Guayaquil is the only place (I’ve heard of) with its own community of urban iguanas. These creatures roam free in Parque Simon Bolivar, the first destination on my run this morning. It is unclear who or what feeds the iguanas, or stops them wandering out of the park fences and into the surrounding streets and roads. But they seem to be thriving, albeit with a few tails missing. The Ecuadorians in the park were fairly interested in the iguanas but were probably just as enthused about feeding the pigeons. Unfortunately I had forgotten to charge my camera today, but have some snaps from my trip to the park yesterday.

Onwards from Simon Bolivar, I ran to the Malecón, another urban park which makes up a long promenade area along the seafront. It was early morning, before the rush and before the sun, and I was one of many runners making the most of the Malecón. The other runners included dozens of naval sailors undertaking their morning fitness training. I had seen many sailors in crisp white uniforms throughout the city the previous day (think Sex and The City navy boat party episode-or not), but this morning they were wearing cute little navy blue shorts and tee twinsets, complete with white hems and stripes, and ‘naval’ in white across the chest. Tres chic!

The Malecón has a lovely variety of environments; lush Gardens, fish ponds, performance spaces, restaurants, a cinema and a museum, as well as a life-size nativity scene and giant Christmas tree for the festive season. This morning I ran past a series of monuments to famous historical Guayaquilianos. One name stood out in particular and I repeated it to myself for the rest of the run, so as not to forget it. The name was Rosa Borja de Icaza.

On googling my Ecuadorian namesake, I found out that she was a writer, sociologist, feminist and activist. Yes Rosa Borja de Icaza! Recently when I told someone I was called Rosa, they said that I was “destined to make a change with a name like that”. A tall order I’d say, when I have such fantastic females as my predecessors: ! Rosa Parks, Rosa Luxemburg, and now Rosa Borja de Icaza. (If you know any more incredible Rosas, please get in touch). So back to running. Another reason I was named Rosa was that I was very red when I was born. I was now getting pretty hot and red on my run (haven’t shaken that off with age), so headed back for a cool shower at the hostel.

I still have 2 tiny pieces of shell stuck in the sole of my left foot from Canoa. They’re pretty sore and now also have pus coming out of them (sorry). I must have been running unevenly to compensate for this, and to avoid pushing them in even further, so had a sore ankle after the run. It may be best to take it easy on the running in Baños, my next destination, until my foot gamminess is resolved. All medical advice welcome!