Guayaquil!

David was waiting for us this morning in the lobby.  I had fruit and Anise tea and Jeff had Anise tea.  David ate both our breakfasts. I think he has a tapeworm.  Skinny little thing that eats all the time.  We hit the road in the rain but the sun came out shortly. More beaches and sun.  More small villages and fewer towns.  We stopped about an hour after we left the hostal at a little family beach in a cove. 

What a difference from Canoa and Montanita!  Families at the beach for the weekend. No loud music. No surfers.  Just families.  

We sat in some beach chairs under a tent for almost an hour just watching everyone.  Of course, David had to get some cerviche.  

He just ate 2 breakfasts an hour ago! I'm on my 2nd banana. I think Jeff's fasting. We got back on the road and drove for a while. We gassed up again because the next stretch of highway was going to be deserted and it was. We went miles without seeing anything but other cars and shrimp farms. As we got closer to Guayaquil there was quite a bit of farming going on.

Finally we got to the city of Guayaquil! It's big. Reminds me of any US city similar to Houston or Atlanta. Probably not that big but businesses, streetlights, sidewalks, etc. We followed the signage to El Centro and found Hostal Linda. David's family had taken the bus down and met us there. We checked in and I laid down for a nap while Jeff and David headed to the Transport station near the airport to arrange our ride to Cuenca tomorrow morning. Jeff was back in less than an hour with more meds, anti-diarrheal, and Charcoal pills! We all rested until 5:30PM and then all 6 of us headed out to walk around. One of the first things we see is some kid running thru the streets with someones purse! He was being chased by a few people and the police. Not sure how that turned out but glad I chose to be purse-less this trip. We sat in Iguana park and fed the pigeons and iguanas for a while.

 Jeff and I both agree that Guayaquil reminds us of New Orleans. Humid, musty and lots of people.  Walking down the malecon was just like walking down the river walk in New Orleans!  It was dark so we couldn't see the river very well but it reminded us of the Mississippi. There were boats, fireworks, and a band playing. We ate at the food court. I ate rice with a couple of bites of chicken and a Pepsi. Jeff cleaned his plate again. Chicken, rice, and beans.  Good luck with that tonight.  We walked up 117 stairs (yes, they were numbered) and sat in a little courtyard area overlooking the river for probably an hour. There were restaurants, movie theaters, IMAX, hotels, hostels, clothes stores, appliance/electronics stores, and many other businesses on our walk. Hard to believe we're in Ecuador.  Took a taxi back to the hostal and crashed. Tomorrow - Cuenca!