Day 10 - 10/16/23 - Guayaquil, Ecuador

 Today in Guayaquil we took a private excursion using www.Narwelltours.com who subcontracted to a local firm..  We were docked at an industrial port and we took the shuttle to the main gate where after a bit of looking we found our shuttle bus and 12 of us boarded it with our driver, Freddy, owner of the Company, Javier, and our Guide, Simon.  We drove about 40 minutes into the center of town to the Iguana Park.  There were lots of military ceremonial guards there and a band playing music to celebrate the election of a new President yesterday.  In this park, there are hundreds of iguanas and they are very friendly to people.  We took a short side trip across the street to the cathedral, but there was a service going on so we could take many pictures.  Fortunately we had been here 5 years ago, so I have my pictures from that visit.








We next headed down to the Malecon (a long pedestrian walking area with restaurants, parks, and along the river) in the vicinity of the Ferris Wheel where after some group discussion, we all finally agreed to take the aerial tram over to Durán.  It was a pretty cool ride over the river and on the other side we posed for a group photo.  After taking the tram back to Guayaquil, we wandered down the Malecon to the old part of town and through an artisan district.  Here it's possible to take the 444 steps up to the lighthouse which we did in 2018, but most of the group was not able to do that, so we strolled through the winding cobblestone streets of the art district before visiting a very small coffee museum.  Our next stop was supposed to be at a chocolate museum, but their cash register system was down, so we were whisked out to a supermarket to purchase chocolate.  


Our last stop was at a hostel where we enjoyed a nice lunch of rice and a drumstick.  The rice was cooked in chicken broth as was among the best I've ever eaten.

We then then drove back to the port gate where we had to go through a scanning and board the local port shuttle to the ship.  As I reflect on the tour for this port, if we were to return I'd do a totally different tour or take the free shuttle to Iguana Square and walk the city like we did in 2018.

Presidential Race Winner

Onboard I went to the railing above the gangway and watched the remaining guests return.  The last guests were onboard just before our onboard time of 3:30pm.  While watching the gangway preparations for our disembarkation, I noticed a crew member keep pointing down into the water.  Eventually a small net on a pole was put into the water and a wallet was retrieved.  I'm sure the owner will be happy to have it back.

Around  3:45pm, the Captain came on the PA system to give the disembarkation announcement, but he added that they were expecting a delivery of fresh fish and we would wait until 4pm for that delivery.  Gangway preparations continued and at 4pm sharp a refrigerated box truck rolled up and 4 boxes of fish in insulated boxes were unloaded.  The boxes were so heavy it took 4 men to carry each of them up the gangplank.  With that task completed, gangway was stowed by hand, the mooring lines were retrieved, the thrusters activated, and we were underway for our 4 hour sail down river out to the ocean.  I watched from the deck 3 railing for a while and then went up to the Crow's Nest where I ran into a fellow passenger and we were able to chat for a long while before I met Angela for dinner in the Lido.

We had a magician, Nathan Cole Marsh and we were in front row seats..  He was quite good, and we couldn't figure out how he did it.  The rest of our evening was spent watching Monday night football where the Cowboys beat the Chargers.


Tomorrow is another sea day on our way to Salaverry, Peru.

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