An tragic and heroic tale is the origin of Guayaquil’s name. According to legend, the word is said to be the combination of the names of an Indian prince Guaya and his wife, named Quil. Guaya fought bitterly against invasions of both the Incas and the Spanish conquistadors, but came to realize he could not resist any longer. To avoid capture, the couple committed double suicide, with Guaya first killing Quil and then drowning himself. The legend, though fanciful, is founded in fact: fierce fighting did occur between indigenas and the Spanish before and after Francisco de Orellana founded the city in 1537.

The story is an appropriate foundation-myth for a city that for 450 years has seen an abundance of tragedy and heroism. Situated on flat land at the mouth of the Guayas river, the town has had its share of floods, pirates raids and earthquakes [the last in 1942]. It has also played a pivotal historical role: Sucre set out from the city in 1820 on his brilliant military campaign which concluded with Quito’s liberation in 1822; while later that year, it played host to the meeting of two of the continent’s greatest heroes, Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin.

With no stone in the area, the houses were built of wood and thus frequently destroyed in fires. A massive conflagration in 1896 ruined about three-quarters of the city, including many of its attractive, wooden colonial houses. In addition to floods, piracy and fire, the hot and humid location of Guayaquil exposed its inhabitants to plagues and tropical diseases, especially malaria and yellow fever. For some hilarious quotes from embattled United States consuls in the nineteenth century, read Tom Miller’s The Panama Hat Trail. Despite these challenges, Guayaquilenos have shown heroic resilience and strength, capitalizing on the great banana boom of the 1950s, and creating the industrial and commercial capital of the country.

Guayaquil’s port is its raison d’etre, the cornerstone of its economy, although the Guayas is in desperate need of dredging. Most of the vast agricultural riches of the fertile plains of the western lowlands, in particular bananas, cacao and coffee, as well as imports of cars, machinery, electrical goods, computers and other requisite consumer items passes through Guayaquil. Powered by warehouse income, Guayaquil has also developed its own industries with oil and sugar refineries, food processing, breweries and many types of manufacturing. “We create the country’s wealth”, say the Guayaquilenos, “but the Quitenos spend it.”

|Article contributed by Dominic Hamilton|||

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