To be fair, we never saw that much of Quito, the capital, we saw nothing of the Amazon jungle or the rain forest and we spent no more than 24 hours in both Quito and Cuenca which was enough, as we had no intention of becoming city dwellers or living high in the Andes anyway.
We left Quito the very next morning and flew to Cuenca, a World Heritage Site, also in the Andes, where we had to meet with the lawyer conducting the residency process. We handed over our documents, then our lawyer Lena said, "why not look around at some of our Real Estate to pass the time while I sort through these" (she owned and ran a real estate company as well as being a lawyer). Oh, what the heck, it would be worth checking out a few places.
I can tell you from personal experience, in Canada and the US, we enjoy "organized real estate". We have the MLS's and real estate information at our fingertips and the ability to locate active listings anywhere in North America as a result. What a benefit! In my opinion, it's one we all too often take for granted. Believe me, we now know. We saw the other side of the coin while in Ecuador.
In South America. There is no such thing as "organized real estate". No MLS, not even anything written down about what properties are listed or for how much. Ask one Real Estate Representative how much one place is and you get a price. Ask another and you get a totally different price. That price could and often is $20,000, $30,000 or even $50,000 higher or lower than the first person you asked. Same house/apartment, different salesperson. Believe me, you don't want to be at the mercy of what we saw, because there is no-one looking out for you, and if you look like the gullible or uninformed type, you will be taken advantage of. Of that, there is no doubt. From a critical point of view, it would be more accurate to describe the face of real estate in Ecuador as chaotic because that, is exactly what it is.
There are no real estate professionals per-see, they don't have to qualify for a real estate license. They don't have to abide by codes of ethics and standards of business practices. They have no real estate boards or councils to ensure that minimum standards are maintained, and many of the real estate representatives. have no clue about real estate whatsoever. The local barber, taxi driver, manicurist, or grocer can put down their work tools and become an instant real estate person on the weekends or during the evenings. It is definitely a case of Caveat Emptor or buyer beware. Worse still, we came to know there are two prices for everything in Ecuador, clothing, real estate vehicles & food - you name it there will always be a difference in price. The first price is one they call the "Gringo Price" and the other is a price for the locals which is often substantially less.
The problem is, that many Ecuadorians only want to sell to Gringo's because they believe, the will pay a ridiculous price thinking it's a good price when compared to Canada or the US. But this is not Canada or the US. The homes/apartments are inferior in every way. There are no minimum building codes and many properties don't even have proper sewer lines even in the larger apartment buildings.
It's sad to say, that the Gringo's have brought this on themselves by visiting the country and overpaying because they have absolutely no knowledge about where the prices should be. Yes, the price of a property might sound good in comparison to say the coast of California but what you won't be told, is that someone just tripled the asking price of the property, and someone else, paid it because "it sounded like a good deal" when in fact it was not. They just saw the Gringo coming.
Because the prices are shooting upwards as a result of overpaying, the locals cannot afford to buy and the locals who have property to sell, only want to sell to Gringos.......it's a mess and it is causing a great deal of underlying resentment toward Gringos from the locals and quite honestly, I can see why.
We left Quito the very next morning and flew to Cuenca, a World Heritage Site, also in the Andes, where we had to meet with the lawyer conducting the residency process. We handed over our documents, then our lawyer Lena said, "why not look around at some of our Real Estate to pass the time while I sort through these" (she owned and ran a real estate company as well as being a lawyer). Oh, what the heck, it would be worth checking out a few places.
I can tell you from personal experience, in Canada and the US, we enjoy "organized real estate". We have the MLS's and real estate information at our fingertips and the ability to locate active listings anywhere in North America as a result. What a benefit! In my opinion, it's one we all too often take for granted. Believe me, we now know. We saw the other side of the coin while in Ecuador.
In South America. There is no such thing as "organized real estate". No MLS, not even anything written down about what properties are listed or for how much. Ask one Real Estate Representative how much one place is and you get a price. Ask another and you get a totally different price. That price could and often is $20,000, $30,000 or even $50,000 higher or lower than the first person you asked. Same house/apartment, different salesperson. Believe me, you don't want to be at the mercy of what we saw, because there is no-one looking out for you, and if you look like the gullible or uninformed type, you will be taken advantage of. Of that, there is no doubt. From a critical point of view, it would be more accurate to describe the face of real estate in Ecuador as chaotic because that, is exactly what it is.
