Ecuador’s largest city and seaport has gone through a metamorphosis over the past few years. Its crown jewel is the Malecón 2000, a two-mile pedestrian walkway along the Guayas River, with restaurants, cafés and shops, botanical gardens and a contemporary art museum. Many buildings in the city have been refurbished, especially in Las Peñas, Guayaquil’s oldest neighborhood, where centuries-old houses line narrow, atmospheric streets.
Another new attraction is the Guayaquil Historical Park, an in situs museum of the region’s history and culture. Here you’ll find a wildlife park with the flora and fauna that once populated the area including parrots, tapirs and deer, a historic zone that recreates Guayaquil from the early 1900s, and an area that celebrates the indigenous cultures complete with recreated haciendas and people in native dress.