Day 6: Back to the Coast Jan 6th, 2018
The beginning of this day was spent leaving hotel Ninfa very early in the morning. We took a short boat ride from Santa Cruz back to Baltra Island.From the Baltra docks we once again took a bus to the Galapagos Airport. This time after screening, we got a chance to walk onto the actual plane. Before we knew it were on the plane, on our way back to Guayaquil. A few hours later we were back to the Continental Hotel in Guayaquil.
After having about an hour to get food and relax, we all went on the bus for a city tour. After getting dropped off at the pier- like area, Diego started the tour (5:30 pm). As he gave the tour, one thing I noticed was that there were just people and children everywhere. Like tons of people. Also as we walked on our tour street marketers were running up to us screaming “ Agua, agua, agua” in our faces, trying to get us to by water bottles off the street. Which Diego highly frowned apon for health related reasons. |
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Facts about Guayaquil
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Probably the best part of the city tour was walking up the the 444 stairs to the lighthouse that oversees most of Guayaquil. Let me tell you, walking up 444 stairs is quite exhausting. It was even more exciting for Jackalyn and I, because we made it our mission to keep up with Diego as he ran up the stairs. Every step is labeled and on each side of the stairs are restaurants and bars with promoters trying to get you to stop. All kinds of music from these restaurants, bars and houses flooded each level of stairs as we continued to run more and more of them. Overall it took Diego, Jacklyn and I about ten minutes to run up all the stairs plus the extra stairs of the lighthouse. From the lighthouse we watched and cheered for everyone else that were climbing the stairs. After spending about a half hour on the lighthouse looking over the city and taking numerous pictures, we began the descent of the 444 stairs.
Once at the bottom layer, the overall feeling of the city changed even more. Like it felt much more unsafe than earlier. That is why we weren’t allowed to go anywhere without a large group of people and Tait. We ended the city tour by separating into two groups for dinner. I chose to eat at Wendy’s, since I hadn’t had fast food since the beginning of the trip.
Once back at the hotel we gathered for a group meeting with Diego, Tait and Lester about our plans to leave Guayaquil as well as our plans for the following couple of days. Afterwards we all headed back to our hotel rooms to get some rest for the following day!
Once at the bottom layer, the overall feeling of the city changed even more. Like it felt much more unsafe than earlier. That is why we weren’t allowed to go anywhere without a large group of people and Tait. We ended the city tour by separating into two groups for dinner. I chose to eat at Wendy’s, since I hadn’t had fast food since the beginning of the trip.
Once back at the hotel we gathered for a group meeting with Diego, Tait and Lester about our plans to leave Guayaquil as well as our plans for the following couple of days. Afterwards we all headed back to our hotel rooms to get some rest for the following day!
References
All Ecuador and More. (2009). Guayaquil. Retrieved from http://www.allecuadorandmore.com/guayaquil.html