Chasing Summer –

December 24/25-27

Christmas Eve, the Odyssey, pulled into Porto Royale, which is a small port town.

Steve, Angela, and I decided to take a ride into Machala, which is only 10 minutes away, and costs $3 for the taxi to get to.

On the way in our driver assured us that Machala was safe and not to worry there. We got dropped off at the central park.

At Central Park, there is also the city cathedral.

We branched out from there and walked in several blocks in all directions. It was filled with shops and people buying and selling everyday goods.

Tourists are rare here, and we were the highlights for several people.

When we went back to the port we planned to walk along the board walk back to the boat but our taxi driver told us that where we wanted to go wasn’t safe and we shouldn’t go so far, so instead we headed back to the boat.

Day one in Guayaquil was Christmas Day, and I chose to not even leave the ship. There was plenty to do, and we still had two more days to see things.

Now, there are plenty of warnings about Guayaquil and its apparent lack of safety, particularly in port areas. Drug trafficking and gangs are problems, and ports, where the drugs are transported, can be targeted. Our port was also well outside of the city center, which means that nothing is within walking distance.

When entering the ports of Porto Bolivar (to get to Machala) and Guayaquil, security is taken seriously. Shuttle buses are provided because no one is allowed to walk on the dock.

When reaching the gate or terminal, an ID (room key) is needed and is compared to the manifest list. Once my name was located, the time was written down, and a picture of my ID was taken, and finally, my photo was taken. Then I was free to leave the port area.

I joined a tour for the second day, and luckily, we didn’t need to do these formalities. Instead, a security personnel came on board and counted our number coming and going.

Now you might think, “How can you go from overkill to nothing?” The answer is simply a police escort. From the moment our bus left the port until we returned, we had 4 motorcycle policemen escorting us everywhere. They stopped traffic for us and made sure that no one fell behind.

They were young and got a kick out of us, so there were plenty of photo ops with them. They even had two other officers, and the police mascot puppets greeted us on the dock and traveled to our first stop.

This was a full-day tour, and we made several stops, but sometimes the best stuff we just drove by. The city has several large monuments, the underside of overpasses are painted or have murals, and many architecturally interesting buildings we drove on by too quickly for pictures.

We did stop at Independence Square with several bronze statues and amazing buildings. Here, there were even parrots squawking about.

We also walked on several sections of the riverside walkway.

We visited a flower market, a food market, and an artisanal market where I picked up a couple of purses and a magnet. The fruit here is abundant and so cheap. A pound of strawberries, cherries, or mangos is only $2.

Guayaquil also has an enormous cemetery in the center of town that takes up 50 acres of land. There are over 144,000 wall niches, 133,000 graves, and 1,047 mausoleums. A statue of Jesus rises on top of the hill overlooking the cemetery. It is quite amazing and a tour of it is available.

We went to Iguana Park (really Simon Bolivar Park), where there are many iguanas hanging around. I noticed that it seemed to rain in certain spots, but quickly realized the area was under a tree with dozens of iguanas, and they were peeing. Ew, watch out.

At one end of the end of the park was a church.

Our route also took us to a Chocolate museum/store, but sadly it was also the break time for lunch and service is slow here so my group said no to the factory and went to a lunch spot where it took the entire hour to get our food, so people had to eat fast. I did pop down to the shop while we were waiting and picked up a chocolate cervesa.

To finish off this epically long day, we went to the old part of Guayaquil and wandered the cobblestone streets to the cannons overlooking the newer Ferris wheel and riverwalk areas.

One thing that we noticed was the sheer volume of paper mache figurines lining several streets. For New Year’s Eve in Ecuador, people will make or buy these figures that may look like people they know or are fictional characters, politicians, or celebrities.

These figures get stuffed with gunpowder, firecrackers, paper, sawdust, and other flammable items. At midnight on New Year’s Eve, they are brought out into the street, doused with gas, and lit up. (sounds safe, no?) Basically, it is burning up the past year’s problems.

Oh, and your underwear color will determine your luck for the following year. Want passion – wear red, want money – wear green, want peace – wear blue, etc.

Day three was a half-day tour described as a historical park and cable car ride. I wasn’t sure what to expect but was surprised when it was mostly a zoo of indigenous fauna. I liked it but it wasn’t what I was expecting.

When we entered the park I was greeted by dozens of very loud parrots and macaws. This was my first clue that this park was more zoo than history. The parrots in the cages at the entrance are parrots that have been rescued; either from problems in the wild or people’s pets.

Parrots aren’t the only animals to be seen here. They have a pretty good selection of native animals to Ecuador here and a boardwalk to take visitors through the mangroves and over the muddy ground.

Past the animal section, we finally came to a historical section where several buildings had been moved from the city to recreate how Guayaquil would have looked in the 1700s. There was even a rail car and track.

Past the old town section, there was a typical small farm, with animals and the owner’s house not far away.

We finished our exploration by taking the cable car from the town center to the town across the river. It is an affordable means of transportation for the workers to get across the river. Each car can hold 8 people. and there are 5 stations.

It is not meant as a tourist attraction, but it does offer amazing views of the city from above for a cheap price. $3-4.