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Friday 21 October 2011

Day 255: Paradise to Milton Keynes (10/10/2011)

We left Puerto Lopez to meet Bernie in Guayaquil.

It was rather like leaving paradise to go to Milton Keynes.

Bernie had flown halfway around the known universe to spend ten days with us and all she got when she arrived was a tired Clare and a grumpy Tim.

Although to be fair to Guayaquil, the first thing we saw after we had checked into the care of the delightful Andrea at the equally delightful Casa Romero (7th floor of an anonymous tower block in the city centre at Velez 501 Y Boyaca, 593 Guayaquil) was fearsome beasties.

Placa Seminario, a couple of blocks north on Velez is better known as Placa Iguana. The clue is in the name. Somehow, scores of Iguanas have taken up residence there and lounge in the sun or patiently tolerate the tourists who pull their tails and poke them with whatever comes to hand.

And then there is the pigeons.

They harass the iguanas relentlessly, walking past them with the insouciance of a French waiter, standing on their heads, loitering near the youngsters in the hope of initiating a chase and generally making the poor creatures lives a misery.

And crapping on them for good measure.

The Cathedral looks on with determined impartiality as neither of these creatures is any part of God´s creation. The pigeon is a rat with wings and the iguana looks more like the devil than Old Nick himself.

When the excitement of the square was over, we took a long walk down the water front Malecon.

Guayaquil was a late 19th century boom town courtesy of several rivers that run conveniently to the nearby sea. The town is built at the confluence and the view from the Santa Anna hill is more a lesson in topography than a pleasant vista. 


The museum on the hill cleverly erected a giant photograph of the 1880 panorama which chimes beautifully with the modern day perspective.

Some of the plantation houses remain but Guayaquil has blossomed into the financial heart of Ecuador, full of skyscrapers and sharp suited executive-types.

On reflection, it isn´t Milton Keynes.

It´s more like Reading.

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