Archive for the ‘Guayaquil’ Category
What I found interesting in Guayaquil is that the shops had very colourful signboards. Not sure if many cities have this peculiarity, but it has been the first time that I have noticed and since I noticed it I have tried to capture them. Could not capture too many of them as we were in the bus and I could do so only when we were not moving very fast.
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| Sunset on the way back to Quito |
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| Sunset on the way back to Quito |
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| Herbie in Guayaquil |
One can see a lot of Volkswagen Beetle in both Quito and Guayaquil.
Guayaquil turned out to be a city, very different from Quito. There are not very many high rises in Guayaquil. Most buildings are about 3 stories high. And one glaring difference is that Guayaquil lacks the greenery that one gets to see everywhere in Quito.
A country side transport in Ecuador, akin to the autorickshaws in India.
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| A countryside transport for passengers in Ecuador made from a motorcyle |
| An autorickshaw from India |
The next day we left back for Quito. On the way the landscape was great. All the landscape that we missed during the night travel from Quito to Guayaquil, we were able to enjoy on the way back as it was a day journey. The greenery of the place is stunning.
On the way we were also lucky to see a cascade amidst the Andes mountains between which Quito is situated.
Overall a very tiring trip, because of the long journeys, but it was worth every tired muscle.
Some of the sights on the way back to Quito.
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| A typical countryside Habitat in Ecuador |
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| Another country side Habitat in Ecuador |
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| Cattle being herded by men on horses |
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| Colourful Natural tranquility |
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| Country side greenery |
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| Another vista of greenery |
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| A typical countryside scenery |
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| Fields in Ecuador |
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| Leaves in the Andes |
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| The Cascade |
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| Another view of the Cascade |
- In: Ecuador Travelogue | Guayaquil | Malecon 2000 | Pier | Tourism
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The Malecon 2000 is pier that was built around the year 2000. It is a long walk along the river Guayas. It is dotted with parks and amusements for the children. At the center is the Rotunda which houses the statues of Simon Bolivar and San Martin and commemorates the formation of Greater Columbia, which later split up.
We walked it at night and so were not able to enjoy the gardens as much, but we did see and spend time at the Rotunda, before retiring for the night.
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| Boats anchored in the river |
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| A dedication to the people who contributed to the building of the Malecon |
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| A dedication to the people who contributed to the building of the Malecon |
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| A train wagon with a restaurant in it |
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| The Center Piece of the Malecon, the Rotunda with Simon Bolivar and San Martin |
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| A boat on the River Guayas |
- In: Ecuador Travelogue | Guayaquil | Salinas | Tourism
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The next day morning we started off to Salinas where there is a beach. The travel was a long one. We took a break in between to have some breakfast. We reached by noon and hired a Canopy to take shelter under from the sun.
Soon people were into the water and enjoying themselves. The water was very cold and there a wind was blowing. It was pretty cold if one stood above the water. The people enjoying themselves were accompanied by a group of seagulls. They moved in a dance like fashion over the people enjoying themselves, skimming the water and looking for something to feed on. It was nice to just stand in the water and observe them flying all around oneself.
The seagulls were joined by a couple of Pelicans. One of the Pelicans gave a breathtaking performance of how it dives into the water to capture its prey. It was a treat to watch them hunt for their food. The elegance with which they flew; the contortions that they went through to dive and fly close to the water and sometimes dive into it. Unfortunately I did not have the camera to capture them dive into the water. I could only capture them fly.
After an hour in the water we had our lunch on the beach and after the lunch we left the place back to Guayaquil. The return journey was equally uneventful.
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| Under the canopy on the beach |
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| Enjoying the sea |
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| One of the boats that dotted the beach |
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| Enjoying the sea |
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| Enjoying the sea |
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| Enjoying on the beach |
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| The Pelican |
After all that walking around everybody wanted to again put up their legs. So we retired to the hotel and took some rest. By the time we got up and decided to go out and look for lunch we found that most hotels and eateries were closed. Only one small restaurant was open and that too was closing down. A few managed to get some food there. For others we managed to locate a shop selling bread, cakes and pastries and others had to be satisfied with that.
This is a small hill on which people live from the bottom to the top. At the top of the hill is a Church and a lighthouse like building. There are steps to climb up this hill. There are houses on both sides of the steps. The area had a bad reputation before the municipality decided to clean it up and make it a tourist attraction. They have succeeded in achieving this. The steps are even and well maintained. The climb is dotted with fountains and shops from where one can get water, which is very essential as the sun gets quite hot here.
