Beyond the reserve, bananas, pineapples, citrus fruit and coffee take over. Machala, the capital of El Oro Province, 200 km [125 miles] south of Guayaquil, is known as the Banana Capital of the World, and indeed a banana festival takes place in the town at the tail end of September.

General interest
Ministerio de Turismo. Address: 9 de Mayo and Pichincha. Tel. 07-932106.

Banks
Banco del Pacifico. Mastercard & Travelers' checks. Address: Rocafuerte and Junin.
Banco de Guayaquil. Visa. Address: Rocafuerte and Guayas.
Banco Machala. Visa & ATMs. Address: Rocafuerte and 9 de Mayo.
Banco del Austro. Visa. Address: Rocafuerte and Guayas.

Communications
Pacifictel. Address: Av. las Palmeras close to the stadium.

Post Office. Address: Bolivar and Montalvo.

Internet [US$1.80* per hour]

Embassies and consulates
Peruvian Consulate. Address: CoIon and Bolivar, 1st Floor. Tel. 07-930680.

Places to visit. The town isn’t big on tourism, though the island-beach of Jambeli, on a nearby island, is beautiful but primitive, treasured by birders searching for the rare rufous-necked wood-rail.

Getting there
Air
TAME. Frequent flights to/from Guayaquil which connects to Quito. Address: Juan Montalvo and Bolivar. Reservations: Tel. 07-930139.

Bus
Machala doesn't have a bus station [Terminal Terrestre]. All the bus cooperatives have their own small station and offices in the center of the city.

To Guayaquil: Rutas Orenses Address: 9 de Octubre and Tarqui.
Ecuatoriano Pullman. Address: Colon and 9 de Octubre, 4 hours, ticket value around US$4.20*.
CIFA. Address: 9 de Octubre and Tarqui.

To Quito: Panamericana. Address: Colon and Bolivar, 10-11 hours, ticket value around US$ 11*.
Occidental. Address: Buenavista between Sucre and Olmedo, 12-13 hours, ticket value around US$8.00*.

To Cuenca [Trans Azuay. Address: Sucre and Junin], 4 hours, US$4.20*. To Huaquillas [CIFA. Address: Bolivar and Guayas & Ecuatoriano Pullman. Address: Colon and 9 de Octubre], 1 hour, US$1.50*. To Esmeraldas [Occidental], 11 hours, US$7*. To Loja [Transportes Loja. Address: Tarqui and Bolivar], 7 hours, US$4*.

Taxis
To Guayaquil: Orotaxis. Frequent scheduled taxi service. Orotaxis leave from the Hotel Rizzo to Guayaquil. Tel. 07-934332.

*The prices are approximately

|Article contributed by Dominic Hamilton|||

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