Saturday, February 12

Good-bye Cuenca!

We were so sad to move on from this gorgeous city filled with kind people, beautiful architecture and so much history but there’s more of Ecuador to see. Onward we must go…

Andi arranged for a private driver to take us from Cuenca to Guayaquil this morning. Before leaving, we decided to get a little breakfast in our bellies. We’ve learned from these car trips that we need to eat something beforehand.

Andi picked to eat at a restaurant recommended by our airbnb host called Sunrise Cafe. And since we’d be stuck in a car most of the day, Andi and I decided we’d all walk the 10 blocks or so to get there. Of course Tory and Aden huffed about walking, but it was a sunny Saturday morning with air temperatures in the mid 50’s — it felt good to move our legs. There was already a lot of movement happening in Cuenca’s city centre at 8:00am. The Mercado de Augusto 10 was full of life as produce vendors overflowed from the building and onto the sidewalks. Shops were opening and the central plaza was bustling with people passing by.

We were warmly greeted at Sunrise Cafe and seated at a table on the bright, sun-lit patio. Our waiter spoke perfect English and Andi and I quickly figured out that this is where a lot of American Expats must come to eat. As we looked around the cafe, the tables were filled with more Americans than we’d seen on this entire trip! About 10,000 American “expats” live in Cuenca and I can easily see what’s drawn them here — inexpensive cost of living, lots to do, and a clean, beautiful city.

We ordered breakfast — Aden finally found a place with his beloved bacon, Andi ordered eggs benedict, Tory had eggs and toast and I ordered a vegetarian omelet. Our portions were huge! Way too much food for one person to eat. Another reason why so many Americans were eating at this restaurant — the portion sizes were more like what you’d expect in the USA.

All of our breakfasts were very good and our service was excellent. Afterwards, we walked back to our airbnb (with more grumbling from the kids) and realized that during our week-long stay at this airbnb, we’d never walked home. We’ve always cabbed. Turns out, the walk was largely uphill and definitely got our legs working this morning.

The driver Andi hired to take us to Guayaquil this morning arrived around 11:00am. It’s a 3 1/12 hour drive from Cuenca to Guayaquil which leads right through Cajas National Park. Today, we’d travel from Cuenca which is located at 9,000 ft. elevation in the Andes Mountains, through the highest point of Cajas NP at 14,000 ft. and then down to Guayaquil which is located at sea level.

The drive to Guayaquil was surprisingly comfortable. Our driver, Nestor, wasn’t much of a talker so that gave the kids and I seated in the backseat the permission to put in our earbuds and listen to podcasts. Poor Andi was stuck in the front seat with the driver and felt it rude to put in his earbuds, so he sat there trying to make small talk with him for most of the three hours.

Halfway through our trip, Nestor stopped at a restaurant for lunch. I wasn’t particularly hungry after our big breakfast, but it felt good to get out of the van and stretch our legs. Andi and I split a chicken sandwich, Aden ordered his usual chicken tenders and Tory had a big plate of mashed potatoes — her favorite! This was the first time I’ve seen mashed potatoes served at a restaurant on this trip.

Somewhere along the second half of the drive to Guayaquil, the weather changed. It had been raining and was quite chilly at the restaurant when we stopped for lunch, and now the air blowing inside the car windows was hot and sticky.

Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador with 2 1/2 million people living there. It’s known as the gateway to Ecuador’s Pacific Ocean beaches and is the only airport connection to the Galapagos Islands. However, no one we’ve met on this trip (especially local Ecuadorians) had anything nice to say about it. Guayaquil has a pretty bad wrap for being a grimy, big city with a lot of crime. Since we’re flying to the Galapagos tomorrow morning, we had to stay in Guayaquil at least one night. Andi booked us a room at the Wyndham Hotel, one of the nicest hotels in the city, located on the riverfront promenade.

Due to COVID protocol, we had to make a reservation to use the hotel’s pool area, so Andi booked an appointment for 6:00pm. We dropped our bags off in our hotel room and decided to walk around Guayaquil’s Malecon until then. Our hotel was conveniently located right on the riverfront promenade so we didn’t need to take a taxi to get there.

Within seconds of leaving the hotel, we felt the hot, sticky heat of Guayaquil. Whoo, we’re not in the Andes anymore! It was hot.

We followed the Malecon along the Guayas River past dozens of shops and restaurants. The area had the potential to be so beautiful, but it really wasn’t. The boardwalk was covered in pigeon poop and some parts smelled quite badly and the river itself was disgusting with lots of trash and weeds floating around in it.

Eventually, we made our way to the amusement park area of the riverfront promenade with the famed La Perla Ferris Wheel. La Perla as the largest Ferris wheel in all of South America soaring to 187 feet high. Andi paid $20 total for the four of us ride, then we walked right on without waiting. Surprisingly, it wasn’t busy at all.

Each gondola on the ferris wheel is enclosed and air-conditioned which was a nice reprieve from the heat. And, it provided a really beautiful, bird’s eye view of the riverfront below during the 10-minute ride.

Aden spotted a few amusement park rides that the wanted to do next. Specifically, he had his eye on one that flipped and spun upside down, but he was just a little too short for the ride’s required height. I was glad he was too short because I thought it was a bit too extreme for him, but I have no doubt he would have rode it if he had the chance. Instead, Andi and Aden rode the stingray swings together. I tried to convince Tory to ride it, too, so that we could all go together but no luck. Suddenly, she is really afraid of things she used to love.

We continued to walk around the Malecon through an artisan market, but it didn’t look very authentic. Lots of vendors selling trinkets and souvenirs the all looked alike. Tory was practically melting in the heat, so we decided to turn around and start the walk back to our hotel. Along the way, Andi pulled us all into a Heladeria Con Queso which had the A/C blasting and served ice cream. Just what Tory and Aden needed to power walk the rest of the way back in the heat. I reminded Andi that “con queso” means with cheese in Spanish, so this is ice cream topped with cheese. He looked at me like I was from the moon, but it was true. Other customers were walking around with ice cream cones sprinkled with shredded cheese on top. Fortunately, the ice cream shop served cones & cups of ice cream without cheese and that’s what Andi, Tory and Aden ordered. The four of us walked home while they ate their ice cream and there was much less whining.

At the hotel, we changed into our swimming suits and then headed up to the swimming pool on the 9th floor. The good thing about COVID protocol forcing everyone to make a reservation to swim is that we had the entire pool to ourselves. I sat on the side of the pool and practiced my Spanish lessons on Duolingo while Andi swam with the kids.

When our swim time was up, we headed back to our hotel room to change clothes and go to dinner. For ease, Andi and I decided to eat at the hotel restaurant’s buffet. Surprisingly, it was a really great buffet and we had the entire restaurant to ourselves. Entrees included pork, fish, chicken, rice, salad, patacones, fruit and several types of desserts. It blew Tory and Aden’s minds that a buffet meant they could go back and get as many foods as they wanted. We may have each had at least three desserts. Hey, they were small!