Guayaquil - part 1

La Rotonda.

Guayaquil is the second city in importance in Ecuador after the capital Quito. However, it's the economic heart of the country with its 2.7 million inhabitants.

It's a great modern city with a nice promenade along the Guayas River, several impressive skyscrapers, and hillsides covered with colourful houses.

Parque del Centenario.

Entrance to the metropolitan cathedral.

Las Peñas & Cerro Santa Ana

Las Peñas is a suburb on the slopes of Mount Santa Ana. In fact, it's a favela (slum) and it's a dangerous area where it's better not to enter.

An exception to this rule is the staircase with 444 steps leading to the blue and white lighthouse. The staircase is well patrolled by security guards and the police. However four times, a person warned me not to venture in a small lane or a street; otherwise I could get robbed of all I have.

Iglesia de Santo Domingo.

The staircase with 444 steps.

There is a number on each step.

View from the top of Mount Santa Ana.

View from the top of Mount Santa Ana.

Small chapel at the top of Mount Santa Ana.

Another nice staircase leading to the heart of the favela. Here as well, I have been told not to venture further than a few steps.

Cerro del Carmen

The museums

There are a lot of museums in the city. I visited only two of them; the Museum Nahim Isaias, and the Museum of Anthropology and contemporary art.

I already had seen the image of a shrank head when I was young, but I never understood how it was possible. In this museum, I found the recipe that turns out to be quite simple. The trick is to remove the skin from the skull. Then, it is sewed together, and boil in water. This process was used by the Shuar, an indigenous group from the Amazon jungle. They used this ritual on defeated enemies.