Helpful links for Visiting Ecuador

Bars and Nightlife in Guayaquil
Icaro Air Flight Schedule
Rafting in Ecuador
Getting to the Galapagos Islands from Ecuador

Downtown Guayaquil City Center

Photo title: Guayaquil by night
Link to flickr.

The main hotels of Guayaquil (the Continental, Unihotel, Grand Hotel Guayaquil, Plaza Doral, Palace, President, Rizzo, Ramada, Oro Verde) are located in the downtown part of the city. They all are very decent and up to normal western standards for hotel chains. Oro Verde in particular is known for high quality, ornate rooms.

The Malecon Simon Bolivar, which runs along the River, is a great place to take a nice safe walk and enjoy the river front. It is also called the Paseo de las Colonias (the Promendade of the Colonies). It has its beginning at the Avenida Olmedo where the statue of Jose Joaquim de Olmedo, an eminent citizen who fought for the Independence of Guayaquil stands in a park which bears his name.

The public clock (Moorish Tower) was destroyed by the tides as its base was made of wood. It was rebuilt in 1930, on the same spot. It is a Moorish style tower. The purpose of this clock was not a only to call the people to pray but also to alert the population against pirate attacks or to call for help in case of any need.

Municipal Palace, (City Hall) of neoclassic style is considered one of the best architectonic works of the city; and the Parque Sucre which separates it from the Ministry of the Interior Building, the Gobernacion , which is a combination of variety of styles.

The Hemiciclo de la Rotonda where a great marble and bronze statue is erected, conmemorating the meeting between two great liberators in America: Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin.

Parque Centenario is a beatiful park here as well. In the center stands the Column of October or of Liberty, designed by the Spanish sculptor Agustin Queirol in 1918. On each side of its base are the statues of Olmedo, Febres Cordero, Villamil and Antepara, men who distinguished themselves in the in the struggle for the independance of Guayaquil. On each angle of the pedestal there are statues which represent History, Patriotism, Heroism and Justice and on top of the column there is a statue with an outstreched arm holding a torch.