Safety in Guayaquil

When it came time to choose my study abroad location safety played a large role. An entire country was even removed from my list of potential places due to the prevalence of crime. There are risks associated with every location, so I thought carefully about what I could handle and did research to know exactly what I was headed for. Once I chose my destination of Ecuador I took all possible preliminary steps to protect myself and my belongings. Now that I am here, however, I have found the area to be much safer than many realize it to be.

My program allowed me to choose from schools in two cities within Ecuador. I chose Guayaquil, which is the largest city in the country. I immediately liked it for its size, closeness to the beach, and price. The other was Cuenca, a town that’s in the Andes and popular with American retirees. Most expats who come to Ecuador choose to live in Cuenca because they consider it to be safer than Guayaquil.

This isn’t a surprise considering the top few search results when “Guayaquil Ecuador Safety” is looked up. A Trip Advisor article starts out with “Travelers should know that Guayaquil is not considered a safe city.” On the site’s thread “Safety, Taxis, & Cameras in Guayaquil” a lady describes how the city is so tough even her husband who lived in the Bronx for twelve years is cautious.

However, I also read about how the local government ramped up safety efforts in the city and, in an attempt to attract more tourists, spent great amounts of money developing new parks, museums, and attractions. After hours of research my theory is that crime has improved, but Guayaquil still has a bad reputation. When it comes to my well-being, it’s not the reputation that matters, but what’s actually going on.

Still I knew, better safe than sorry. On the day of my flight I became more cautious with my belongings the closer I got to Ecuador. I had a money belt, backpack locks, and all of my important items were strategically placed. In the airport after arriving I kept an eye out for anyone who looked suspicious, but all I saw were families and friendly faces. That didn’t matter though; I played it safe and annoyed people by taking my two large suitcases with me into the bathroom, refusing to let them be far out of site.

I continued to be exceedingly careful in the following days, but felt less fear. My host mom informed me our neighborhood was safe enough to walk alone in, even at night. When I go on walks I frequently see other women alone. Twice when I’ve had trouble with the lock on the gate to my house the construction workers next door have offered to help and gotten me inside. The more I experienced here the more trusting I felt of the people and all the safety advice I’d read seemed over the top. I voiced this sentiment with the other American exchange students and they all felt the same.

To be fair the other exchange students and I stay in nicer areas and are often in large groups. Just because we don’t feel the need doesn’t mean we can become careless. That’s when things happen because being careless makes you a good target. However, we practice all the basic safety stuff as we move throughout city, but do so without fear or suspicion.

Overall, I think most Ecuadorians are like us in the sense that they want visitors to see the best of their country and enjoy it as much as they do. Ecuador has a reputation that, at least in Guayaquil, is not deserved. I want for everyone to understand this country a little better because it is an amazing place.