Bienvenido a GUAYAQUIL

This entry IN ENGLISH ONLY is for my anglo friends.

GUAYAQUIL is the biggest city in Ecuador and a strange place. It´s ugly at first view but full of little gems as you walk and walk, stroll trough parks, dance up a lot of stairs...

We started with a stroll through the Parque del Centenario. Pretty neat. A nice big parc like in any real city. I think I was culture shoked, after coming in from Peru. I mean Lima seems like a long time ago. We got here straight from the beach, after all and back to civilization.

I had read about PARQUE BOLIVAR in my guidebook and absolutely wanted to bring Brel there for the DINAUSAURIAN IGUANAS roaming freely all over the park. What a sight! And then they lift their head up and do a really weird little gesture. As if they´re saying yes, yes to someone. And their colours ... And they interact with the squirrels hoping from branch to branch ... We have loads of pics to show you all later.

Then it was the must see walk along the malecon. Really commercial, really touristy but some gorgeous gardens and ponds all along...

And then the most magical place. For those of you who like HAVANA and MONTMARTRE... the most perfect combination of the two ...BARRIO LAS PENAS. Should have a spanish squiggle on the ¨N´but can´t seem to find it on this keyboard. Arghhhh! The place is sooooo soooo gorgeous. It´s tiny little narrow houses in pastel colours crowded on a mountain one on top of the other with gorgeous little colonial iron balconies, wooden laced window decorations... And the detail, combination and choice of colours. Really wild!!! And the flowers along the way, from 1 flight of stairs to the next ...fuschia, fuschia and more fuschia. Intense, bright, happy. And the people I crossed along the way ... young, old, brown, black, screaming, laughing...I think the place is about contrasts and intensity. It was pure magic, even though Brel was so mad that he had to climb ALL those stairs ... which by the way were numbered ...just in case you have to describe to someone where you live I guess. Turn right when you get to stair 133 ...

And then a crazy walk through hell. A street market like I have only seen in Mexico. Miles of clothing stalls, shoes, plates, utensils, fried bananas, flip flops, burned popcorn, extra large bras, fluorescent underwear and music blasting, men whistling ...argh!!! we made it out ... in 1 piece.

And now it´s time to go cuddle with Brel and rest our little feet for tomorrow we´re of to the beach again. But this time it´s the ECUADORIAN COAST. First MONTANITA. Squiggle on the 2nd ¨n¨.

Besos de colour