Ecuador — Continuing on our own around Guayaquil

Guayaquil building art

Reaching the Malecón, Ursula and I turned south to enjoy the gardens, statuary, and buildings along the way. We’ll return to the Malecón with our tour group later the next day, and you’ll see more of that next week. But today is our tour without the group, so here we go southward. Here are examples of some of the statuary you’ll see along this park:

Statuary

Statuary

Plaza de la Administración, or City Hall, with its magnificent architectural details:

Plaza de la Administración

Plaza de la Administración

Plaza de la Administración

Next to City Hall is the nifty Plaza de la Independencia Guayaquil, which you’ll get to see more in depth in two weeks. This is the Plaza de la Independencia Guayaquil from the street:

Plaza de la Administración

Back across the street to the park you’ll come across the Torre Morisca (Moorish Clock Tower):

Torre Morisca along the Malecón Simón Bolívar

Another view from the park before I switch to something that happened the next day:

Guayaquil

Our tour guide, whom we would meet the following day, was Daniel.

Tour Guide Daniel

We treated Daniel to lunch on the stipulation that he take us to the best place for bolón de verde. Bolón de verde is a mashed green plantain dumpling with bits of chicharones (pork skin) imbedded in it, or either stuffed or topped with cheese. The dumpling itself is deep fried to a crispy outer shell with a softer interior. Here was our delicious lunch that next day:

Bolón de verde with chicharones

Bolón de verde with cheese