Ecuador

Tabacundo is a small town north of Quito. The town is best known for Las ferias (the fairs).

Salinas is a city located in Guayas, Ecuador, by the Pacific Ocean. It is the seat of Salinas Canton, the westernmost canton in Ecuador.

At the 2001 census there were 49,752 people living within canton limits. The city is an important touristic center.

Salinas is considered the best tourist beach resort in Ecuador and the Pacific coastline by many visitors. The sandy moon bay arcs around the resort with dozens of high rising apartment blocks belonging to the wealthier Ecuadorian and foreigner overseas residents overlooking the main road fronted by colorful shops, restaurants, bars, discos, an historical marine museum and major hotels with casinos encased in the latter. Salinas, is also the main starting point to the scenic Pacific "Route of the Sun" with many tourist resorts and attractions to drive through. The high season in Salinas (December - April), is party time with plenty of night life and nice bars to enjoy along the main frontage of the bay. Later this year a water theme park with giant shoots, whirl pools and wave machines will also be a further attraction. Salinas, offers the most developed tourist infrastructure (regarding to accommodation, beaches, resorts and other attractions) together with the most exiting whale watching tours with luxurious yachts and professional guides. The closest and finest location to witness the wonder of these amazing creatures in the wild. A once-in-a-lifetime experience that should not be missed...

The weather in Salinas has great temperatures all year round. The major season is warmer with temperatures between 80s-90s, while the quieter season (Mid-May to early December) has lower temperatures (between 60s-70s).

The scenic bay is full of jet skiers, water skiers, hang-gliders, sky divers and a plethora of various sized yachts anchored in the bay adjacent to the yacht club. The beach is very popular during high season and most weekends along with warm waters all year round due to its peninsular position receiving great weather with blue cloudless skies and long hot sunny periods for most of the year.

While on the beach you'll find several free-lance tour operators offering boat excursions and/or tours around the closest fishing villages, such as Ballenita, Ayangue and many other destinations. In the beach, you can also hire Jet Skis for about US $40,00 an hour, or US $20.00 for a 30 minute ride. Water skiing is also available for the same price.

A second major beach in Salinas is Chipipe (adjacent to the yacht club), with exciting waves for body boarding or Mori Boogie boarding in a pleasant environment. Chipipe is located in a residential area compared to the main Salinas' beach, which is the commercial side of this small city. Open markets are available in both areas during the evening selling handicrafts, coral jewelry, multi colored dyed clothing art and shell crafts including amethyst and other semi precious stones to make wind chimes.

Stationed next to the town opposite the Chocolatera hill on the most southern tip of the bay is the Ecuador military, often you'll see military as well as private planes flying low above the bay as they descend to the base. Salinas, is only 25 minutes from the fine Thermal Baths "San Vicente" where due to dynamic volcanics boasts rich mineral mud baths and thermal baths along with massaging and sauna facilities.

Salinas is a city located in Guayas, Ecuador, by the Pacific Ocean. It is the seat of Salinas Canton, the westernmost canton in Ecuador.

At the 2001 census there were 49,752 people living within canton limits. The city is an important touristic center.

This city houses close to 200,000 inhabitants and is the capital of Manabi province as well as the main center for commercial activity such as coffee, fishing and cattle ranching, it also is infamous for Kapok mattresses and pillows made from the ceibo seed case and is a good place to buy hammocks. You can stroll around the city easily by foot and visit the Parque Eloy Alfaro which faces the local cathedral. An interesting nearby village to visit is Sosote just a few minutes from Portoviejo, it's worth visiting because of its tagua workshops. The main street has several stalls selling tagua figures.

Babahoyo is the capital of the province of Los Ríos. This province has not been developed for tourism. The Babahoyo River is close to the city.

Quevedo is located some 190 kilometers from Guayaquil and 240 km from Quito. A progressive town set in an agricultural fertile land. It has around 110,000 inhabitants and most of them belong to the large Ecuadorian Chinese colony that live here.

Santiago de Guayaquil, or just Guayaquil, is the most populous city in Ecuador, as well as that nation's main sea port. Guayaquil is on the right margin of the Guayas River, which flows into the Gulf of Guayaquil in the Pacific Ocean. Guayaquil is at 2.21°S 79.90°W, about 250 km south-southwest of the capital of Ecuador, Quito. According to the most recent census (2001), its population was 1,985,379.

Guayaquil is the capital of the Ecuadorian province of Guayas and the seat of the namesake canton. (In Ecuador, a cantón (canton) is a second-order subnational entity below a first-order province.)

Some of Guayaquil's main universities are:

Universidad de Guayaquil [1]
Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil [2]
Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral [3]
Universidad [Laica] Vicente Rocafuerte [4]
Universidad [de Especialidades del] Espíritu Santo [5]
Guayaquil serves as the Metropolitan see to the Roman Catholic province of the Archdiocese of Guayaquil. Her cathedral San Pedro is the motherchurch to the Catholics of the region, who in 2005 comprised about 94% of the population of Guayaquil, at least in theory (though the figures may need a more realistic revision).There are also many religious buildings of several other denominations, including an Anglican Communion see and a Mormon temple - that is, a Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There is also an Islamic Center.

The city is the center of Ecuador's fishing and manufacturing industries.

The city's airport, Simón Bolívar International Airport (IATA abbr.: GYE), has undergone renovations in the past years.

Famous people from Guayaquil include painter Enrique Tabara, painter Félix Arauz, painter and draftsman Juan Villafuerte, poet José Joaquín de Olmedo, scholar Benjamín Urrutia and tennis player Pancho Segura.

