The safest method of transportation in Guayaquil is Uber. Please refrain from using yellow taxis.
Altough there is modern water filtration, The safest choice is to buy bottled water.
We suggest buying an E Sim card when you arrive abroad to use your phone for getting around Ecuador. I suggest the company HOLAYFLY. You will need to use google translate and uber often in Guayaquil and Cuenca, this will give you immediate access.
Google translate app is a great way translate English to Spanish. It can use your phone camera to translate texts in real time. It also has speech to text and vise versa for easier communication.