Guayaquil, Ecuador
This evening, Azamara will hosted a cultural event for everyone on the ship called Amazing Evening. This event happens on most Azamara cruises one time and gives everyone on the ship an opportunity to experience the music and dance of one port visited. Tonight’s event was held in the Guayaquil Crystal Palace which was built in 1905 as a city open air market and was restored in 2002 for use as a performance venue. The beautiful venue sits on the Guayas River and is perfect for live performances.
Our ship arrived in Ecuador around 10AM. With buses leaving for the event starting at 5:30 and taking up to 45 minutes to reach the venue, we elected to stay on board during the day. The ship was pretty empty in the afternoon so we got to enjoy a quiet day before heading to the event.
When we arrived there were dancers performing a long a beautiful walkway that led to the Crystal Palace which was decorated with local flowers and fruits, and where we got to enjoy some local beverages.
The hour long performance was presented by the Orquestra de Mates y Bambues Marcolla band with local dancers. The music, which was choreographed by the conductor and luthier player was all performed on Ecuadorian instruments hand constructed from bamboo, gourds, and wood. The local dancers performed a series of dances that captured the spirit of the coastal Ecuadorian culture.
The performance was lovely and one could feel the pride the performers all had in their culture. We have been to Ecuador in the past and Guayaquil was similar to Quito in some respects. Most of the neighborhoods we passed through on the way to and from the venue had pretty depressing looking cement apartments with iron grates on the first and second floors. The shops were mostly small and lined the streets for blocks. In the evening they were all closed and were hidden behind metal garage doors so driving though the area at night felt somewhat depressing. The few places that were open looked like small clubs and had large groups of young people gathered at the entrance. While we never felt unsafe there were police, who were very friendly, accompanying us everywhere we went. From conversations with other passengers who ventured out during the day we heard that police also accompanied all excursions from the ship.
When we arrived back on board we stopped at the Atlas Bar for a drink. The bar is one of the quiet places on board and the bar tender and server are delightful. We then stood on the top deck to watch out departure from Guayaquil before heading back to our cabin for the evening.
Tomorrow is our last sea day so it will be a quiet day, and then on to Peru.