Guayaquil

About Guayaquil

Guayaquil is Ecuador's largest city and the primary embarkation port for Galápagos cruises, with some mainstream ships also calling on Pacific-coast itineraries. The Malecón 2000 waterfront and the colorful Las Peñas hilltop neighborhood are the walkable in-town highlights. Ship excursions visit cacao plantations on the Daule River and the Historical Park. GYE airport is about 15 minutes from the cruise port.

• Guayaquil (officially Santiago de Guayaquil) is Ecuador's largest city with a population of over 2.7 million, and handles roughly 70% of the country's private exports and 83% of its imports through its port.
• The city was definitively founded in 1547 as a Spanish colonial shipyard and trading port, and became the first Ecuadorian city to achieve independence from Spain on 9 October 1820.
• Guayaquil was the site of a historic secret meeting in 1822 between liberators Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín, which shaped the future of South American independence — what was discussed remains one of history's great mysteries.
• The city sits on the west bank of the Guayas River, which drains into the Pacific Ocean via the Gulf of Guayaquil; the estuary system is one of the most biodiverse in the eastern Pacific.
• Guayaquil is the fifth-largest city in the Andean Community and has one of the highest mass-transit usage rates in Ecuador, serving as the country's primary commercial, financial, and cultural center alongside the capital, Quito.