The Doc is in Guayaquil Ecuador, the second largest city and gateway to the Galapagos Islands.

The Doc got up early and walked out of the Hotel Continental, across the park into the Cathedral. The Mass was in Spanish so The Doc did not understand much, just some Latin words shared by English and Spanish. They really did like the phase Cristo Rey (Spanish for Christ the King).

A short walk back to the Hotel to meet Dave at 9am for breakfast. We had a buffet style breakfast, some cereal, juice and a modest cooked breakfast. The Doc often eats more for breakfast on trips and skips lunch. Better to eat from trusted food sources to reduce the chance of Delhi belly.

To walk off breakfast we walked around town. Dave had been reading the Tourist Brochure so he was the guide. Down the street to the waterfront we went.

The river was fast flowing and with a lot of sediment, probably eroded from the nearby Andes. Three main geographic parts to Ecuador, the coastal plain (where Guayaquil is located), the Andes which runs down the middle of the country and the Amazonian Rainforests on the other side. A birders paradise the Tourist Brochure explains.

We saw a few species of bird. Some large birds were flying over the water, they appeared to be some type of frigate bird but they never got close enough. The overall wing shape suggested as much. We spotted a raven like bird down at the water’s edge, but it had a much longer tail. The Doc also spotted what looked like 2 parrots flying under the verandas of a building. A galah size bird mostly green with some yellow mottling. The Doc did try and identify the birds but has been unsuccessful so far, there are a lot of parrots in Ecuador it turns out.

The waterfront had been nicely developed but there were not many people about. We were walking on a raised area and Dave suggested we walk below. Below was an air conditioned shopping area, and the locals were enjoying a break from the humidity.

A lot of military style police around. Even the mall security staff have rather large batons.

The weather has been warm and humid as you would expect on the equator. We took a few photos during the walk.

We then headed back to the hotel. A nice cold shower was welcome, then some reading of the Tourist Brochure and a quick nanny nap. Next writing up a blog entry. The Internet is very hit and miss here, sometimes it is good and then nothing for half an hour.

Best not to overdo the work, we want to be ready to go for the main trip. So inside for the heat of midday.

Did I mention car horns? They love to use them here. The Doc is on the 6th floor facing the street and they are being used almost every minute, reminds me a bit of Rome on that point. About 6 beeps when typing that one sentence.

A couple of low resolution pictures, mostly of the waterfront.