But the climb is not a tedious one although there are 444 steps to the top. The view of the city of Guayaquil with the river Guayas makes the climb worth it.
At the top one can go up the lighthouse like building and have a panoramic view of the entire city. The church, although small, is well maintained.
There is a local market at the bottom of the hill where one can buy tourist trinkets.
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| The view of the hill from the bottom |
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| A closer view of the summit. |
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| The start of the climb |
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| At step number 173 |
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| Flower in front of one of the houses along the side of the steps. |
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| A closer view of the flower. |
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| The lighthouse like structure at the top of the hill |
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| A view of the Guayas river from close to the top |
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| A Panorama from lighthouse at the top of the hill |
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| Another view from the top |
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| The conquerers of Santa Ana. A proof of having climbed 444 steps. |
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| The boat at the top of the hill. |
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| The inside view of the Church at the top. |
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| Close up of glass paintings in the Church |
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| The Church at the top of the hill |
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| The view of Santa Ana at night from Malecon 2000 |
- In: Ecuador Travelogue | Guayaquil | Malecon Salado | Pier | Tourism
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After the Cathedral we went to the lesser of the two malecons the “Malecon del Salado”. The Malecon was deserted, probably because it was the new year’s eve. There are couple of restaurants. The parks along the Malecon are very well maintained and if one wishes to have a quite walk one can do so. A picturesque bridge over the main road predominates this malecon.
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| The pedestrian bridge on the Malecon |
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| A panoramic view from the bridge |
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| Another Panorama, but smaller angle from the Pier |
The Metropolitan Cathedral that stands across one of the entrances of the park is also worth a dekko. The stained glass works in the cathedral are very beautiful.
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| The Metropolitan Cathedral |
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| The view along the Aisle |
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| Close up of one of the Glass Paintings |
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| Another of the Glass Paintings |
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| Blessings from the Lord |
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| Since it was close to Christmas one can see the Birth of the Lord. |
A visit to Guayaquil – Parque de los Iguanas o El Parque Seminario (The Park of Iguanas or The Park of Seminar)
Posted on: January 5, 2011
- In: Ecuador Travelogue | Guayaquil | Iguanas | Parque de Iguanas | Tourism | Turtles
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After that we walked down to the “El Parque Seminario o Parque de las Iguanas” i.e. the Seminar Park or the Park of the Iguanas. This is a park that anybody who has not seen too many iguanas should definitely go to. There are too many Iguanas in the park. The first impression when we walked through the entrance was “Where are the Iguanas?” We couldn’t spot any. And then somebody spotted a small green iguana. It was only a glimpse of what was to come.
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| The Small Green Iguana that we first sighted. |
Soon as we moved on we spotted one big iguana moving along the ground and that was our first sighting. As we progressed further, we came below a tree and we looked up the tree to find that iguanas of all sizes were crawling all over the tree. They were busy eating the leaves in the tree. Below the tree was the feeding place for them. Some lettuce/cabbage leaves were put there as the lunch for the Iguana and they were eating those leaves. Iguanas appear to be a very non-aggressive animal. They seem to be oblivious to the humans around and oblivious to one stepping over the other. A few courageous amongst us ventured to pick up the tail of the iguana.
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| A typical look given by Iguanas |
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| One of the many Iguanas on the tree |
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| Another one on the tree. |
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| Iguanas in their lunch room. |
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| Seeming ferocious |
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| A Dreamy Iguana |
At one corner of the park is a small pond and this pond has some fishes and turtles in them. Do not miss them although they are not the main attraction.
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| Turtles and fishes in the pond |
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| A Turtle peeking out of the water |
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| Turtles basking in the sun |
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| A turtle giving a hard stare |
At the center of the park is the statue of Simon Bolivar.
Parque Centenario – Botanical Garden
We finally moved out of the place by 9:30 AM and found that the (Parque Del Centenario) Botanical Gardens was close to where we had moved in. So we walked it down to this place. There is nothing much of significance in this park baring a few sculptures.
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| The sculpture of an Eagle at one of the entrances. |
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| A closer view of the sculpture at the center of the park. |
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| The sculpture at the center of the park |
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| The sculpture at one of the entrances to the park. |
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| A Squirrel enjoying a quite meal oblivious to the crowd around it. |
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