There are no real estate professionals per-see, they don't have to qualify for a real estate license. They don't have to abide by codes of ethics and standards of business practices. They have no real estate boards or councils to ensure that minimum standards are maintained, and many of the real estate representatives. have no clue about real estate whatsoever. The local barber, taxi driver, manicurist, or grocer can put down their work tools and become an instant real estate person on the weekends or during the evenings. It is definitely a case of Caveat Emptor or buyer beware. Worse still, we came to know there are two prices for everything in Ecuador, clothing, real estate vehicles & food - you name it there will always be a difference in price. The first price is one they call the "Gringo Price" and the other is a price for the locals which is often substantially less.
The problem is, that many Ecuadorians only want to sell to Gringo's because they believe, the will pay a ridiculous price thinking it's a good price when compared to Canada or the US. But this is not Canada or the US. The homes/apartments are inferior in every way. There are no minimum building codes and many properties don't even have proper sewer lines even in the larger apartment buildings.
It's sad to say, that the Gringo's have brought this on themselves by visiting the country and overpaying because they have absolutely no knowledge about where the prices should be. Yes, the price of a property might sound good in comparison to say the coast of California but what you won't be told, is that someone just tripled the asking price of the property, and someone else, paid it because "it sounded like a good deal" when in fact it was not. They just saw the Gringo coming.
Because the prices are shooting upwards as a result of overpaying, the locals cannot afford to buy and the locals who have property to sell, only want to sell to Gringos.......it's a mess and it is causing a great deal of underlying resentment toward Gringos from the locals and quite honestly, I can see why.
Sometime ago, I stumbled upon a blog by an American Builder from California. He has a well followed blog about Ecuador. He said in one of his blogs words to this effect; keep your hands in your pockets and rent for a couple of years at least - very good advice and we were going to take it had we stayed. George (the builder) has not yet moved to Ecuador, but has been there on a number of occasions and is a hive of information about the country. He has seen much more than we did. He loves it, but our destination was i suspect, more limited than his as we wanted the Pacific Ocean on our doorstep.
To get back to the story. The lady from the real estate/lawyers office who was asked to show us a few examples of property for rent by our lawyer introduced herself and then we started towards the elevator.
First, she ordered a taxi instead of driving us which I thought kind of strange that we would be looking at real estate with a representative in a taxi and without a car.
On our arrival at the first destination, she turned and asked if I would pay the driver.....I could not believe this was happening and I wondered what the response might be if we employed this tactic in Canada or the US. It would get rid of the tire kickers :-). Oh well, when in Rome....as they say. I coughed up the fare for the taxi, albeit only $1.75 for a ten minute drive.
We spent about ten minutes walking up and down the street looking for the house she was asked to show to us. Many of the homes do not have addresses like we do in North America, and I don't believe there is a postal service like we know it with a home or mailbox delivery service. Some homes have no numbers on them, hence the delay.
The keys she brought with her would not work in the gates which were all locked for security reasons as they typically are on all properties in South America. In the end, she called the owner who drove over and let us in.
We toured the home which was for rent for $900 per month fully furnished. I took two steps into the foyer and knew instantly that this home was not one we would remotely consider as a rental long or short term even if we did decide to live in Cuenca.
The house was very dark, not clean and furnished with stuff I would have taken to the dump years ago. It also had a myriad of varying levels throughout the main floor for no apparent reason, enough of them so you could easily end up falling over or tripping. A broken hip or arm is not what one would wish for here.
This was supposed to be a "choice home in an exclusive area". That's what the lawyer told us. OK I thought to myself, so we could go downhill from here in terms of quality - The thought of that didn't help to inspire my day.
The house was very dark, not clean and furnished with stuff I would have taken to the dump years ago. It also had a myriad of varying levels throughout the main floor for no apparent reason, enough of them so you could easily end up falling over or tripping. A broken hip or arm is not what one would wish for here.
This was supposed to be a "choice home in an exclusive area". That's what the lawyer told us. OK I thought to myself, so we could go downhill from here in terms of quality - The thought of that didn't help to inspire my day.
