but they fill the courtyard here. We can barely handle the beer, we don't need to add second hand pot smoke.



Sol Inn from our next hostel's roof.

Courtyard of Hostel Machalilla

Anyway, Puerto Lopez is a sleepy little fishing village with a lot of hostels. Not too much to do here but drink on the beach. So that is what we have done so far. Even the shopping is dismal, although we did see a market that we will visit at some point. Speaking of shopping, remember when I bought a bag at Alausi and Lea shook her head in a loving but exasperated way. Well, today my pen burst in my old purse and got all over everything. But, hooray!. I just pulled out my new purse and switched over. See Lea, one needs some extra bags in case of emergencies. Now, if I only had an extra pair of jeans. The ink did quite a number on mine. They are drying on the porch after a vigorous scrub down. Not that I will be wearing jeans too often in this heat, but at the moment the alternate is my mud caked, flop sweat drenched capris. I am not a very pretty picture.

Puerto Lopez:

Don't let this picture fool you, this is the ONLY paved part of town (one corner).

Sunset at Puerto Lopez (can't go to the beach without some sunset shots).

Time to pull down my mosquito net and see if I am eaten alive while I sleep. If you don't hear from me, the critters have won.

PS. Gingypuss's radiation therapy was yesterday and the vet reports all is well so far.

March 9. 8:17. Puerto Lopez.

We moved this morning to Hostel Machalilla, which is basically right across the street from Sol Inn. I was eaten alive last night at Sol Inn. This is the second time I have been a mosquito buffet since we arrived in Ecuador. Val hasn`t gotten a bite yet. The mosquitoes love me. I can only put so much DEET on. We will see if this new room is any safer.

The heat is making us so lazy. Today, we did nothing but drink beer, sit on the beach and shop a bit. We each bought a cotton dress to put over our bathing suits. Our white legs are cruel punishment for any beach passers-by. As Val says, our legs are less fantastic and more phantasmic (ghostly for those without a thesaurus handy). Amazingly, despite our pasty legs` introduction to the sun today, we only burned our arms.

We stopped into a tourist place to see about a jungle tour but the guy said we would have to wear rubber boots up to our knees (provided) because of the mud, we declined. I now hate mud more than I like birds. I did see one new dove on the beach. That will have to do.

This time I will apologize for the short post. If things stay this boring, I may not post again until after we get to the Galapagos on March 13. But I am trying to post some pictures. The Wi-Fi is very slow though so it may take some time. Check previous posts over the next few days.

March 10. 8:41 pm. Guayaquil

Well, we just aren't beach bunnies I guess, we are back in Guayaquil. Our second hotel room in Puerto Lopez was unbelievably hot. The mosquito nets were so tight that no air moved, it was like being under a plastic tarp in the heat. I was so sweaty by midnight, I had to take the net off the bed just to breath. But, of course, the mosquitoes attacked. Not as bad as the previous night but that might be because I reapplied the DEET twice in the night. Ok, forget foot fungus medicine, I will be needing chemo.

When we woke up this morning, it was pouring rain. As I have already mentioned, our two option for activities in Puerto Lopez are the beach and the jungle. Neither sounded like fun in the rain. So we decided to come back to Guayaquil for some working Wi-Fi (my grand plan to post pictures was a total bust, I couldn't even post this), air conditioning and restaurants with actual roofs.

Our bus ride was so long and uncomfortable and I was so grubby that I started to understand the hippies a bit better.  My hair was completed matted on one side from the unclosable window. I was still wearing my disgusting capris (although most of the mud had fallen off, but no relief from the sweat), I smelled like sour milk.  And I am just sticky.  The human skin can only absorb so much cream (bug repellent, sun screen, moisturizer) before it just says NO.  So, a layer of sand and road dirt stuck to the unabsorbed cream on my greasy face.  I would have paid for dreads and loose cotton pants at that point. 

We went to the hostel that we had planned to move to when we returned but they didn't have a room for us so we are back to our decadent Versailles Hotel where I immediately took a shower and washed my capris.  Now, Val is watching a movie about alien invasion, I am using Wi-Fi and not being bitten by mosquitoes - heaven.   We had take out sandwiches for dinner.   I was totally craving Mexican style tortas (sandwiches) in Puerto Lopez but Ecuadorians don't seem to have the same love of the sandwich that Mexicans do.  But we found a suitable alternative - with mystery meat which may have been pork based (?).  YUUUUMMMM.

Ok, I am going to post this before something goes awry. Hopefully pictures in the next few days. Wait until Monday, you don't want to waste unpaid time on this blog.