Like a metropolis nostalgic for a former glory, Guayaquil’s broad streets are lined by chipped buildings raised by colonnades through which heaving Cadillacs past their heyday race in the shade of palm tree after palm tree, hugging the Guayas River and probably passing a red light or two. This is Guayaquil: handsome, wild and pulsing with energy.

After the Spanish conquered Guayaquil in 1534, the peaceful pre-Inca Huancavilca village became plagued by English and French pirate attacks thereafter, and some remnants of that era still scatter the city. Most travel guides to Guayaquil will have trouble leading you to a definitive site of importance - history bleeds into every piece of architecture sprawled throughout the city. From its infancy, Guayaquil has acted as a notorious hotseat of tense political debate and action.

But it would seem that the city’s glory days are now ahead of it, after struggling to recover from years of sanitation problems, lack of public space, crime, poverty and pollution, the government finally took a stand and at the turn of the millennium, began to invest in major urban renewal projects to change the face of Guayaquil. Essentially, it made a comeback.