Well Hello again:
It really doesn't seem that long ago that we were in the pairing down mode and I have to say, we still aren't quite there yet. however, the furniture is now all gone except a couple of chairs which a very good friend of ours has purchased and kindly allowed us to keep until pretty much the last day, plus we have a mattress to sleep on. That's it
Today, I would like to introduce you to where we are thinking of putting down roots.....we're not sure yet, but it's a starting point. Here is an over-view of Salinas. It seems like a nice place and by the looks of it, there is lots to do and see all up the coastline. We will be able to give you a better idea once we have arrived in the location but we are going to go up and down the coast between Manta in the North and Salinas in the south to see what the possibilities are before we make a decision as to where to put down our roots.
We will also check out Quito, Ecuador's Capital and the second highest City in the world up in the Andes. It lies at just under 10,000 ft above sea level. The biggest drawback I see there however, is that the weather is unpredictable. We will also head to Cuenca to check that city. By all accounts it is nice, not quite as high as Quito, but Cuenca still lies at about 8,500 ft. above sea level.
We have taken the liberty to give away our snow shovels (hope you don't mind) but we have been careful to ensure we have our Tilley hats in the suitcases. That was prompted but a recent drive I took while having my sunroof open. All of a sudden, after 10 minutes I felt that the top of my head was starting to turn red and even burn a little from the sun. A quick glance in the mirror when I got home confirmed it....yup I'm thinning on top. Tilley hats are thus in the suitcases for our trip south.
One of the things we want to do when we arrive in Ecuador is to explore the markets (mercado). This is where we will see the very vibrant coloured items that the locals make and proudly present to the public in the local markets every day they can.
With the growing season being year round in Ecuador, the market places will always be flowing with boxes and crates richly adorned with foodstuffs, fresh veggies and fruit. I cannot wait to try my Spanish skills (all be they very basic at the present time) to see if anyone can understand me. I know Donna will be doing her best in the language department too.
This lifestyle change is going to be great fun I feel a couple challenges coming on though. The first being the language. Full immersion in Spanish is the only answer to overcome this one. We are hoping to find a full Spanish Immersion programme for two or three days a week for the first six months, so we can quickly pick up the language. We both feel that making the attempt to speak Spanish will earn us the trust and respect of the locals quicker than it would trying to have them understand our language and why should they anyway? As they say, "when in Rome". Hey! we aim to please.
A FEW FACTS ABOUT ECUADOR
It is estimated that the population of Ecuador in July, 2013, will be 15,439,000 which will place them in 67th spot for the most populated nations, behind the USA in third position behind China and India, Germany 16th, France and the UK running at 21st, and 22nd position respectively, Canada in 37th, and the Netherlands in 64th place.
Ecuador is about the size of Nevada in the USA. The median age is estimated at 26.3 years. The growth rate is estimated to be +/- 1.4% which equates to around 86th when compared to other countries of the world. Life expectancy is 73.2 years for males and 79.25 years for females. As far as religion goes, 95% of the population is Catholic.
This is a shot of the Cayambe Market on the weekend. Market days are a bit of an outing for these hard working people, a sort of social gathering too, where families meet up and spend time together.
It is now only 18 days until we give up possession on our home and we are out of here, so time is getting tight, but we will take it in our stride and be ready to hand over on the day.
We will probably grab a room at one of the local hotels in Calgary until we settle our accounts, wrap up the trust account audit that is required by the Real Estate Council of Alberta, and then, with their permission, we can close down the Real Estate company.
Once that is done, we will head to our home in Nevada for a couple of months and think through, and plan the next phase of our journey which will of course be to head to Ecuador.
Before that happens however, we will have to return to Canada to sell off our Jeep Grand Cherokee and a Ford F150 King Ranch Ecoboost to sell before we leave, then it's suitcases to the airport, and off we go. Ecuador, here we come.......hopefully
I believe our next blog in preparation for the trip will come from Mesquite. We will head down there around Jun 23rd hopefully travelling via Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Donna has never been to Yellowstone before, so we will have the traditional picture in front of Old Faithful, discover some of the wonderful springs and scenery around the park, then we we will overnight with friends in Star Valley Wyoming. After that, visit some our other US friends who have an acreage just outside Huntsville Utah, not far from Ogden and Salt Lake City. We may overnight with them then it's a six hour drive south to our Mesquite home for a couple of months where we will learn to live off a fixed income.
I hope the link to Salinas works at the front end of this article. I haven't quite worked out how to master these blogs yet, but just in case it does not work, here's the address to go to to watch a short YouTube video of Salinas. If it did not work, copy and past this link into your web browser. It may work then. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HuSnRAdupc
I promise I will get better at this. It's just a learning curve.
Oh, one last thing. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and subscribe to this blog to be kept up to date. I think it should work now. Let me know if it does not. By all means leave comments, we would welcome your feedback.
