Feb 22, 2013 - Beach time, here we come!

Guayaquil is a dangerous city so I never brought my camera out. Despite it's reputation, the people are actually very nice. Lilly was taking photos out of the back of the pick up and a man driving behind us was gesturing to put her camera away. Karol thought he was afraid she'd drop it but I said no, when traffic stops someone could easily steal it right out of her hands. I remember that happening to Mike in a taxi in Lima. She put it away and we gestured our thanks. He just grinned. Another time we were walking back from the river and...

Dec 18, 2012 - at sea

12/18 at sea to Callao, Peru It was a beautiful but cool morning. In fact the temperature announced at noon was 68! Hundreds of dolphins and birds were active around the ship this morning. Fun to watch. There were also some whale sightings but off in the distance. We should see more when we are near Mexico. There weren’t a whole lot of course offerings today, but we did attend several that were about Peru and Machu Picchu. This evening, we busied ourselves packing up for tomorrow’s journey. There are over 200 of us passengers who will get...

Dec 17, 2012 - Guayaquil

12/17 - Guayaquil, Ecuador We are in Guayaquil, Ecuador for the day. Bruce & Pam are taking a tour to a dry forest and then touring the city. The remaining 6 of us traveled with a non-English speaking taxi driver for 2 hours for a total of $30! Even though we couldn’t get all the info about what we were seeing, Cookie could pick up some of the Spanish words which was helpful. We stopped at the town plaza which had a statue of Simon Bolivar and a gorgeous old church. Plenty of iguanas were in the plaza along with pigeons and a squirrel which...

Dec 17, 2012 - Guayaquil, Ecuador

Monday 12/17/12 Guayaguil, Ecuador We are docked in the port of Guayaquil, Ecuador. It is noted to the passengers to be very guarded while in the city as muggings, pickpocks and general crime is on the rise. Hummmm, should we go ashore? “Yep, let’s go” A city of two million people and absolutely no one speaks English, putting us at a great disadvantage. They are preparing for their New Year’s Eve celebration. They make Paper Mache figures from 2 feet up to 10 feet high. The characters they don’t like is what they make, Mickey Mouse, Miss...

Dec 16, 2012 - Another day at sea toward Ecuador

12/16 – a second day at sea from Panama to Ecuador A beautiful morning on deck drinking coffee. The overcast conditions have kept the tropical temperatures on the low side. It’s probably in the low 70s in the morning & maybe low 80s in the afternoon. No rain today. Today we will cross the equator. To celebrate that event, King Neptune & his court visited the ship this morning. (You’ll have to Google King Neptune to see if there’s a story behind all this.) We had to state several pledges & he still felt that we were not worthy of crossing...

Apr 16, 2012 - Guayaquil

Harsh schedule today partly due to the flight times from NY to Ecuador and partly to limit the time in the country. Midnight flight from JFK to Guayaquil, there is security and there is rude but the FSA in JFK are just downright fucking rude, the US authorities have convinced their people that anything goes in the name of security but the treatment some people were getting (not me by the way) was simply not acceptable. AA lounge was basic and used a voucher system for some of the drinks. Finally got on the plane after having to wait for at...

Mar 9, 2012 - Guayaquil

Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador but not the capital and not really an attractive city with most tourists only stopping there on their way to The Galapagos Islands. When i was in Quito there were lots of agencies offering trips to the Galapagos but here was very different. I had to walk for quite a while and really search out places to book a trip. I found a few in the end and got the cheapest price from a really nice guy who spoke very good English. I didn't book it on the day as i was not too happy at the route and decided to try...

Jan 6, 2012 - Back to Emporium for Jen, Tony and Vinny

We're back at home and settling in - after a nightmarish experience in and out of the airports on Wednesday (including ultra-crowded chaos in Miami resulting in a missed flight and the loss of a full and complete homework folder), and car troubles in Pittsburgh. BUT -- it's all part of the adventure, and it won't be long until we're back on track. We'll continue tracking Tim's progress by posting the emails that he sends us, telling us about his journey north through Ecuador and into Columbia.

Dec 21, 2011 - December 18 - 21: Guayaquil

Explored the city a little bit. It’s quite large - 2.2 million at least. It is a port city and the largest city in the country. Also the business center of Ecuador, tourism is virtually non-existant. Jen got a haircut first then the boys did the next day. (There was a hair salon right across the street from the hotel we stayed in!) It seemed like everyone around us was busy with preparations for Christmas, including lots of last-minute shopping.

Dec 12, 2011 - Guayaquil

Dec 12 Guayaquil Guayaquil is a large city with a large river running through it's center that heads to the nearby pacific ocean. The weather was very hot and humid...not what we have been used to. The city was once a very dangerous place but the current government is trying very hard to change that. Evidence of this could be seen from the river front parks and the shopping centers which were very modern and with lots of security guards everywhere. As well the local plazas were well kept and full of wildlife from huge iguanas to a nice...

Nov 23, 2011 - Guayaquil Part 2

Her we are spending a little more time in this lovely city than we expected ' our flight has been delayed and we now have to overnight in Lima before going to Cuzco tomorrow. Oh well ....the joys of travel! We had a supberb meal here last night and a good nights sleep, but we both have heavy colds and sore throats....probably a combination of snorkelling in the very cold water in Galapagos and the air conditioning in hotels?

Nov 8, 2011 - Pam and Tom Arrive

It was a late, late flight from Tampa to Guayaquil tonight. Pam Siegel and Tom Nay have arrived. We spent the night at the home of the owners of Casa de Romero in Guayaquil since the hotel was doing a little repair work. We ate breakfast beside their beautiful pool and took the van back to Cuenca. I'll start showing them the town tomorrow. www.casaderomero.es.tl hostel_guayaquil@yahoo.com