Guayaquil & the Rivers | Ecuador Part I
By square meter, Ecuador is the most diverse place on Earth. Being so close to the equator might have something to do with it, but the fact that the country transitions from sea to desert to mountain to jungle with ease is pretty remarkable. The call to the middle of the Earth came from one of my best friends, Diego. A native Ecuadorian, he has taken countless friends through the variety his country — which is smaller than the state of Nevada — has to offer. After years of harassment, I finally showed up. And despite 10 action-packed days in the country, I am still far from seeing most of it.
We started in his hometown, a big city tucked in a gulf off of the Pacific Ocean: Santiago de Guayaquil. When the Spanish arrived in the 1530s, they gave the port a portmanteau in honor of a Catholic Saint (James), the Indian chief (Guaya), and the chief’s wife (Quila). Nowadays, it is the financial and business heart of the country with over 2.5 million residents. Two rivers cut through it and separate the downtown from the suburban neighborhoods on the opposite banks. Bridges have historically connected them to the city center but a new method of transit seems to be in the works: a cable car. This gondola ‘promises’ to whisk inhabitants over the water and to their destinations in record time. Whether the project will deliver on-time and on-budget is still to be determined as Ecuador has a history for expensive infrastructure (thank you corruption). As a foreigner familiar with the mountain mobility system I couldn’t help but smile seeing it on flatland to cross a body of water…although I think a ferry would do the trick faster for a fraction of the cost; then again, no one asked me!
On the note sub-optimal ideas is one that I saw throughout South America: the Traffic Cop. Dressed in yellow vests and armed with a whistle, small armies take to the streets each day, not to assist in the alleviation of congestion, but to defy the logic of traffic lights. If it was green, they could raise a gloved-hand and shriek to say, “si pero no…now you stopped cars with red, please come this way.” I was shocked by the comedy. This is a government job — in some countries they are a branch of the police force — who’s sole|soul purpose was to add complexity to a system that otherwise works quite well. I had always felt that the three-colored traffic signals were genius. Sure some countries have their own nuances: lights may flash, or a preliminary show of orange with green to indicate, “start your engines!” But adding a fourth element (which operates outside the system of the other variables) seemed silly. They love asserting their power, and it becomes obvious quite quickly that even when green, yellow reigns supreme.
El Malecon (the boardwalk) is a massive track of riverfront that serves as a beautiful park for residents to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Hotels and hostels host balcony bars , perfect for people watching while enjoying the national pilsner, aptly named Pilsener. The beginning of El Malecon is decorated with a stretch of skittles’d colored houses. Known as Las Penas, the buildings are protected by a colonial seawall used to dissuade pirates wanting to cause problems, and provide plenty of postcard possibilities (see the collection below). Rising 444 steps above the colonial time-capsule is a lighthouse dressed in the city’s blue and white flag. The views are incredible and one takes a few minutes to enjoy panoramas while catching your breath. With the sun beating down, every inhale is coated with the taste of tropical heat and being so close to the water only adds to the humidity; at any rate it is a good excuse for another stop along the walk to take another Pilsener.
Upon landing, Diego took me for a local breakfast classic: bolones. After a long night of travel, smashed plantains filled with chunks of chicharron and cheese, all rolled into a ball were the perfect welcome meal. I quickly learned that plantains, maduros, and bananas are a staple on every Ecuadorian plate; no surprise either as they are the second largest export for the country. The country’s ideal growing conditions create a multitude of micro-climates and anything an Ecuadorian chef could dream of sprouts in the garden like the jungle. Proximity to the ocean and mountain lakes means the fish is fresh and when incorporated into various ceviches and corviches (another ball of plantain, this time stuffed with sea critters and deep fried), the result is decadent. A powder of peanuts and peppers provide a delightful companion to every dish, but I couldn’t stop adding it to the maduros for flavor reminiscent of a savory peanut butter-banana combo.
Food is best enjoyed in the company of others. In Latin America, Futbol is life, and while the Champions League final is a European competition, it is still treated like a Super Bowl around the world. As I can’t stand either of the two teams in it, I threw myself into the meal prep. Barbecue takes on different names in every country and in Ecuador a common backyard tool is a Caja China. Essentially a box that you toss coals on top of, Diego and I roasted a suckling pig for 6 hours and despite nearly blowing up the house (disculpe Familia Jarrin), the end result came out pretty great, which helped ease the reality that my team’s bitter rival won. Even Sam, the family Frenchie tried to snag some scraps.
