I just returned from my business & pleasure trip to Guayaquil, 35 minutes by flight on TAME the local carrier . This the largest city in Ecuador with almost 2 million inhabitants. It's situated along the Guayas river and a few hours drive from beautiful beaches where I will be headed to in a few weeks.
I was greeted at the airport by our sales staff which took me on a field visit to the wide range of retailers. For the first time in my professional life, we were escorted by an armed bodyguard who followed us around the city on motor-bike and discreetly "watched our backs" as we walked the streets.
Most of the mom and pop stores were completely gated by bars preventing customers from entering the stores. Instead customers peer through the bars at the inventory and ask for what they want. (see photo)
The weather was scorching hot, 30 degrees; cloudless. The street vendors were bust selling 10 cent cups of coca-cola out of 2 liter pet-bottles.
Honestly, the scenic views were no where as gorgeous as Quito, but apparently it has been renovated up quite a bit. The Malecon boardwalk was quite nice with views of the river and cafes. Other than that, there were some nice colonial buildings and parks with iguanas. I going to get 2 baby iguanas as pets and will pick them up on my next visit. I took the double decker city tour but fell asleep. But that was because of the hang-over!
I snapped a shot of the door banning firearms in the mall. It's quite common to see such signs!
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