OK, we've seen enough I told her. Vamoose, and we did...."You like"? the owner asked in broken English as we exited the home. Er...not for us thanks - too big! (my way of making an delicate exit without hurting any one's feelings). There was a very quick exchange in Spanish between the real estate lady and the owner, then he beckoned us into his car and drove us to another busy intersection where Donna, myself and the real estate lady alighted.
OK let's go! the real estate girl said, as she led us to a muddy pathway alongside a river which we followed for about a mile. Walking was made harder as we were at a height of just under 9,000 ft above sea level and we were tired from the flight the day before.
We walked for about a mile on the pathway when there was a perfectly good road to walk on running parallel to us about 50ft away but the road had many vehicles on it and pedestrian traffic rights are non existent in Ecuador, so maybe it was better we walked on the path after all. About 10 minutes later, she pulled her phone from her ear and stopped us and said in broken English, owner not home....cannot see.
Okay I thought. We hadn't even arrived at the home yet, but this was obviously not meant to be. At least we did not have to fill up at a gas station but boy, I thought, a Starbucks coffee might taste nice right about now.
"Where now?", I asked. Turning on a dime she beckoned to some far off apartment block in the opposite direction. So back we went. Almost another mile along the pathway and some uneven sidewalks and occasionally in the roadway, traversing around bushes, in mud, avoiding the dog excrement that seemed to be everywhere you looked on the sidewalks. Oh oh, she's on the phone again I thought to myself. She stopped and turned to us again and said, "the next one is rented".
OK let's go! the real estate girl said, as she led us to a muddy pathway alongside a river which we followed for about a mile. Walking was made harder as we were at a height of just under 9,000 ft above sea level and we were tired from the flight the day before.
We walked for about a mile on the pathway when there was a perfectly good road to walk on running parallel to us about 50ft away but the road had many vehicles on it and pedestrian traffic rights are non existent in Ecuador, so maybe it was better we walked on the path after all. About 10 minutes later, she pulled her phone from her ear and stopped us and said in broken English, owner not home....cannot see.
Okay I thought. We hadn't even arrived at the home yet, but this was obviously not meant to be. At least we did not have to fill up at a gas station but boy, I thought, a Starbucks coffee might taste nice right about now.
"Where now?", I asked. Turning on a dime she beckoned to some far off apartment block in the opposite direction. So back we went. Almost another mile along the pathway and some uneven sidewalks and occasionally in the roadway, traversing around bushes, in mud, avoiding the dog excrement that seemed to be everywhere you looked on the sidewalks. Oh oh, she's on the phone again I thought to myself. She stopped and turned to us again and said, "the next one is rented".
I am not an impatient person by any stretch of the imagination but by this time my patience and tolerance levels were wearing thin. I vaguely remember saying to myself the word "mañana", a word everyone must learn and understand when in Latin America it means tomorrow in Spanish, but an American Ex-Pat who lives in Salinas and who claimed to be a professor of languages (a linguist) who teaches Spanish to Ex-Pats down there explained to me jokingly one day that mañana more accurately should mean NOT TODAY. I chuckled when he told me that, but now I was starting to understand his theory.
Time to take the reins here. OK, back to the office I told her. We're done.....Taxi! (and there was no shortage of these bright yellow GM Cabs). Five minutes later we were back at the lawyers office.
The office was closed for lunch, but a quick phone call from the real estate lady brought the lawyer scurrying back smiling eating her sandwich with a look on her face as if she had just won the lottery.
The office was closed for lunch, but a quick phone call from the real estate lady brought the lawyer scurrying back smiling eating her sandwich with a look on her face as if she had just won the lottery.
Flight from Cuenca to Guayaquil. 8 hours by bus, 40 minute flight - Cost $40
The next day we caught an early flight to Guayaquil. I had pre-arranged for a taxi to pick us up at the airport to drive us to Salinas on the coast in the province of Santa Elena.
We chose to do it this way, as it would have been difficult to watch the bags from the inside of the bus as people got off and the baggage compartment was opened and closed repeatedly. I did not want to take the chance of losing our only two suitcases and all our worldly possessions because we were warned specifically about the dangers of people making off with others baggage.
The 2 1/2 hour ride from the airport by taxi to Salinas cost us just $50 and the driver took us right to the apartment we had rented from a Canadian Realtor/owner who lived in Ontario.......I won't cover the whole apartment story but needless to say, we left earlier than planned and headed back to the US.
