Farewell, Guayaquil

This morning my google calendar sent me an event notice - it read:  Santa Cruz, Galapagos (All day)

It was a nice way to wake up, on this fat Tuesday of carnaval, with no plans other than to write a few emails, write an update for the blog, and perhaps visit lonesome George (I can relate, Jorge, my lady is far away, too!).  I went to the beach yesterday, turtle bay, and on the broad, cream-colored beach I caught a glimpse of what is so special about the islands.  While a 2’ black-tipped reef shark patrolled the sand in 4” of water near the shore, a black iguana, slightly longer than the shark, was out near the break, looking more comfortable on the water than when lurching on land.  His black body was completely on top of the water, including his tail, and his gnarled, clawed extremities kept him moving smoothly in dragon-paddle fashion.

Because it’s carnaval, nothing is going on here, and so I’ve been exploring.  I bought a bike yesterday and am currently riding a loner until the bike shop repairs and paints my new one (yeah, baby, it’s a custom refurb; I just hope he remembers to fix the brakes!).  I’ve also been playing my guitar (I’m sure much to the chagrin of my new neighbors) and working on my “Special Project” which is a graduation requirement (and the only one for me that remains!).  More on that in coming editions.

For now, I’m going to miss some of my favorite things about guayaquil – like Batidos (fruit smoothies).  It’s no surprise that this was the best Juan!

 El Mesero (The Waiter)

Cheap eats!  Things are expensive in the Galapagos (well, relative to the mainland).  This is kind of like their version of Hawaii.

The crazy social life I was leading...

  Aviso – lomo de toro!  What is this??  Warning!  Sailors ahead!  Or flying saucers?!  No, it’s a speed bump.  Once you’ve encountered one in the middle of the night at 70Km/hr, you won’t forget!  Thank god it was a rental!  I’m definitely going to miss these.

Creepy mannequins in many of the shops.  And they’re always white people!?  I’m surprised anything sells.

And farewell to the sunrise over the river Guayas.  Hasta la vista.