Second city highs

We have a quick stopover in Ecuador’s second city, Guayaquil. Bigger and more populous than Quito, it used to have a reputation for being a bit of a roughhouse. Large areas were deemed unsafe for tourists, especially after dark so it wasn’t a town to linger in for any length of time.

Thankfully all this has changed. Some serious money has been thrown at the waterfront and many smart restaurants and bars now compete for the tourist buck. This is right across the road from our hostel so we don’t have to wander far to keep ourselves entertained.

Three blocks back from the river are a couple of ‘must sees’: the large neo-gothic cathedral and the pretty Parque Seminario which is home to a large gang of iguanas. 

They obviously associate people with sustenance so are very laid back and comfortable with crowds. 

The local birdlife appreciate them as much as the tourists.

Wend then manages to sweet talk the bloke who maintains the city’s famous Moorish clocktower to let us in for a gander. 

We have the tower to ourselves so take our time to appreciate the workmanship of the ornate stairwell and clock mechanism in the belfry. 

The clock actually pre-dates the tower by 90 years; imported from London in 1842 it still keeps perfect time. This makes us come over all patriotic, we puff out our chests and shout to all the foreigners below that we’re British and the best and when we get home there’s going to be a massive Brexit dividend waiting for us.

But everyone thinks we're either boring or mad and no-one cares.

Later we take a ride on Guayaquil’s ferris wheel. It starts raining while we’re up there giving me an opportunity to get arty farty with my photography. 

Behind Wend you can see one of the oldest parts of town, famous for the small lighthouse that sits among the brightly painted wooden houses.

Here it is before it started raining.

And afterwards. 

Whoever granted the planning permission for the tower block wants shooting.

Yes, we like Guayaquil a lot.