Torre del Reloj/Torre Morisca
One of the most iconic landmarks in Guayaquil is the Torre del Reloj or Torre Morisca. It was purchased in the mid 1800's for 6000 pesos and made in England. It has survived in many forms (and locations) and sits in the middle of the Malecon strip today. You can climb the staircase inside and see the mechanics of the clocks for free.
Parque de Iguanas
The next stop for me was Parque de Iguanas. This is a tiny park in a one block area in the middle of the city where Iguanas live and roam freely. In most of the parks downtown, you will also see monuments and statues of famous historical heroes. The park is situated in front of a famous Catholic Church simply called La Cathedral.
You can get really close to these Iguanas. I wouldn't recommend it but the kid in the picture below was petting the Iguanas like a dog at one point.
There are tonnes of Iguanas in this park. I later found out that when Iguanas bob their heads it could mean any of two things: that they are in charge or you need to give it space. There was A LOT of head bobbing in the park! :)
Museo de Guayaquil
I also had a chance to visit the Museum of Guayaquil. Here I learned about the history of Guayaquil and about how it was colonized by the Spaniards and was liberated in the early 1800's with the help of Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin (two of the most famous heroes of Ecuador and South America) who helped liberate most of South America from Spanish rule. I learned that Guayaquil was part of Columbia (called Gran Columbia at the time) and was also liberated in the early 1800's to form what is now known as Ecuador. The museum is pretty interesting also, because it has displays of the animals which inhabit Ecuador including birds, reptiles and arachnids. 
Mmmm. Spiders.
This is what the colonial Ecuadorian soldiers dressed up as including some of the weapons they used.
A painting of when Simon Bolivar and San Martin become great buddies.
Remember La Catedral? There was an old photo of how it looked like a long time ago in the museum.Mangos!
Roaming around the city took most of my day and I decided to meet up with Kary after work. So, I parked myself on a bench at the Malecon strip. As I was sitting and listening to music, I heard a THUD as something dropped from the trees. I didn't know it yet, but I was sitting under a mango tree! After an hour or so passed by, I was able to collect three mangos which we ate for marienda (afternoon snacks). Funny and fun!
The Next Few Days
Thursday came fast and I was planning to leave for Cuenca on Sunday. I can't believe I had been here for almost one week. Time was flying! The next few days, I made day trips to the city to have lunch with Kary and walk around and tried studying Spanish whenever I could. Food was really cheap costing between 3-6USD. In Ecuador as in most latin cities, they have something called el menu del dia (menu of the day) for almuerzo (lunch). El menu del dia are set lunch menus where restaurants have a set menu usually consisting of soup, a main dish (usually fish, pork or beef) with rice, dessert and a drink. The lowest price I saw for el menu del dia was 2.50USD. The average price was around 3-4USD in Guayaquil. On Friday and Saturday, I had planned going out dancing.
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