This is a very easy trip to do on public transport.  After lunch at the Umbrellabird Lodge, we had the guide drop us at the main road between Pinas and Machala.  We only had to wait about 15 minutes until a bus passed heading to Machala.

It was pretty cheap, around $5 for the two of us and the bus wasn’t full so we could spread out.

The scenery wasn’t that exciting, lots of banana plantations.

Ecuadorian buses are pretty comfortable but for some reason they keep the bathrooms locked.  They wouldn’t let me use it even after asking the driver but they did pull into a petrol station and let me off to use that bathroom.  I tried to get the wifi working but couldn’t find the signal and no one on the bus seemed to know how to use it.

This is the bus from Machala to Guayaquil.  It took around 3 hours.  Coming from Pinas, you don’t have to go all the way into Machala.  There is a turn off to Guayaquil and about half the bus got off and switched buses here, including us.  This bus was full but still no wifi or toilet usage.

Here we are entering Guayaquil just before sunset.  The whole trip was around 5 hours, we left just after lunch so 12:30ish and got to Guayauil by 5:30pm-ish.  IIRC it was $16 for us both.

There are plenty of taxis at the Guayaquil bus terminal and you should only use official taxis for your safety.  It cost about $5 to go to the hotel which was downtown near the Malecon.

If you are in Guayaquil wanting to go to Buenaventura, simply do the whole thing in reverse.  Get a bus to Machala and tell them you want to transfer to Pinas so they drop you at that little transit office at the turn off.

I have no idea what this big statue is but it was pretty cool looking!