The place we stayed in was overpriced, and in need of repair and updating. We met a really nice lady (Cathy) upstairs from Denver. She helped out supplying us with cups and cooking equipment and a water container so we could at least function minimally in this supposed "fully equipped luxury apartment". My feedback can be found on trip advisor.
The place we stayed in was overpriced, and in need of repair and updating. We met a really nice lady (Cathy) upstairs from Denver. She helped out supplying us with cups and cooking equipment and a water container so we could at least function minimally in this supposed "fully equipped luxury apartment". My feedback can be found on trip advisor.
While we were in Salinas, we did a lot of walking up and down the Malecon. It soon became apparent that if you went over two blocks the houses were extremely small and some almost like shanties. I would have to say they did not appear very clean from the outside. That may not in fact be the case. We will never know as we never entered one of them.
In certain parts of Salinas, it seemed to us, that the locals were impervious to health standards and personal hygiene and just bagged up their garbage and threw it out into the streets for someone else to deal with. This was not everywhere but it was prevalent in a few locations we walked through.
The amount of spray paint was very noticeable. It was everywhere we turned. Even brand new buildings were not exempt. It was disheartening to see this lack of pride but on the other hand, was it a lack of pride or did the people know no better? Hard to say, but it's one thing to be poor, but to live in these conditions with small children - it's hard for us North Americans to take in and fully understand.
In certain parts of Salinas, it seemed to us, that the locals were impervious to health standards and personal hygiene and just bagged up their garbage and threw it out into the streets for someone else to deal with. This was not everywhere but it was prevalent in a few locations we walked through.
The amount of spray paint was very noticeable. It was everywhere we turned. Even brand new buildings were not exempt. It was disheartening to see this lack of pride but on the other hand, was it a lack of pride or did the people know no better? Hard to say, but it's one thing to be poor, but to live in these conditions with small children - it's hard for us North Americans to take in and fully understand.
As we walked the streets of Salinas, I could feel the vibes coming off Donna. She did not need to say a word to me and to her credit, until we sat down and discussed our first week she never did, but I could see it in her eyes and I knew she did not want to rain on my parade but on the other hand, this is for both of us. It was not a one person decision. When I put in my pennies-worth during our open, honest and frank discussion, I could see a great relief on Donna's face as I suggested it was not all it was cracked up to be, in fact, I could now see why the Ex-Pats referred to the publication International Living as International Lying. Our opinions on what we had seen were both the same. We are heading home..It's not for us.
The Malecon. Ah yes, everyone talks about the Malecon. Well, the Malecon is a sidewalk on a sea-wall in front of the ocean. There are a few stores, a couple of bars and restaurants on one side and the ocean on the other......that's it. It's about two miles long at best.
There was nothing to do except walk along the Malecon which you can only do so many times in a year before you get bored. Yes, we could have purchased a boat for $20K or more and paid the mooring fees, but how many times can one go out and sit on a boat and fish? One year may cut it, but 5 - 10 years? Ouch! Where's the variety in that? It's like the guy who retires and loves to play golf all day. The attraction of that soon wears off in retirement playing day after day after day and of course, it gets expensive.
The point about boredom was underlined when we went to a bar on the Malecon called Smokin BBQ owned by a Texan and his wife. He had just opened up about two months before. We spoke with him and I asked how long had he been here? He replied, "three years. I came to retire just like you". I looked around at the bar, teaming with ex-pats and repeated the word "retire". Oh, that's another story he said.
Within a year, I was bored to death and I just had to do something. It took a while to secure this place but I needed something to do. Here there is nothing to do. Now I love it here. That just sealed the deal for me. I had no intention on retiring and then immediately starting work in a foreign country.
If we mastered the language, we could also have started up a business selling real estate as there is no credible competition in Salinas. I thought to myself that had we had the team of people working for us down there that worked under our Real Estate banner in Calgary, we would have cleaned house. Of that, there is not doubt. We couldn't even get anyone to show us apartments for goodness sake. One excuse followed another as to why they could not show us property. The owners are away, we are busy, I have to go to another town....on and on.
