For our first day here, we decided that we would get to know a little more of Guayaquil. We got ready for our adventure with a suicide shower:
Most homes and hotels do not have direct hot water; water is heated at the point of delivery with a heating device. In the case of our hotel (and very common throughout Ecuador), a shower head is installed with a heating element built in. Since this heating element is powered by electricity (and water and electricity don't mix for most mammals), a poorly installed shower head can get your day off to a very bad start. The one in our hotel, however, was installed properly; the electrical connections on the top of the shower head are water-tight. (Note the exposed junction at the end of the water stem.)
After that, it was an omelet for breakfast at the hotel ($2):
Venturing out, we learned that we were near Iguana Park - a small preserve area in the center of the city. Here's the reason that it's called Iguana Park:
Most of them are between two and three feet long and very passive. They wander through the park in the trees (lookout below!) and walkways with no fear of people; young kids are feeding them from their hands.
Iguana Park is located in front of a beautiful cathedral, the official Catedral de Guayaquil:
Our highlight of the day was to be to meet with our Visa Facilitator. She understands the behind-the-scenes processes involved in submitting our documentation for a residency visa and cedula and how to move forward to opening a bank account in Ecuador. Unfortunately for us, she had to reschedule to assist an elderly lady who's visa was expiring on the same day. I completely understood and am willing to wait a couple of days when a high priority issue arises. We found a small restaurant to have chicken and rice (pollo con arroz) for lunch ($3.80) and spent the rest of the afternoon located the various government offices we will be visiting.
The evening was pretty simple: empanadas for dinner ($3 for both) and baseball over the internet.
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