Guayaquil, Ecuador, South America

I had a pretty bad day today, but it ended better than it started. I got up this morning and found my insurance documents that stated I do need a police report for my stolen items if I want to make a claim. I headed down to the police station, and ended up sitting there for three hours and never got seen by an officer. In the three hours I was there, only two people were seen, and I was next in line, but I had to leave. I had to catch a bus to Guayaquil, and if I missed this one, the next bus would have been at 11:45pm. I couldn’t wait this long as I have a flight in the morning, so I had to go.

I called the insurance company and asked what they recommend I do. They said that I could get a report from the hostel owner, instead of the police in Banos, and then get a police report written from the next city that I visit. I didn’t really have much of a choice, so I talked to the hostel owner and she is happy to write a report by email to confirm my story, and then when I get to the Galapagos Islands, I will have to find a police station and try to get them to write me a report. I don’t know how that is going to work, but I’m going to have to give it a shot.

After a complete waste of a morning, I got my bus at 11:30am that went north to Ambato, and then turned around and went south through Riobamba to get to Guayaquil. The whole journey took 7.5 hours, but I’ve arrived in Guayaquil now. I’m actually impressed with the city as I’d heard only bad things before and it looks a lot nicer than I had expected. I got a taxi from the bus terminal to Dreamkapture Hostel, and I love this place. There is a really nice place to chill outside on a hammock, a little pool to use, and best of all, my room has air conditioning! I haven’t had to worry about that for a while now, but it’s about 90 degrees here in Guayaquil, so it’s very nice to have A/C.

I dropped my bags off in my room, hoped that no one would break in and steal them while I was gone, and left to find some food. There are tons of little bars and restaurants near the hostel, so I picked one and had a pretty decent dinner. I walked over to the mall from there, which is only ten minutes down the road and had a look for some charging cables, since mine were stolen. I didn’t have any luck, but at least I know there’s a nice mall here with a cinema for when I get back from the Galapagos Islands. I think I’m going to book a couple more nights here for when I get back to just chill. I think it’s going to be a hectic few days on the islands, so it’ll be nice to have time to relax.

I came back to the hostel and found that they have very good internet speed, and I was able to watch the first NFL game of the season. Seattle hammered Green Bay, and after the first half, it wasn’t really much of a game, but it was just nice to see football on again. I love the NFL season! I also love the fact that tomorrow morning I’m going to fly to a place I’ve been dreaming about since I was a little kid. I’m going to spend eight days in the Galapagos Islands, and I couldn’t be more excited!