Ecuador 2012: Staying in Guayaquil

Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador, and by all accounts one of the dangerous and least picturesque.   However we needed to stay there to attend the convention. Thankfully one of our friends here in Tarija is from Guayaquil, and he arranged for us to stay with some of his friends in the city. That's one of the amazing things about the brotherhood of Jehovah's Witnesses—we were able to show up at the house of complete strangers and instantly we were like family! They treated us incredibly well, the hospitality they showed went way beyond what we expected.

Here’s us with Ana Contreras and her mom. They made us promise to come back some day!

Our room at the Contreras’ house. We had the upstairs bedroom, complete with hammock!

The malecón (boardwalk) in Guayaquil. One of the few places in town you don’t have to worry about getting mugged and/or killed.

This is an Ecuadorian drink Ana made for us every day. It’s made from a type of sweet tomato that grows on a tree (OK, maybe it’s not a tomato at all, but they call it one). Most deliciously refreshing!

Ceviche is a national dish in Ecuador. Ana made some shrimp ceviche for us the first night we arrived. Served with some sweet tomato juice and fried bananas, it was incredible!

  

Ana kept us supplied with an endless variety of rare tropical fruits (rare for us anyway, in Ecuador I'm sure they practically grow on trees). This one is a type of passion fruit. Crack it open and the pulpy fruit makes a great snack. One of the most amazing fruits we’ve ever tasted.