Travel from Guayaquil to Bahia de Caraquez

Tuesday, 9/28/10. I arrived in Guayaquil about 10:30 last night. The airport was new and very well designed. I made my way thru customs with no problem and the hotel had sent a driver to pick me up. Good thing, as I didn’t want to mess around at that time of night. The place that I stayed at was Casa de Romero. It was a clean and updated facility that was surrounded by old and dilapidated buildings in the center of town. I had a lovely room with private bath and AC and had no trouble falling asleep. The next morning, Helen, the proprietor, fixed me breakfast and a pot of my own decaf coffee. Ecuadorians apparently do not know what café sin caffeine is so I am glad I brought mine. She also called a taxi for me to take me to the bus terminal. I had a bit of a scare when the taxi driver appeared not to know where he was taking me, but he called his dispatcher who told him where I was going. So far, I have encountered very few who speak English, which was sort of a shock to me as I have travelled quite a bit to other countries and never had a problem communicating.

I think I made the taxi driver’s day. Because he hauled my suitcases into the terminal, got me to the right bus company and explained to the ticket guy where I was headed, then walked me to the correct spot where the bus would come in, I was very grateful. When he told me my cab fare was $5, I gave him $10 and told him to keep the change. Cabs are so cheap here. In Dallas, I don’t think you can go across the street for $5 in a cab.

Shortly, the bus rolled in, they packed my suitcases in the luggage compartment and headed off toward my destination. I was sitting near four women and they were all curious about me. Did I mention there are hardly any blondes here? I stand out as an obvious foreigner and everyone wants to talk to you. Anyway, there was one lady who has been living in New York and spoke a little English so she translated for me. Curiosity abated, they all fell asleep. I was fascinated by the countryside which was dotted with tiny little houses. I don’t think they were bigger than 500 square feet and probably a lot of them were much smaller. In about an hour, the novelty wore off as the scenery was pretty much consistent, so I fell asleep too. We stopped in two cities along the way. I got off at one to grab some cookies (I was starving) and the bus almost left without me. It was a six hour ride to Bahia and I was glad to get off the bus by then.

When we arrived in Bahia, one of the passengers spoke English and knew my hostess very well so he told the taxi driver where to take me. Total fare? $2. I checked in, walked a block to a restaurant, had a quick meal of shrimp and salad ($5) and came back and went to bed. A very tiring day.