We had arranged to meet a real estate person down there, an American lady who had been living there for over 20 years. She knew when we were arriving. She had our address, our email address and she knew the building we were renting in. We had been in contact with her for months. We had even spoken to her on Skype, but she never called the first week at all. I sent her a message asking when we were going to look at property as we had a limited amount of time left. Her reply was that she had stuff we could look at on her web site. That was it. That was the level of service. We heard nothing more, not a word from her in three weeks. So we decided to cut our losses and move back to our winter home in Nevada earlier than planned which is where I am writing this from.
There was nothing to do except walk along the Malecon which you can only do so many times in a year before you get bored. Yes, we could have purchased a boat for $20K or more and paid the mooring fees, but how many times can one go out and sit on a boat and fish? One year may cut it, but 5 - 10 years? Ouch! Where's the variety in that? It's like the guy who retires and loves to play golf all day. The attraction of that soon wears off in retirement playing day after day after day and of course, it gets expensive.
The point about boredom was underlined when we went to a bar on the Malecon called Smokin BBQ owned by a Texan and his wife. He had just opened up about two months before. We spoke with him and I asked how long had he been here? He replied, "three years. I came to retire just like you". I looked around at the bar, teaming with ex-pats and repeated the word "retire". Oh, that's another story he said.
Within a year, I was bored to death and I just had to do something. It took a while to secure this place but I needed something to do. Here there is nothing to do. Now I love it here. That just sealed the deal for me. I had no intention on retiring and then immediately starting work in a foreign country.
If we mastered the language, we could also have started up a business selling real estate as there is no credible competition in Salinas. I thought to myself that had we had the team of people working for us down there that worked under our Real Estate banner in Calgary, we would have cleaned house. Of that, there is not doubt. We couldn't even get anyone to show us apartments for goodness sake. One excuse followed another as to why they could not show us property. The owners are away, we are busy, I have to go to another town....on and on.
We had arranged to meet a real estate person down there, an American lady who had been living there for over 20 years. She knew when we were arriving. She had our address, our email address and she knew the building we were renting in. We had been in contact with her for months. We had even spoken to her on Skype, but she never called the first week at all. I sent her a message asking when we were going to look at property as we had a limited amount of time left. Her reply was that she had stuff we could look at on her web site. That was it. That was the level of service. We heard nothing more, not a word from her in three weeks. So we decided to cut our losses and move back to our winter home in Nevada earlier than planned which is where I am writing this from.
We flew from Guayaquil to San Salvador in El Salvador and then from there to Houston Texas, and after another 3 hour stopover, we would embark on the last leg back to Las Vegas.
It might be pertinent at this point to tell you about one of the funnier parts of our trip. While we were on one of the flights we took down there flying from Cuenca to Guayaquil, Donna gave me a nudge and whispered to me "do you realize you are head and shoulders above everyone on this aircraft?" I hadn't noticed, but now come to think of it I did see that my 5' 10" frame was much taller than anyone and that trend seemed to be maintained wherever we went in Ecuador.
Very few Ecuadorian men are over about 5' 5" tall. I felt like a giant. Yes! I thought, this was my time! Maybe I could form a football team and be on the offensive line, but sadly that thought was also doomed to failure as in South America, the game they are crazy about is soccer.
Actually Donna too, was often head and shoulders above the Ecuador men. Forget trying to buy XXL T shirts or larger shoes down there. It is not going to happen.
Then things took a turn for the worse. When we landed in El Salvador. We were waiting in the departure lounge for our flight to Houston Texas when I noticed a few Texans waiting for the same flight. One of the guys was around 6' 10" and approximately 350 lbs in weight. Another was around 6'8" and +/- 230 lbs and built like a brick.
Yes, you guessed it, while playing Candy Crush on her iPad, Donna leaned over and very quietly whispered to me.... "Ken....welcome back to shrimps-ville honey". I smiled while shooting her a look of disappointment as I realized I had been relegated back to the vertically challenged league of men.
Very few Ecuadorian men are over about 5' 5" tall. I felt like a giant. Yes! I thought, this was my time! Maybe I could form a football team and be on the offensive line, but sadly that thought was also doomed to failure as in South America, the game they are crazy about is soccer.
Actually Donna too, was often head and shoulders above the Ecuador men. Forget trying to buy XXL T shirts or larger shoes down there. It is not going to happen.
Then things took a turn for the worse. When we landed in El Salvador. We were waiting in the departure lounge for our flight to Houston Texas when I noticed a few Texans waiting for the same flight. One of the guys was around 6' 10" and approximately 350 lbs in weight. Another was around 6'8" and +/- 230 lbs and built like a brick.
