Parque Bolivar, Malecón 2000 and El Centro. The Malecón is a well done boardwalk, more than a mile long, which was constructed 10 years ago to reclaim the downtown waterfront. Anicia, America, Andres, Carmen and I walked it for 2 hours, in the early evening hours of 23 March.

Parque Bolivar is famous for its iguanas, and it is odd to find them – a lot of them – right downtown! We also wandered just a bit thru the town center, which is reminiscent of cities everywhere, yet different enough. The closet-sized stores are cheek by jowl, and how they can be worth the effort I don’t know. Fact is, the people here work themselves into the ground just trying to keep up: as much as the education here is a disaster, a diploma or certificate leads to a small but noticeable difference in lifestyle…

Below part of the Guayaquil family, clockwise from upper left:

Anicia, America, Carmen & Andes