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3 Masted Sailing Ship, Ficus Trees, Guayaquil Ecuador Malecon, Guayaquil Ecuador Malecon 2000, Guayas Sailing Ship, Hill in Guayaquil Ecuador near Malecon, MAAC Museum Guayaquil, Painted t-shirts, Santa Anna Guayaquil, Water Balls for Children, What to do in Guayaquil
Ecuador
360-degree view from lighthouse atop Guayaquil’s Las Penas Hill, dotted with pastel houses
My trips to Guayaquil seem never complete without a stroll through the Malecon 2000, the 2.5-kilometer boardwalk along the Guayas River. Anchoring one end of the malecon is the historic neighborhood of Los Penas on the Santa Anna Hill. Like a candle nesting on a pastel cupcake, the lighthouse presides over the 360-degree view, though the Malecon and Guayas River always capture my attention.
GYE MAAC Museum – “Would Fairy Godmother make all my wishes come true?”
1907 Crystal Palace – Guayaquil Malecon
At the foot of the Santa Anna Hill is the MAAC museum which houses an outstanding collection of pre-Columbian artifacts as well as a second area that features contemporary art. Visiting this musuem is always a ‘must-see’ on my list! On the other end of the malecon, the classic “Crystal Palace Mercado” building serves many purposes; this weekend this 1907-era building housed the Cuenca Muebles Market and featured fine furnishings from the lovely city of Cuenca.
Hmmmm, do we recognize someone in this picture?!
Sandwiched between those points are the botanical gardens, changing displays of outdoor art, the Yacht Club, shopping areas (air conditioned as well!), children’s play areas, food courts, specific restaurants, and even an IMAcks theater – (Ooooops! I’m using “Burrito” laptop, and it had recently started to balk when asked for the key between W and Y in the alphabet!)
Barb and I were particularly amused at a very-popular attraction for children: Water Balls. With a sense of wonder and whimsy, children floated in their protective balloons across shallow pools!
Not far from the shady Water Ball area, people gathered to watch the end-of-the-day students oN the 3-masted ship, The Guayas*. Built in 1841, this classic beauty now serves as a training school for Ecuador’s navy and as a floating ambassador for Ecuador. She has visited at least 25 countries and often presides over the central section of the malecon.
After I hit the “Publish” prompt, I’ll be checking out of the hotel, where it took less time to upload a dozen photos than it takes to upload one back home on the river! See you tonight, slow internet willing!
Z
*For more information about the Guayas 3-masted ship, see the Wilkipedia article HERE.
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
I love those water balls, Lisa. We sometimes have them in the marina here in the Summer.
Beautiful looking city.
Fotografías maravillosas, Very nice… 😉
Un saludo para ti…
Carlos
The shot from the lighthouse is amazing, almost like a painting! Love those colourful pastel houses. Thanks for the tour Lisa 🙂
Just incredible. I can’t decide which part I like best. Oh alright, all of it. The opening photo is splenderific (the textures and color of the landscape of buildings). How exciting to view up close and personal pre-Columbian artistry, love the photo of you in the botanical gardens, and those waterballs, how fun they look, all the other things you mention and then that gorgeous ship! I do envy you, you know! Great post and photographs, thank you for sharing!
SPLENDERIFIC!!!!!!!!!!
thank you so much! it feels good to be home!
next time we go to Guayaquil we’ll have to plan to stay a couple days and do the tourista tour. Love the photos especially the one of Barb with her hand painted top…lost track of days somehow, we wanted to offer our guest room to you Sunday night. Though, if you’re like me, no matter how much you love your friend / houseguest , you’re ready for some quiet “alone” time when they depart.. “talk” to you later amiga 🙂
thank you, amigos!
yes, you should take some time and enjoy guayaquil. there’s a lot to see, and so much of that is free.
thanks for the invitation. the trip home by bus was pretty horrid – the rains have made a big mess of the road between tosagua and san vicente. i got home around 9 that night!
it’s been a late one tonight, so i will sleep in in the morning, but catching up on posts was worth the late night work! z
Those floating balloons scare me, but those climbing guys scare me Ben more! Yikes! Great shots.
i agree with you! those climbing guys could work in the circus, couldn’t they?!
Yup! Good job for them – not me ;-).
Love the pics! 🙂
I recognise the someone in the photo and her top. Love the photos of the navy with all that fascinating rigging. And people think computerised sailing is difficult!
Hey, Barbara gets to show off her new top. Perfect background.Really like the pictures of the navy men on the three masted ship. It’s nice to know that kind of training still goes on. Water balls are totally new to me. Thanks for sharing.
What a beautiful little city – so colourful and ‘quaint’ (to our western eyes!) and yet so perfectly and naturally part of the 21st century. Safe trip home and don’t be lonely after all the laughter and activity of the last couple of weeks. 🙂
thank you! guayaquil has many facets, and that little section is quite special. it’s also quite dangerous, so everyone has to be on their high alert. i suppose all cities are dangerous, though, aren’t they?
z
There’s something fascinating about the old sailing ships. I can understand why Joseph Conrad quit the sea when the sailing ships were replaced by the steamers! (And I love the water balloons. I have never seen those before!) Great post.
Wow Z. I started with “Is that a real photo or is it a painting of the pastel houses?” Then every picture was so interesting from the men on the mast to the balls in the water. Well done and quite vivid. Thanks, BTG
You capture these scenes so beautifully
Thanks for the trip z – and the super photos.
Oh, my! You know how much I love that tall ship! I’ve been lucky enough to sail on our Elissa, home-ported in galveston. I’ve even got some photos taken from the tippy top of the rigging. I must have been out of my mind.
And here’s a little tidbit for you that just set me laughing. When I read your title, I couldn’t wait to beat it over here and tell you I had cause to use the word malecon in my new post. How cool is that?
hey!
i returned home late this afternoon and am reminded of how brutally slow the connection is here! how great that it’s finally getting fast enough to open the comments, and what a great start to have yours smiling at me! i am so very behind but look forward to catching up!
i thought of you when i watched those cadets climbing up the rigging. they started with gung-ho body english, but by the time they started side stepping, their bodies told no lies. they were careful and a little unsure of what they had chosen to do with their lives!!!!
i can’t wait to see your post /posts and am heading there now! the other comments have been in limbo and can wait a while longer!
thanks, amiga!
z
Guayaquil looks like a fascinating city. Love the first photo and the fabulous colors of the buildings. Those water balls look like great fun for the kids.
i did a little research yesterday on the water balls, as i was baffled why they are not in the usa. a five-yea old girl in boston passed out, and they feared she had died. there’s a concern about lack of oygen and/or drowning.
of course, there are risks with most everything, but one death is too many if it was due to a bad risk/design/concept. still, the waterballs look like a lot of fun, and i would love to float down a quiet river on one! z
Fascinating photos, Lisa. The water balloons are really surreal, and I don’t think I’d like to be in one of them at all. The pastel coloured houses are so pretty. Those students are obviously not afraid of heights. My heart would be in my mouth just watching them. 🙂
Wow!. A thrilling adventure. Vibrant colors and an event that makes your heart stop beating for a second. What a climb!
Yes, a trip to Guayaquil’s Malecon always provides me with unique surprises. the water balloons and the cadets were the top surprises that day! thanks!