Day 2: A Tour of Guayaquil

The next day was all about seeing Guayaquil and getting to know more about it. For breakfast, I tried Ecuadorian pineapple which is white and not as sweet, but very good. I also tried tomate de arbol (tomato tree) juice. It was very good and they let me know that the fruit cannot be eaten, but only made into juice or sauce. After breakfast, we walked around all of Guayaquil. First, we saw the Iglesia San Fransisco, which is located in a busy part of Guayaquil. I was told that many protests are held there.

We also walked to Parque Seminario a.k.a the Iguana Park. There, we were able to feed and touch (if you pleased) iguanas and also see a historic statue of Simon Bolivar, a celebrated hero in the country of Ecuador that helped lead Ecuador to independence. 

                               

Behind Parque Seminario was the Guayaquil Metropolitan Cathedral or the Principle Cathedral. It was massive and filled with different paintings and statues. My favorite part were the designs on the stained-glass windows.

From the Cathedral we walked through the La Bahia, or the black/open market. There you could find basically anything you wanted for a cheaper price. They had clothes, accessories, bikes, food, shoes, jewelry, and much more. It was very hectic and crowded, so we left before I could see all of it. Unfortunately, all the chaos makes this the most unsafe place and often things get stolen. I had a fanny pack to keep all my belongings safe. 

After walking through the open market, we went to the Centro Comercial Malecon 2000. Inside, it was basically a mall filled with stores and restaurants. Outside, it turned into a riverfront boardwalk where you could walk along the Guayas River. 

After that, we went back to the apartment and I had my first traditional Ecuadorian dish called bollo. It is cooked for hours inside plantain leaves. It was kind of like a tamale except we ate it with rice and lemon juice. It was a new taste for me but I enjoyed it.

At night, we ventured out into the city to walk along the river boardwalk some more. We saw a cinema, a market that sold many different things from hand crafted jewelry to clothes, a Ferris Wheel called La Perla, and other rides and restaurants. 

We ended our night with a walk through Cerro Santa Ana and a pizza place. Since I dedicated myself to trying new things, I decided to try pepperoni pizza with honey, which was surprisingly good.