[BERNARD JONES]

Melanie,

I was in Guayaquil abt 3 weeks ago… I stayed in the Wyndham Hotel on the Malecon..it is nice but quite pricey($160/night)

It can be a little dangerous at times particularly at night. A couple of tips that I got from the locals:

Don’t wear any jewellery, or expensive watches – leave them in the hotel

Only take what you need in the way of money, credit cards – leave the rest in your hotel.

Don’t flag taxis down on the street, take authorized taxis from hotels. If you are going somewhere – take the taxis number and call them to come and pick you up.

I liked Guayaquil,lots of historical places, but you just need to take some precautions.

The artisan market is great, lots of nice things, but if you are going up country to Cuenca and other places you will find nicer, cheaper things in the markets there.

Bernie

[BERNARD JONES]

Stephen,

I recently bought a place in Ecuador – it was a quasi investment/potential home.

You can buy places on the coast for (50-60,000) in more out of the way places or up to 250-300,000 in places like Salinas.
That would get you a prime location on the beach.

In my search, I found that the typical Ecuadorean houses are more small rooms/ small bathrooms/kitchens.It depends what you are looking for. I wanted more open-plan and so I bought new construction…you can also find relatively modern units with open plan too.

For some reasons, many Ecuadorean condos have the balcony glassed in, I guess they see it as an extra room.

If you are ‘ away from the main drag’ you might need a car.

Also you need to see how close is the nearest medical help..

I looked at lots of places before I decided..and took into account lots of factors.

You might also want to learn Spanish, I found that not many people speak English – they seem to understand it, but not speak it.

It is a great place, full of history , nice people and with good quality food – all organic and cheap.

Best of luck

Bernie

[BERNARD JONES]

Hi there,

I recently travelled from Vancouver to Guayaquil.

My flight went to Los Angeles,then San Salvador and Guayaquil.
The carrier is Avianca and they are a a good airline, with good service.
LAX to San Salvador is about 4.5 hours and then San Salvador to Guayaquil is 3 hours on a smaller plane
(Embraer) flights were pretty full.

Rgds
Bernie

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