Dec.5 to Dec.11- Trip to Guayaquil and Salinas

On Monday we went by car to Guayaquil. We had hired Angel at anhelp_68@yahoo.com to drive us. He picked us up right on time at 10AM in a very nice SUV and we started. Our trip took us through the Cajas National Park. WOW!!! What incredible scenery! After we left Cuenca, the landscape became more and more mountanous. I can only equate the scenery with Switzerland where I had been this summer. High mountains, green meadows, cows grazing, little farm buildings- totally idyllic.
                      Scenery before we entered Cajas Park

                  Once we reached the Park we went above the tree line further & further.

Until we actually arrived at the continental divide- rivers on the Ceunca side flowed to the Atlantic and rivers on the other side towards Guayaquil flowed to the Pacific.

We even saw lots of wild Llamas on the side of the road as we drove through the park.

This group even posed for us.

After an hour and a half of totally stupendous scenery along a very good road- do not miss this drive if you go to Cuenca- we arrived back down to jungle level.

We then drove another 1 1/2 hours through what could probably be called Ecuador's bread basket. We passed fields of cacao, rice, mangoes, sugar cane and many many banana farms.

Our driver then dropped us off at the Hampton Inn in downtown Guayaquil. I had made reservations for one night using my normal methods www.hotels.com and the hotel was modern, had a free breakfast and WiiFii.

Since we had a whole afternoon to explore, we headed once again to the Malecon- I just love it there. Very scenic, clean and so many things to see.

The next day we explored a bit of the city in the other direction- going down one of the main streets ' 9 de Octubre'

We ended up at a very pretty park and saw this local resident sunning himself.

After our condo closing later that afternoon ( yes, we bought a beach-front condo in Salinas) our good friend Eddie drove us back to Salinas where we were staying in our  new place. The next couple of days were very busy, meetings with a contractor to address renovations we wanted done, shopping for furniture, buying some small items so we could survive for a couple of days in the condo eg coffeemaker. Eddie took us furniture shopping at the nearby town of Atahualpa where all the artisans actually make furniture out of this amazing wood found only in Ecuador and where he helped get us a pretty incredible deal for a living room set which will be delivered once all our renovations are complete.

And of course we found time for our good friends Connie & Darvin and Edit & Gary- two couples that we had become good friends with while living in Salinas during October. One night we all went to dinner with drinks later at Connie & Darvin's condo.

And another afternoon for cocktails at our new condo.

At the end of the week, Eddie drove us back to Cuenca. We finally met his wife Paola, a dentist, who came with us as far as Guayaquil where most of her family lives.

This time the drive through the Cajas Mountains was foggy and rainy and we saw nothing until we crossed the divide. On that side the rain stopped and the sun actually came out and I was able to take a couple of scenic shots.

And we saw yet more wild Llamas

We arrived back in Cuenca later that afternoon, bought supplies- wine & beer- at Supermaxi and picked up a Pizza for dinner for the three of us. After spending the night in our apartment, Eddie left early Sunday morning for his long drive back to Salinas- see you at the end of January!