Trip Home to the States!

December 17th, 2007 Piura, Peru to Guayaquil, Ecuador

I´m Almost Home!

Since flights out of Guayaquil, Ecuador were significantly cheaper than from Lima, I decided to fly via Ecuador. My friend Rachel was flying 8 hours after me, so we traveled to Ecuador together. The overnight bus was rather nice and crossing the border proved to be rather easy although the Peruvian side lacked formality and the process could have of course been streamlined to garner efficiency.

We arrived in Guayaquil around 9 in the morning. Immediately, I noticed a infrastructure difference in Ecuador. Instead of several different individual bus terminals, all the bus lines had to use the same terminal much like airlines. The facility was very nice and quite convenient. Rachel had reserved a hotel room since she wouldn´t be leaving until the next day, so we showered up before exploring the largest city in Ecuador.

Guayaquil is a stark difference between Lima and most Peruvian cities in general. The roads were better constructed, cleaner and the drivers saner. Most taxis were fairly new compared to the dilapidated models used in Peru. There aren´t many sights in this commercial center but we set to see that which was available. We headed down to the boardwalk and strolled alongside the river, eventually lunching on seafood in a quaint little joint overlooking the bay. Next we climbed the hundreds of stairs to the historical lighthouse set at the top of a steep hill overlooking the bay and cityscape. The views were gorgeous.

We next visited a local artisans market where I bought a fedora. This style of hat was popular in the 40´s in the US and quite often mobsters are portrayed sporting fedoras. In Ecuador, several people sport them and this style is gaining popularity throughout South America. Since high school, I have been infatuated with the look and thus bought myself an early Christmas present. Rachel bought some locally made jewelry. Afterwards, we headed to a city park where numerous iguanas walk the grounds and lounge in the trees. For dinner we ate fresh crab legs at a sidewalk café. At 11 pm, I headed to the airport to the catch the redeye to Houston.