Country 47! Guayaquil

Ecuador is country 47 on my list (number 12 for this year of travelling!) and we headed from Mancora through the border to Guayaquil on a direct night bus.

So our first beer was the following afternoon after barely any sleep and after walking up 444 steps to see the views from the lighthouse - it went down well!

We didn't have long in Guayaquil to explore, just one day before catching our flights to the Galapagos the next day. So we headed first from our hostel Dreamkapture, which was near the bus station and airport, to the Malecon. 

This is the riverside area of Guayaquil that had been extensively developed in the past years and has contributed to the clean up of the city and increase in safety.

There are lots of statues - this one celebrating independence - and things to do including a kids playground area and botanical gardens with lots of tropical plants.

All nicely set by the riverside to grab the breeze - it was very hot and sticky!

Selfie by the river!

At the end of the Malecon was the museum of anthropology, archeology and art - an electic mix! But as it was free and air conditioned we wandered in.

Lots of pottery with explanations in Spanish - so I'm not sure what these were for exactly...

After the museum we headed to this delightful area - cerro Santa Anna and walked up to the top of the hill to see the lighthouse and views across the river and city.

Selfie from the top of th lighthouse - and yes I was using a filter on the camera!

After one night in Guayaquil we were off on the next adventure - to the Galápagos Islands!!