Back on the Road - Again

May 22, Guayaquil


Many of my impressions of Guayaquil come from the considerable amount of time I spend in city buses or cars, watching them from the sidewalks, or dodging them in intersections.
There’s a vast bus system, run by different cooperatives, that operates early am until late at night. Except for a new Metrovia with only 4 lines, there are no fixed stops: you just flag down the bus and hop aboard, hoping the driver really stops for you rather than slowing enough to make you think you can jump on. Raquel tells me that numerous “little old ladies” like me fall in the streets as a result of too-fast bus driving, so I try to enter and exit in the middle of group of people. One cause of this may be a system of bus watchers who time the bus runs; drivers who don’t keep up with the schedule are in trouble.


Informal vendors hop onto buses regularly, jumping over the entrance gate so as not to trigger the automatic count. They’re selling candies, pens, cookies, water, ice cream – at cheaper prices than in stores. Occasionally a mother will come on board announcing a collection to buy clothing and food for the baby she’s carrying. Last night my bus experienced a “control:” waved over by a file of 15 soldiers, who requested that all men exit. They came back to make sure the 1 cross-dresser on board also exited. As best I could tell, the military didn’t search the men but looked them over and inspected the bus as well. Then the men all came back on board, and we continued.


Guayaquil has a big variety of cars on the road: from Ladas (there's even a Hotel Lada) to the latest SUV. Why the Lada? 30 years they were cheap, and they still run. Leaded gas is still used, which is a scary thought given that the roadsides are heavily used for crops, drying cocoa, and transport by foot and bike. I’m told the government has a program to pay owners to take old cars off the road, but it will take time and unleaded gasoline to really change automobile pollution, which the heavy air and humidity in Guayaquil holds close to city streets.


This week I rode in a VW bus with tremendous character: one of the original models repainted bright blue in and out, side door tied open for ventilation, no working gauges, and a very tired engine. On the plus side, Leonard is a skilled driver who knows his car and doesn’t mind traveling a top speed of 20 mph or getting the horn from drivers zipping around us with less than a foot to spare. The only startling moments were on uphill curves, when he gunned the engine to get a running start. At that point, I looked for some part of the frame to hold onto but soon decided that was pointless. However, Blue Betsy got us through Flor de Bastion, a hilly barrio of 500,000 people with no paved roads, piped water, or sewer, and back to the City Center without incident. Confession: I was really glad to be back in the city center and under my own power.


Tricimotos powered by bike or scooter – we’d call them pedicabs – are also common in the barrios and country towns. Many buses and taxis have names: Emily, Nino Divino (Holy Child), El Mafia, Matador - the last two ones to avoid if the name indicates the driver’s attitude.

Claire