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The last beach we went to was Salinas.  It is a major beach with a lot of people. Unfortunately the water was very cold and the waves were strong.  However there were lots of sales people selling things like fresh coconuts that they cut open right there, sunglasses, hand crafted jewerly, temporary tatoos, clothing, and more. There were also people who braided hair and others who were selling all kinds of food.  It was very exciting.

 Instead of staying in a hotel we stayed in a house belonging to a family friend in a small, and I do mean small, town called Ancon.  The town was big enough however to have its own fire department and a club house located on a cliff overlooking the water.  There were a lot of condors there.  We had cooked food (including 3 pounds of shrimp) delievered and served to us at $30 for 6 people.  They even cleaned up too.  You can’t really tell from the picture but the house has only a kitchen on the bottom with the rest open, and then 4 bedrooms on the second floor which is accessable only via a set of outside stairs.

Sorry for the delay in blogging it has been a busy two weeks. 

The first beach we stopped at was Ayangue.  We stayed for two nights at $10 a person, right on the beach in a house that belonged to Americans who rent it out by the bed when they’re not there.  The water was beautiful, with small waves and soft sand.  They had tents you could rent for $5 for the whole day.  The cabana type buildings were restaurants that served delicious fresh seafood at great prices.  A large bottle of beer went for $1.25 and a water for $.50.  It was great.

Blogging was not possible due to there being no viable internet connections where we have been.  They do have internet cafes, however they are older machines and the connection speed is extremely slow.  There was no way to use our own computer, so we will be a bit behind.  We have shown pictures of Guayaquil city.  Over the next few weeks we’ll show some pictures of smaller beach towns and the countryside. 

Countryside Living

On our way to the beach we stopped for 1 hour massages that cost $4 and used real Aloe.

The pools are inside

You can also have a mud massage.

If you don’t want a massage you can just bath in the mud pool.

Can you believe that gas is still less than $1.50 here?? Too bad we can’t bring some home with us!
              
 

Las Peñas – the old city. If you want, you can climb close to 500 steps to the top to get a good view. People live here and have to climb up and down the steps daily, with any purchases they have, because there are no streets in this part.

This part of Las Peñas has narrow streets and many galleries. Las Peñas is a popular area at night because of the shops, bars and clubs. 
It is very similar to South Street Philadelphia. Many homes have converted there front rooms to a mini-store. More than 30% of the population make a living selling products or food on the street or from their homes, out of neccesity. There are not enough jobs for the 3 million people living in Guayaquil.

There are casinos in Guayaquil, for now. The current president wants to close them down soon. He feels that instead of wasting money at the casinos, people should be investing their money. The Casino is very similar to those in America, but it was much smaller.

Some sights in downtown Guayaquil and at the Malecon 2000. The Malecon 2000 is like a huge boardwalk, with a mall, small restaurants, parks for children, gardens and much more. We will be posting more pictures form this great spot in the city in the future. It is along ‘el Rio Guayas’ and is very popular with the people who live and work in the city.