Buveh at Sea: Guayaquil, Ecuador

Each port is turning out to be a different experience. In Guayaquil, all the Spanish-speaking colleagues I’d toured around with in previous ports were involved either in TSS-required activities, Shore Excursions or pre-planned other touring so I was largely on my own. Having a minimal amount of Spanish, I ventured forth and had a successful time that enabled me to see quite a lot of the central part of town and a couple of further reaches of the greater urban area.

On 11 October, TSS sailed in Guayaquil, Ecuador. My first sight of Guayaquil was “Through My Porthole.” Here are two shots:

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THURSDAY 11 Oct 2007

Seminario Park (Iguana Park)

On the first day, my goal was to find an Internet Café and upload to my blog all the photos I hadn’t been able to add using TSS’s Internet provider. TSS provided a shuttle that ran from the ship to Plaza de Centenario in the center of town. I took the 9:00 am shuttle and just before we stopped at the plaza I saw the Casa de Cultura (House of Culture) and remembered that it had a museum so I headed right back there after I got off the bus. Unfortunately the museum wasn’t open but there was a little café on the ground floor and inside were two or three computers with Internet access; however, only the food part of the café was open, so I crossed the street back to the plaza, walked through it and then down 9 de Octubre (9th of October) Street. I later found out that the street leads directly to the waterfront and the Malecon, which is a wonderful park that runs along the waterfront for many blocks and has many wonderful features.

Strolling along 9 de Octubre, I found a very nice but expensive ($1.50/hour) Internet café which I decided to use anyway. Unfortunately when I went to the Blogger website, it was in Spanish, which wasn’t much of a problem until I realized that the function for uploading photos wasn’t there! All I could do – and I did – was add the text of more blog entries. Then I left the café and started walking around. I didn’t feel comfortable taking pictures as I walked around, being alone and not wanting to set myself up as a target for a pickpocket or mugger, so there will be fewer photos in this posting.

Eventually I found myself in Seminario Park, directly across the street from the city’s Cathedral, which is being renovated and was not open. Seminario Park is named for the person who donated railings and benches to the park back in the late 1800’s but it is more commonly known today as Iguana Park because it is the home of, well, iguanas. Real ones! Lots of them! I believe they are the symbol of Guayaquil. The iguanas who live there have the run of the park and there are workers who go around and clean up their messes and put out food for them. Many families were in the park when I got there because it was a holiday. I felt more comfortable taking pictures there since many other people were doing it. So, now I will include some of the pictures I took of the iguanas and other features of the park.

A Mess of Iguanas Enjoying Lunch 7233

Two Iguanas in a Tree 7235

Posing Iguana 7240

Full length profile; note green “spot” on cheek 7243

Handsome Iguana on green grass 7245

Statue of Simon Bolivar, Liberator of Ecuador 7249

Plaque near foot of Bolivar statue, the Seal of Ecuador 7251

Cathedral Across the street from the park; statue in foreground 7252

Close-up of cathedral spire 7254

Close-up of cathedral rose window 7258

Close-up of cathedral entrance 7260

Cool-looking tree 7262

Park pavilion 7263

Park gate and great tree beside it 7264

Fighting boars statue; a gift from China 7269

Nice view of statue and cathedral 7270

One final iguana, just strollin’ down the sidewalk 7272

After I left the park and cathedral area, I just started walking around, seeing what I could see but staying within a very few block radius of the Plaza de Centenario. I did some window shopping and bought a few things. I found a little street market where vendors were selling traditional handicrafts and I looked at and priced quite a few but didn’t buy any. I prefer to get the feel for the “lay of the land” before I begin forking over my hard-earned cash. At the last booth, which sold magazines, I saw a guide to Guayaquil that was in English and Spanish and asked to look at it. It cost $3; the vendor then dug through some of his materials and brought out a wonderful book of maps of Guayaquil. It cost $11 but I bought it anyway and was glad I did when it enabled me to locate where the LDS temple was situated in an outlying area of town. In fact it was marked quite clearly, “Templo Mormon.”

I turned in a different direction and found myself in a little square near a large church and a statue/fountain. The doors of the church were open and I walked over to look inside. I was so amazed by what I saw that I walked inside to take a closer look. Unlike so many of the Catholic churches I’d seen in Portugal and Panama that had stone interiors, this one was painted white. Everywhere I looked was white paint and gold trim, It looked clean and bright as compared to the dark interiors of the others. Other people were sitting in the main pews doing the same. There were niches everywhere with statues of saints and at many of them people were praying or apparently meditating. At the front, where the main altar was, were a mass of niches reaching clear to the ceiling, with statues and paintings and gold everywhere.

As I stood near a pillar beside the pews, trying to take it all in, a bell began to chime. It took a few peals for me to realize that it was the church’s bell ringing. I looked at my watch and it was 12:00 straight up. Suddenly everyone sitting in the main pews stood and I noticed movement at the front of the church. A small man wearing vestments approached from my left and walked to a nearby podium and began speaking. Everyone was still standing so I decided not to move. After a while, he moved further back (to the front?) and spoke from a podium in the center. Then an organ began playing softly. I looked around for it, including on the balcony at the back but didn’t see one and then a man began singing. He had a nice voice and I enjoyed listening to it. Then the man at the front began speaking again and everyone sat down. I moved over to the side near one of the niches to be less conspicuous. Then there was more organ music and singing and then the man at the front began speaking again and I decided to exit quietly. I didn’t feel too out of place about doing that because individuals were coming and going.

Once outside again, I strolled through along the streets, window shopping and going into some of the stores. I bought some fabric at one store and some small jewelry items at another but mainly getting a feel for the place. At lunch time I went into a little “fast food” place where I ordered my food and they served it up and I took it to a table to eat. I ordered something and ended up with fried chicken, rice and a small salad; I also ordered naranjilla fruit juice. I ordered it because I didn’t know what it was and wanted to try something new. It was very good. They also had banos (bathrooms), which I desperately needed at that time. My technique for using public toilets like that is not to make contact with the toilet seat!

On the way back to the Plaza to catch the bus at 3:30, going along 9 de Octubre Street, I again passed a little multi-purpose tienda that had racks of CDs and DVDs open to the sidewalk. Earlier, I’d spotted a CD by Julio Jaramillo, a famous Guayaquileano singer and guitar player. I think he is now deceased. I’d read about him on Guayaquil’s website and had decided to get a recording if I encountered one for a good price. When I asked, “Quanto questo?” (How much is it?), the answer was “Dos Dollars,” ($2 – they use US currency there), so I bought it on the spot. Then I stopped at a grocery store and bought some non-perishable items before heading back to the Plaza and the bus. On the ride back to the port I took photos through the bus window and managed a few shots that turned out well enough to include here.

Beautiful building opposite one corner of Plaza 7274