The next and our last day in Guayaquil was certainly the best day we spent there. We got up, had breakfast, and tried to figure out what to do for the day. This day was also the day of the world cup finals and I thought it would be fun to find a bar somewhere and watch. In the morning we decided we wanted to go to a chocolate plantation and see the process. Our guide offered two options; to either go to a high production factory or to a small family run farm. We naturally chose the latter and were very pleased with our decision. The place was called “Cocoa and Mango Plantation” and was run by a young Ecuadorian woman named Ninfa. She toured us around the property, which happened to also be her university project for her tourism degree, showed us the process, and made us some lemongrass hot chocolate from the beans we processed. It was all very well done and on a tiny scale. It was intimate and enjoyable, and certainly a highlight to our time spent in Guayaquil.

After we said goodbye at the farm, we headed back into the city and had the guide drop us off at the mall close to the hotel and we went to Sports Planet to watch the game. We were seated with no problems right between the Argentine and German fan areas. Needless to say it was a riveting match and I think Mom enjoyed it, even the “cultural exchange” of fists after Germany eventually scored. It was certainly exciting.

That night we skipped a proper dinner but instead just went to the hotel bar for some snacks and some decompression drinks before bed. Mom had an early flight so we packed up our bags for the next day, finalized our “going home” bag for the things we didn’t need to carry, and hit the hay. We got up early with Mom to see her off to the airport and then went back to bed until whenever. We got up, finalized our bags, had breakfast, and with Sam in tow went back into the altitude for our next series of adventures in the high Andes.