Yes, you guessed it, while playing Candy Crush on her iPad, Donna leaned over and very quietly whispered to me.... "Ken....welcome back to shrimps-ville honey". I smiled while shooting her a look of disappointment as I realized I had been relegated back to the vertically challenged league of men.
So what happens now? Well, we will head back to Canada at the end of September. We have our Annual medicals to schedule in and I have to re-order my drivers license, Alberta Health Care Card, Citizenship Card and other stuff as I lost my wallet in Las Vegas the day after we arrived back.
We will stay for two or three weeks house-sitting for some friends or ours in Lake Bonavista. It will be time to visit with all the family and grandchildren then we will return to Mesquite hopefully until the new year.
We will stay for two or three weeks house-sitting for some friends or ours in Lake Bonavista. It will be time to visit with all the family and grandchildren then we will return to Mesquite hopefully until the new year.
After that, we are going to try out Panama and Costa Rica for a month or two, to see if it is any different there. I believe it will be. I have been reading up and joined a few chat groups and other closed groups on Facebook operating out of both countries, so there is a glimmer of hope that we can find somewhere nice that we can rent in the warmer climes for maybe four or five months of the year. That's all we really want as we have our lovely home in Mesquite and won't be selling it anytime soon.
So now you know why the title of our blog changed to Donna and Ken's Adventures During Retirement and this post title of "Back To The Drawing Board". I am going to change the web link also as it is now out of line with what we are doing so next time you receive this, it will have a different web address.
So now you know why the title of our blog changed to Donna and Ken's Adventures During Retirement and this post title of "Back To The Drawing Board". I am going to change the web link also as it is now out of line with what we are doing so next time you receive this, it will have a different web address.
One thing is crystal clear and that is that whatever happens, if we move to Central America for a few months, we will rent a fully furnished place and keep our funds safely invested in real estate in Canada instead of taking a chance, buying something down there, then two, three or five years later finding out we need or wish to sell up again and move back and take the heavy losses on our possessions down there (which is what normally happens as I have learned through the ex-pat chat rooms from those who live down there).
All is not lost by any means. As we sit here in Nevada, we have warmth and sun, in fact, it was 30 degrees Fahrenheit warmer on average in Nevada than it was on the Equator all of the time we were down there. The picture above of a sunset was taken by me from our patio a few of nights ago and, it is not enhanced.
Yes the sun sets every day, but every day but one, it will rise again, bringing us a new opportunity to find another adventure. Life is precious and we should make the most of the time we have - As the old saying goes.....nothing ventured nothing gained. We both agree with that sentiment and if nothing more, at least we will be able to say, we have been and we have seen and we have grown personally from our adventures during our years in retirement while we have the health to do it.
In summary, Ecuador It's is a pretty country once you get beyond the garbage and the spray paint. The flowers are gorgeous and the various species of flora and fauna are very diverse. The people are wonderful and always cheerful and they are very resourceful.
I remember sitting in a taxi at a red light, when I saw a fellow walk out across the road in front of the vehicles. He had a motorcycle helmet on. I thought he was crossing the road to get on his motorcycle......but no, right In the middle of the road he flipped upside down and rested on his helmet and did a head stand and then with a tremendous effort, he spun himself around on his helmet faster and faster - almost as fast as an ice skater when they spin and draw their arms in during an ice dance. He had the traffic lights timed right to the second.
With about 15 seconds to go on red, he stopped spinning, got to his feet and approached the vehicles to ask for some money for his efforts. Some gave. Others did not.
There are many that eek out a living the same way. Some arbitrarily wash the windshields of vehicles at the lights like we have seen in Canada. Others juggle fruit of all shapes and sizes. Some twirl battens. There are Mariachis, acrobats and people selling fresh fruit, lobster, shrimp, you name it. When the lights go red, it's action, lights, cameras! - these people all trying to ply out a living from nothing. My hat goes off to them and, one other thing, they waste nothing. Food and items can and are always re-used if left-over.
I remember five men taking down a concrete column in a garage across the street from our apartment. They took it down with brute force then did the work they had to do while one guy spent the whole day hammering through the concrete with a 9 lb mall to recover the re-bar lodged deeply within the concrete. Yes they are frugal people and will use absolutely everything they can in order to make their life a little easier for themselves and especially their families. They certainly are not the
"throw-away" nation we have become and their families seem a lot closer than ours in North America.
