River Walk in Guayaquil

Jan 29, 20111

Guayaquil Ec.-Mexico City Mx.



Guayaquil pronounced - why-yah-keel , and yes I found myself asking, ´Why,
am I in why-yah-keel? Is the keel of this travel ship listing and sinking into the murky Guayas river?´ It is a necessary stop-over to the Galapagos Islands, although that certainly wasn´t in my ´hostal-travelers-budget´. Guyaquil is the largest city in Ecuador, on the humid tropical Pacific coast and it IS rainy season. OK, knock a few negative points off there. It feels sort of an euu-du -Bankok with the steamy, teaming masses, congestion, diesel fumes, slapped-together yet already decaying ´modern´concrete block buildings´reproducing like a tropical virus, short and taller hovels wrapped in razor-wire and trimmed in broken glass.( Festive? NO.) All with a less asian tinge. ( What I would´t give for some good Thai food!! Ecuador, like Nicaragua is ´NOT a foodies paradise´!!!) Just down the street from the Hostal, people gathered at a hamburger joint. I was seduced as haven´t seen one in a month. One pays to the right of the ´barred´ window, pushing the coins and bills through a ´security´ opening the size of a mail slot in the dirty concrete wall. That says it all.

The good points: The International airport is beautiful, modern, well designed and landscaped- as it should be. They grab you just as you are about to disembark, whether you have been there two hours or my twenty-four, and squeeze you like a small tube of travel-size- toothpaste, and unaccountably out shoots $30 US dollars from your near empty wallet, landing in the officials palm. ( Was ´greasing palms´ on my travel itinerary?) The locals however, were friendly and helpful, taking me to a desired bus-stop and giving me directions.

Guayquil and Ecuador spent more than any other South American country on the urban renewal project of the 2.5 Km river-side ´Malicon´ walk. It is a architectural and landscape design tour-de-force! The river, boats and shipping have been referenced in the both modern and whimsical staircase-viewpoint- structures, undulalted ´techos´(roofs) of metal, and flaired sail-shaped, shade-structures. Museums, an Imax theatre, playgrounds, inter-connecting yet changing public gardens, ponds, pools, statuary, tropical hardwood bridges with futuristic Star-Trekian-details, refurbished historic, classical fountains and modern Garrot Eckbo-Thomas Church, go South American Burl Max-tropical-twenty-first century. Drifts of vibrant tropical plants in contrasting colors and textures. Yes I liked it. Is it worth coming here as a destination?

Perhaps, with the hilltop colonial town. A day trip-.

Abrazos

Esteban