josh.and.andra: day in Guayaquil

the day after the convention we were shown around Guayaquil by a local which was great because we didn't have to figure out where anything was or how to get there! we spent most of the afternoon at the Malecon 2000 which is a boardwalk that overlooks the Guayas River. this was a huge urban renewal project several years ago to kind of clean up the area and improve the waterfront and it has gardens, museums, shopping, restaurants, the IMAX theater (first one in S.America).

the Malecon 2000 ends at a neighborhood called Las Penas, which is full of art and architecture from the colonial period. there are 444 steps to the top where there is a little lookout point. the restored area is really pretty, with lots of galleries, restaurants and so on. but if you look just a few feet beyond the beautiful new staircase and houses lining it, there is a whole other world out there. we were told that the neighborhood used to be very dangerous and after it was restored it is much less so, but there are many very poor people that live just on the other side of the street.

below: photo of us at the bottom (step #1)

below: pictures of the beautiful colonial architecture on our long walk up to the top!

below: a view of the other side of the street, which hasn't been restored.

below: the top step!

below: views from the top

below: photos from the rest of the Malecon.

a big tree:

a cool lookout point thingy overlooking the river:

the view of Las Penas and the large lookout tower at the top of 444 steps from farther down the Malecon:

pretty building:

there are a few boats like this along the way, you can go out on them for dinner tours, etc:

man with crab!

we also had dinner at an awesome seafood place with a few people including a special pioneer couple from Quito which was really nice to meet some other people in the country.