Last but not least, we felt safe all of the time. Yes every door has a security person at it and all the windows are barred and gates locked, but we felt very safe even walking around the less populated areas of Salinas. In short, it was no different from any other North American City and certainly better than some in terms of feeling secure as firearms are banned in Ecuador.
Did we enjoy the experience? Of course. It was something completely different. We learned a lot in the three weeks we were there. Would we go back there again? Maybe, but if we did, it would be different as we would be looking from a tourists point of view, not from the angle of going down to decide if we wanted to live there full time. That is a very different undertaking.
We believe we would like to discover somewhere new and experience somewhere different. The next time, I for sure will be more open-mind about where we are going and what it will be like, until we have stayed there awhile. No pre-conceived ideas and certainly no believing in what is written in publications like International Living.
All is not lost by any means. As we sit here in Nevada, we have warmth and sun, in fact, it was 30 degrees Fahrenheit warmer on average in Nevada than it was on the Equator all of the time we were down there. The picture above of a sunset was taken by me from our patio a few of nights ago and, it is not enhanced.
Yes the sun sets every day, but every day but one, it will rise again, bringing us a new opportunity to find another adventure. Life is precious and we should make the most of the time we have - As the old saying goes.....nothing ventured nothing gained. We both agree with that sentiment and if nothing more, at least we will be able to say, we have been and we have seen and we have grown personally from our adventures during our years in retirement while we have the health to do it.
In summary, Ecuador It's is a pretty country once you get beyond the garbage and the spray paint. The flowers are gorgeous and the various species of flora and fauna are very diverse. The people are wonderful and always cheerful and they are very resourceful.
I remember sitting in a taxi at a red light, when I saw a fellow walk out across the road in front of the vehicles. He had a motorcycle helmet on. I thought he was crossing the road to get on his motorcycle......but no, right In the middle of the road he flipped upside down and rested on his helmet and did a head stand and then with a tremendous effort, he spun himself around on his helmet faster and faster - almost as fast as an ice skater when they spin and draw their arms in during an ice dance. He had the traffic lights timed right to the second.
With about 15 seconds to go on red, he stopped spinning, got to his feet and approached the vehicles to ask for some money for his efforts. Some gave. Others did not.
There are many that eek out a living the same way. Some arbitrarily wash the windshields of vehicles at the lights like we have seen in Canada. Others juggle fruit of all shapes and sizes. Some twirl battens. There are Mariachis, acrobats and people selling fresh fruit, lobster, shrimp, you name it. When the lights go red, it's action, lights, cameras! - these people all trying to ply out a living from nothing. My hat goes off to them and, one other thing, they waste nothing. Food and items can and are always re-used if left-over.
I remember five men taking down a concrete column in a garage across the street from our apartment. They took it down with brute force then did the work they had to do while one guy spent the whole day hammering through the concrete with a 9 lb mall to recover the re-bar lodged deeply within the concrete. Yes they are frugal people and will use absolutely everything they can in order to make their life a little easier for themselves and especially their families. They certainly are not the
"throw-away" nation we have become and their families seem a lot closer than ours in North America.
Last but not least, we felt safe all of the time. Yes every door has a security person at it and all the windows are barred and gates locked, but we felt very safe even walking around the less populated areas of Salinas. In short, it was no different from any other North American City and certainly better than some in terms of feeling secure as firearms are banned in Ecuador.
Did we enjoy the experience? Of course. It was something completely different. We learned a lot in the three weeks we were there. Would we go back there again? Maybe, but if we did, it would be different as we would be looking from a tourists point of view, not from the angle of going down to decide if we wanted to live there full time. That is a very different undertaking.
We believe we would like to discover somewhere new and experience somewhere different. The next time, I for sure will be more open-mind about where we are going and what it will be like, until we have stayed there awhile. No pre-conceived ideas and certainly no believing in what is written in publications like International Living.
The flowers were stunning. Bougainvillea like these above came in many different colours.
Often, they mix in the different colours to make stunning displays.
So now you know how it was and the reason why the title of our page changed somewhat.
We look forward to sending you our next blog......maybe not next month, but soon. For sure.
Donna and Ken
