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GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR ...Y As Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil is a hub of industry, agriculture and port activity. I enjoyed the city parks with land iguana and market places. They may be working on tourism, but the place has a horrible reputation. Many (most? all?) people I talked to told me not to go there because it wasn't safe.

I didn't pronounce Guayaquil correctly for a long time. I said "gwhy ya KEEL" when I was told I should say "WHY ya kill". Of course, since the town is so dangerous, it did lead to the natural question - Why ya kill me in Why ya kill?

One of the claims to fame for Guayaquil occurred on July 26, 1822. José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar met to plan the independence of South America from Spain. The meeting didn't go well and San Martín left early. Exactly what happened remains a mystery.

(These pictures were taken on my first trip to Ecuador a long time ago.)