¡No tocar a los animales!
Guayaquil, Ecuador, was pretty much a bust. The city is filthy and there´s not much to see. Except one thing. But this one thing completely salvaged my experience in Guayaquil, so here´s way too many pictures …of …
pre-historic looking iguanas!
Iguana!
I asked a group of friendly policeman why exactly there were dozens of iguanas just hanging out in a park in the middle of Ecuador´s largest metropolis.
“Is it a tourist attraction? Or is this really their house?”
The guys laughed, and said the reptiles live here.
I, of course, asked: “But why?”
They continued laughing at me (people laughing at me is a perpetual theme, by the way), and said as if it was normal: “They live here because it´s a park.”
So there you have it. Creepy looking iguanas everywhere…because it´s a park, duh.
In a tree…
…And on the sidewalk…
…And napping in the grass with their gringo friends.
This same group of police officers told me that I could touch the iguanas, even though the signs say not to (¡No tocar a los animales!). One politely demonstrated that touching its head is harmless, and prodded me to give it a go. This is what happened:
No thanks. I´ll just sit quietly next to the iguana.
OK, fine. I´ll touch it.
Ahhh! It moved!
OK, so I may have overreacted. But seriously, these things are huge and scary looking. Some are almost as long as I am tall.
So big!
Whatchya lookin´at?
Strikin´a pose.
So the moral of the story is: Listen to other travelers and skip Guayaquil. However, if a stop in this city is completely unavoidable for some reason, just head to Parque Seminario in the center of town for a little fun to help you swallow the bitter taste that is everything else in Guayaquil.
-JDF
Hey Jess sure like the blog updates sounds like a like a trip of a lifetime Stay safe and keep aware of your surroundings. I love you Jess talk to you soon I hope. Love Dad
godzilla!
hahaha “Because it’s a park.” That was funny!
Awesome! Lol.