Things to Do in Guayaquil

At the heart of Guayaquil’s colonial center, overlooked by the grand Cathedral of Guayaquil and centered on a monumental statue of Simon Bolivar, Seminar Park would be largely unnoteworthy, if it wasn’t for the sizable population of iguanas that inhabit the small park. 

Aptly renamed the ‘Parque de las Iguanas’ (‘Iguana Park’), the fenced public park is home to hundreds of green iguanas, which range from palm-sized babies to giant dragon-like creatures the size of a small child. It’s an incongruous sight, with the friendly iguanas roaming freely throughout the park, clambering on the benches, climbing the trees and slinking through the grass.

 

Although many tourists ply the iguanas with bread or fruit, visitors are discouraged from feeding or playing with them – instead visit during the daily feeding times, when the park attendants bring in piles of vegetables for the giant lizards to feed on. 

Back in the early 20th century, in the heyday of trains and train travel, the railway connecting Guayaquil with Quito was one of the world’s best tracks. Aside from the fact it reduced the trip from nine days down to two, what made the line such global fame was the near vertical, harrowing ascent up the mountainous “Devil’s Nose.” Rising over 2,000 vertical feet in only 7 miles, the track was engineered in a way that the train goes forward—and then in reverse—as it climbs up the switchbacking track. The building process was laced with tragedy, from snakebites and floods to deaths, but finally the track in 1908 was complete between the two cities. By the late 1970s, however, road travel had made trains impractical and the tracks were in disrepair, until the government spruced up the Devil’s Nose and made it a high end draw. While it’s no longer possible to ride on the roof of the carriages like travelers of old, the views looking down in the valleys are just as spine-tingling and steep as before, and this marvel of modern engineering continues to thrive to this day.