It´s unusual that the rainy season should have lasted this long apparently, though its not quite an El Niño... yet...
For the kids, this is great. We all love to hear that the summer holidays have been extended, even the teachers do at times. However, this is not the case for me as it means that I am out here for a full month with nothing to do, not earning money & eating into my savings. Also, the city I´m in, Guayaquil, is relatively boring. It´s an industrial city and there´s really not a lot here bar a Coca Cola bottling factory, various car factories, etc etc. So I have nothing to do if I´m not working.
Thus I have decided to leave - temporarily. Seeing as I´ll have to eat into my savings anyway, I might as well do this by traveling round the country, seeing a bit more & learning Spanish as I go.
So, on Friday, April 4th I will be jetting off to Quito, the capital of Ecuador for 2 weeks where I´m booked into a Spanish school with a linked hostel. Hopefully this will mean that I will also meet some people!
After this, I´m going to Cuenca in the south for a week (also to learn Spanish) which has Inca ruins near by, etc so hopefully it´ll be an interesting place to be.
Both Quito & Cuenca are apparently more historical and cultural than Guayaquil and have retained much more of their original, colonial feel (though as ever there is the modern quarter etc etc as well).
I´m looking forward to my trip as I wanted to see more of Ecuador anyway, it´s just a bit annoying it´s under the circumstances of not having a job!
Salinas - a day at the beach
On Friday, John, Maria Elena, Adriana & her cousin & I went down to Salinas to have a look around and a day at the beach.
(Salinas is the town I would have been working in if I had been able to start work next week).
It was a very hot day & I had forgotten how strong the equator sun is. Sadly, despite having sun block on, I got 
quite badly burned. We went for a little boat ride around the beach & we were allowed to jump of the boat for a swim, etc which I don´t think helped. It was very pleasant though & the water was very refreshing in such sticky weather!
quite badly burned. We went for a little boat ride around the beach & we were allowed to jump of the boat for a swim, etc which I don´t think helped. It was very pleasant though & the water was very refreshing in such sticky weather!We also saw Blue-footed Boobies (a type of bird, not something a bit odd!) which is found in the tropics. Essentially, they were just brown seagulls with blue feet but they were quite funny to see. (It's a shame, I don't think you can see their feet in this photo very well.)
I quite liked Salinas but I think after a month or so there I would have got quite bored to be honest - though living on the beach would have been very nice!
My weekend of walking around Guayaquil
This weekend, Adriana (Maria Elena´s 19 year old niece) was enjoying being my tour guide of Guayaquil. As I said, there´s not loads to see but she took me to one of the 7 or so shopping malls her (which looked just like every other one to me).
I was in shorts as it was 30°C and a blisteringly hot day. However, I ended up having to go home & change as the men were blowing me kisses out of trucks an so on which made me feel uncomfortable. Sadly, all I had with me at Adriana´s house were a pair of jeans for that night & so I nearly passed out for the rest of the afternoon in this heat!
We went to Cerro Santa Ana in the afternoon, a hill in the centre of the city on the banks of the Rio Guayas. It used to be quite a dangerous area of the city but in the past few years its undergone serious regeneration and it´s a nice little area now with quaint, more classic looking houses & cafes winding up 444 steps to the top where a small chapel and lighthouse are. The buildings are all painted different colours as well which is very pretty (though when you get up close some look as though they could do with a bit of TLC). 
Also, on the edges are great big gates and iron fences to keep out the slums on the next hill along which sort of take away the picturesque feel that is so nearly achieved!
Also, on the edges are great big gates and iron fences to keep out the slums on the next hill along which sort of take away the picturesque feel that is so nearly achieved!When you reach the top of the hill though, you can go to the top of a little light house & look across the whole city. It wasn't until I got there (where there was a much welcomed breeze!) that I realised quite how big Guayaquil is!
That night, Adriana took me out with her friends to a bar. The night doesn't start till around midnight here, however, unlike many other Latin American countries there is a curfew of 3am when police patrol the streets to make sure every bar has shut & no one is left hanging around in an attempt to try & reduce the crime in Guayaquil. (In previous years, there's been a lot of trouble.)
Anyway, after my day of lots of walking in the exhausting heat, I was quite tired. Her friends were very nice & they were able to speak really quite good English. Sadly, they chose not to & so I felt a little out of it all night. I don't blame them, who wants to think after a beer or two when they can just warble on in their own language. They've invited me out to a 'discoteque' again soon though which once I speak a bit more Spanish, I'm sure will be more fun!
On the Sunday, Adriana & her family took me to the Guayaquil Parque de Historico (Historical Park of Guayaquil). It was very nice & a bit cooler as it was drizzling (thank god). As you can see, its a series of wooden walk ways through this mock rain forest style park and you look down into various enclosures with different animals. It's actually very nicely done, though its quite small which I felt sorry for the animals a bit. At the end, we saw traditional houses which were as colourful as Cerro Santa Ana. Apparently, 
Guayaquil all used to be like this, made of wood. However, they suffered many fires about 100 years ago & now, only one original house remains in the city amidst the ever increasing concrete jungle. (I haven't seen it yet though).
Guayaquil all used to be like this, made of wood. However, they suffered many fires about 100 years ago & now, only one original house remains in the city amidst the ever increasing concrete jungle. (I haven't seen it yet though). We also saw a little show with people in traditional dress, etc. It seemed very funny, though I didn't understand a word (bar "Hola!" when it very first started!) Everyone else was howling away though.
Going solo...
So; next time I write I'll be coming to you from Quito, the country's capital (which is significantly smaller than Guayaquil).
I'm really looking forward to seeing a bit more. Although Maria Elena & John have been very welcoming & I get on with them really well, it will be nice to have a bit of my own space & a bit more freedom for a while. As we're a bit out in the sticks here, I always have to rely on them for lifts into town which isn't great as sometimes I want to go in when they aren't or whatever & don't feel I can put them out after they've been so kind to let me stay for 2 weeks.
Anyway, I'll be staying in quite central locations in both Quito & Cuenca in hostels. Will upload photos as soon as I can but until then, if you'd like to look at more photos from my first week or so in Ecuador, you can go to the link below!
Wish me luck!
xx
1 comment:
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