Guayaquil was founded on July 25 (see note below), 1531 with the name Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de Guayaquil by Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Orellana. Even before it was founded by the Spanish, it already existed as a native village.

Note - July 25 is the legal holiday in Guayaquil. Historians have not yet reached a consensus about the date of Guayaquil's foundation or founder. The city might have been founded more than once. Another possible founder might be Diego de Almagro.

In 1600 Guayaquil had a population of about 2,000 people; by 1700 the city had a population of over 10,000.

In 1687, Guayaquil was attacked and looted by English and French pirates under George d'Hout (English) and Picard and Groniet (Frenchmen). Of the more than 260 pirates, 35 died and 46 were wounded; 75 defenders of the city died and more than 100 were wounded. The pirates took local women as concubines. Quito paid the ransom demanded by the pirates with the condition they release the hostages and not burn Guayaquil.

In 1709, the English captains Woodes Rogers and Etienne Courtney along with 110 other pirates, looted Guayaquil and demanded ransom; however, they suddenly departed without collecting the ransom after an epidemic of yellow fever broke out.

In October 9, 1820, almost without bloodshed, a group of civilians supported by soldiers from the "Granaderos de Reserva", a Peruvian battalion quartered in Guayaquil, overwhelmed the resistance of the Royalist guards and arrested the Spanish authorities. Guayaquil declared independence from Spain. José Joaquín de Olmedo was named "Jefe Civil" of Guayaquil.

Monument commemorating the historical conference between Simón Bolívar and José de San MartínOn July 26, 1822, José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar held a famous conference in Guayaquil to plan for the independence of Spanish South America.

The city suffered from a major fire in 1896 which destroyed large portions of the city.

The city's mayor (alcalde) nowadays is Jaime Nebot, a well-known member of the Ecuadorian political party Partido Social Cristiano, and one of the political rivals of former Ecuadorian president Abdalá Bucaram.

Nebot began a campaign of construction projects for the city in the late 1990s to attract tourism. One of the projects was called Malecón 2000 [ma.le.ˈkon ðoz ˈmil], the renovation of the breakwater (malecón) along the Guayas River with the addition of a boardwalk in 2000. Another project was the creation of the Nuevo Parque Histórico, a park in a housing development area that is called Entre Ríos because it lies between the Guayas and Daule rivers, in a mangrove wetland area. The park cost the city about 7 million dollars. It is a refuge for fauna and a zone of historical-architecture preservation, and has a traditions-and-history exhibition center. The idea of the creation of this park came from Ecuador's central bank in 1982, as part of their "Rescate Arquitectónico" ("Architectural Rescue") program.

Museo de Antropología y Arte Contemporáneo (Museum of Anthropology and Contemporary Art), near the breakwater (photo taken in 2000)Most buildings in downtown Guayaquil have a very attractive and utilitarian feature - the portales. These are colonnades or arcades that provide protection to pedestrians from the Equatorial sun and torrential rains. These are worthy of study and imitation by architects from other parts of the world.

Ecuador is known for its very important artists and its place in art history. The country is home to some of the most important artists of the last century which include: Enrique Tabara (b. 1930, Guayaquil), Oswaldo Guayasamín (b. 1919-1999, Quito), Eduardo Kingman (b. 1913-1998, Quito), Juan Villafuerte (b. 1945, Guayaquil; d. 1977, Spain), Félix Arauz (b. 1935, Guayaquil), Aníbal Villacís, Camilo Egas, Humberto More, Theo Constante, Luis Miranda and Manuel Rendón Seminario.

Two of the best football teams of the country have been found in Guayaquil, the Barcelona Sporting Club and Club Sport Emelec. The latter is short for "Empresa Electrica" - the team is sponsored by the Electric Power Company.

Guayaquil in modern fiction
Much of the novel "Galapagos" by Kurt Vonnegut is set in Guayaquil. The novel contains one major factual error: Vonnegut claims that Guayaquil is entirely Roman Catholic. Actually, the city's population is mostly Catholic, but also home to a great number of denominations and religions.

A nice small quiet beach set in a beautiful bay, located just 10 minutes southwest from Atacames. Súa is also an important fishing village with several seabirds flying after fishing boats. Prices for accommodations are lower here out of season. There are also basic whale watching tours offered from June to September.

Atacames is located approximately 25 Kilometers south of Esmeraldas and one of the main beach resorts on the Pacific coastline. Atacames always offers the potential of an all day & night party. A dancing atmosphere (24/7) during April-Oct, on weekends & holidays, but for those more tranquil travellers or for a balance we recommend the nearby beach of Súa for a fuller quota of sleep. Whale watching advice and tours are also when in Season, available from most Hotels.

San Juan de Ambato is a city in the centre of Ecuador near the Ambato River. It is the capital of Tungurahua Province, at an elevation of 2,600 meters above sea level. The population is 154,095 (INEC, 2001).

The city is a leading commercial and transportation centre on a fertile region near the northern foot of the volcano Chimborazo. It hosts the largest animal market of the country.

An earthquake on August 5, 1949 destroyed most of the city so that only few buildings of the colonial era remain.

As a way to recover from the tragic earthquake, Ambato began its tradition of the Fruits and Flowers Festival. It is now a major tourist attraction held during carnival season.

Landmarks include the mausoleum of Juan Montalvo, the estate of Juan León Mera, and the white Ambato Cathedral.

Ambato is also where, on November 12, 1821, Antonio José de Sucre achieved a major victory over the Spanish Royalist Army during the war for independence. Ambato is a beatifull city and 500.000 people are living in this small ecuadorian metropoli