We woke up at 6 am to have breakfast, closed our bags and by 8 am we were sitting in our taxi on our way to Baltra airport. It was raining when we drove through the highlands but that was over when arriving at the ferry terminal to catch our boat to crossover to Baltra island. Blue-footed bobbies were in good number near the ferry terminal to wish us well. By 9 :15 am we were in line at the Latam counter and soon after sitting in the Priority Lounge with a direct view at the runway. Baltra claims to be the first ecological airport in the world and has no air conditioning (just giant fans) and…dry urinals to save water!
We walked on the tarmac and looked one last time at some giant cacti and reflected on our amazing trip in these “Enchanted Islands” before our Latam flight took off.
We landed at 3 pm in Guayaquil after an uneventful flight of less than 2 hours, collected our bags and took an Uber for $5 to our Hotel Palace. Not really the small charming places we had been accustomed to in Quito and Santa Cruz but it was conveniently located in the colonial district and very comfortable.
Guayaquil is Ecuador’s largest city and its economic capital with over 3 millions people. It is located on the bank of the Guayas River 45 miles upstream from the Gulf of Guayaquil. Most of the time it is skipped as a destination by visitors who only stop there to connect to the Galapagos islands. But I found out that there were several places worth seeing and it was much cheaper to take our return flight a couple of days later so why not taking the time to explore that city.
Two blocks away was the Park Seminario and we went for a walk to check it out. A monument celebrating Simon Bolivar who fought for independence against Spain stood in the center. But the main attraction were the land iguanas roaming freely around in the park. It seemed they were following us. We visited the Catedral Metropolitana de Guayaquil built on the site of the original wooden structure dating from 1547 and destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1948: very simple inside but with a very ornate front entrance. A real difference with the churches we saw in Quito.
We had a delicious dinner at La Pata Gorda restaurant; fried rice with crab and shrimp accompanied by margaritas. Guayaquil was known for its red crabs and seafood and they were offered in all restaurants.
It was a strange feeling to be in a big city again after our 11 days in the Galapagos.
Time to smell the roses...Sur les Chemins du Monde... 