Guayaquil, Ecuador

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Happy Monday!  This is the last post in a blog series about our trip to the Galapagos Islands.  Have you been following along?  If not, check out these other posts: Santa Cruz, Floreana, Isabela, & Packing tips!  After our Galapagos adventures were complete, we flew to Guayaquil where we had some time to explore before returning to the US.

We stayed at the Oro Verde hotel, and had the option to book a city tour day trip as part of our Friendly Planet package.  Although we did walk around town some on our own, I was glad we scheduled the day trip too so we could take full advantage of our time left in Ecuador.

We walked to Iguana park, which as you can see is definitely an appropriate name!  There were several iguanas lounging around of various sizes, and also tons of birds.

We continued onto Malecon, and took a quick stroll along the waterfront.

My favorite part of the day trip was our visit to Las Peñas, which is known for being the first neighborhood in Guayaquil, and is an important historical location.    Here we are riding along to that part of the trip:

It was great being able to look out the windows & enjoy the ride, rather than having to be the one navigating the roads.

When we arrived, we knew there were 444 steps to climb (which are conveniently numbered!) with an incredible view of the city from the top.

Here I am checking out some of the buildings, early in the climb:

There were so many interesting buildings in the neighborhood, and little shops which I could have spent more time looking at, but we kept a steady pace to our climb, so we could be sure to fit everything planned into the day.

Once we had ascended all 444 steps, I was completely stunned by the breathtaking views:

Although the steps got a little tiring, it was absolutely worth the climb!

I really enjoyed our time in Guayaquil, although it was short, it was great to have some time to see the city.  If you’ll be visiting and go to Las Peñas, I highly recommend wearing comfortable shoes, lightweight clothing, sunscreen, & sunglasses.

These shoes (Amazon link) are similar to what I wore on the city tour, and they were pretty comfortable.  In the warmer weather it’s tempting to wear sandals, but when going on a walking tour the support of a nice shoe is important too.  I liked that these were kind of a cross between the two.

It’s been fun reminiscing about our trip to the Galapagos Islands, & Guayaquil, and I’ve loved hearing from so many of you!

Be sure to come back next Monday as I start my next blog series about one of my absolute favorite places on Earth…. the beautiful island of Grenada!