Category Archives: R. Doug Wicker

June 28, 2017 · 5:35 am

Ecuador — Guayaquil: Lighthouse of Santa Ana Hill

Guayaquil from Hop-on/Hop-off bus

On our first day in Guayaquil, Ursula and I didn’t just hoof it around. We also took a Hop-on/Hop-off. While on that bus we passed this lighthouse atop a very tall hill:

Santa Ana Hill

Fortunately we were in for a pleasant surprise, as our tour guide led us up the long trek to that lighthouse. After a brief break at the gardens (Monday’s article), we headed over to the base of Santa Ana Hill and began our climb:

Climbing Santa Ana Hill

Near the bottom was a rather neat historic mailbox:

Historic Mailbox

Buzón Histórico (Historic Mailbox)

The walk was very colorful with much to photograph despite the overcast sky:

Climbing Santa Ana Hill

The number of steps totaled 444. How do I know that? Well . . . .

444 steps to the top of Santa Ana Hill

At the top of Santa Ana Hill stands not just a lighthouse, but also a small church:

Iglesia del Cerro Santa Ana (Church of Santa Ana Hill)

But it was the lighthouse that interested me, and I was not disappointed:

Lighthouse (Faro) of Santa Ana Hill

Everywhere I turned there appeared something else to photograph:

Lighthouse (Faro) of Santa Ana Hill

And if the 444 steps to the top of the hill aren’t enough for you, then try the steps to the top of the lighthouse for views such as this:

Guayaquil as seen from atop Santa Ana Hill

Ecuador — Guayaquil: The official tour backtrack

Plaza de la Administración

As you can probably tell by now, once we joined up with our tour group Ursula and I wound up backtracking much of what we saw the day before. But there were things we had missed that first time around, so we weren’t disappointed. For instance, next to the City Hall is Independence Square:

Guayaquil Independence Square

Plaza de la Administración

And next to City Hall is something we had missed completely, the Governor’s Palace:

Palace of the Governor of Guayas

Crossing the street we once again found ourselves in the Malecón Simón Bolívar:

Malecón Simón Bolívar

Malecón Simón Bolívar

The Malecón lies along the bank of the Rio Guayas, which on this day was cluttered with flotsam washed downstream by heavy rains a few days before to the north:

Rio Guayas

On the Malecón we passed again by the Hemiciclo de la Rotonda Malecón 2000 with its statues of Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín:

Hemiciclo de la Rotonda Malecón 2000

Continuing north, Ursula and I ventured finally into unexplored territory when we arrived at the Jardines del Malecón Simón Bolívar (Gardens of the Malecón Simón Bolívar):