The Day Has Arrived - Ecuador, here we come

It was an early start Aug 14th.  We checked into the Southpoint Casino quite near to McCarron International Airport, Las Vegas Aug 12.  We had just returned from a few days visit to California celebrating our 20th Wedding Anniversary.  

We arrived at the brand new terminal 3 in Las Vegas just after 3:45 am ready to check in for the flight to  Panama City, Panama.  Needless to say, the terminal was almost empty.  

4:00 am - and Donna at the new Terminal 3 Las Vegas in a last bid to win money in lost Wages (Las Vegas).  She walked away happy with $280 profit in her purse.  

Good on yer babe.

The flight to Panama City, Panama was about six hours.  As we flew in on our approach to Panama City, we caught a view of the massive Panama Canal out of the aircraft window.  It was hot and humid when we arrived at the terminal, but not as oppressive as the heat one would find during summer time in Toronto.

A brief view of the Panama Canal as we approach Panama City

An hour later, we boarded another aircraft for the flight to Quito, Ecuador's capital city.  We arrived in Quito as the sun was beginning it's fall from the sky and heading quickly towards dusk.  A taxi driver was waiting to pick us up at the airport asked by our American host who runs a hotel there, to bring us to his hotel.  We arrived at the hotel, a supposed brand new hotel and that was where we had our very first "reality check".

We pulled up in the taxi facing a very high wall and wooden gates probably ten feet high.  "new hotel" I thought to myself, then boom, reality check two.  Someone opened the gate and the taxi drove in.  We quickly got out of the vehicle to be greeted by a small American fellow.  I nearly asked where the hotel was, but it became blatantly obvious, we were looking at it.  New, not quite, maybe 60 or 70 years old.  It was the business that was new, "Welcome to our place he said......let me help you with your bags".

We entered through the front door directly into what was the reception area that doubled as a living room.  There was the kitchen, the stove, the counter top over at the back and a fairly spacious room with two couches set at right angles to each other.  Nothing spectacular but, we were tired and really, the only thing we needed to do was relax.

We were presented with the register to sign in and while Donna was taking care of that, my eyes wondered around the room trying to assess what the bedrooms were going to be like.    Actually it did not really matter as we had played our last card.......we were there and the gates were ...........locked.

The hotel was really nothing more than a large eight or ten room house.  Set in the countryside, hidden behind the large walls on each side and protected by a gate.  I thought to myself.....all this place needs is a moat!  

It was immediately evident to both of us, that this place resembled what you would find in any local town in Mexico.  So, no big deal.  No it wasn't the Ritz Carleton, but neither were the prices. 

The owner of the hotel was a soft spoken American fellow from Ohio - fairly young, mid 30's to mid 40's who had lived in Ecuador for about two years.  He told me he had also taught English as a second language in China.  He's OK I thought!  He introduced us to his girlfriend, a pretty young lady, who obviously did the cooking and helped him clean the rooms.  They asked if we would like supper.  After asking what was on the menu, he told us it would be chicken (pollo) and rice (arroz) and french fries, but to give him about an hours notice if we wanted to eat.  Donna quickly shot me a glance and we gracefully declined supper, although we had not eaten anything but a sandwich since the night before.  We did ask him if there was anything to imbibe upon prior to getting some shut eye.  He said "oh yes", and pointed to display of red and white wines he had in one of those home-outfitter wine racks you sit on the counter top.  Have you any cold (frio) wines? I asked.  Yes he said!  He pointed to the glass fronted refrigerator in the corner of the room.  We quickly grabbed a bottle of cold white wine and a couple of cold beer, and headed to our room upstairs. Ah yes, the room.  Reality check number 3.

We opened the door to be greeted with two beds.  No, no I thought to myself, there must be some mistake.  Nope, that was indeed our room.  No mistake!  Who's going to take the single bed and who gets the double we asked simultaneously? too tired to draw straws, we both jumped into the double... yes a double not queen.  This was a far reach from the kIng bed we had got used to and just given away at home.

We filled our glasses, toasted each other drank it up, switched on the TV and fell asleep.  During the night, I got up to go to the bathroom.  Reality check no 4.  As I switched on the light and closed the bathroom door I saw the sign on the door.  it read.  PLEASE DO NOT FLUSH YOUR TOILET PAPER DOWN THE TOILET - PLACE IT IN THE RECEPTACLE PROVIDED. Ewwww!  That would have been Kath's reaction back home if she saw this I thought to myself.

People were coming and going all night.  The following morning, we were flying out to Cuenca to meet up with our lady lawyer who is handling our file. We had asked the American fellow if we could have coffee in the morning.  He said it would be ready at 5:30 am, which would allow us to drink it before the taxi driver turned up.  

When we came down to the living room, there were about 6 or 8 suitcases in the middle of the room.  They were presumably from the people who arrived in the middle of the night.  They obviously were tired, checked in and headed for bed.  I asked if they were locals that had arrived?.  No he said, they are Americans who are doing just like you - moving to Ecuador.  They arrived at 3 am this morning.  The taxi driver turned up promptly at 5:30 am, we loaded our suitcases and bid the American goodbye.

Lina our lawyer has a doctorate in law and specializes in Immigration.  I was so looking forward to meeting her.  I wanted to unload all these vital original documents for a fear of losing them or having them stolen.  

As we entered the airport at Quito for the flight to Cuenca, I learned lesson No 1.  Men do not wear shorts in either Quito or Cuenca.  We were strolling through the airport trying to locate the check-in desks and I saw hundreds of people looking me up and down which made me feel kind of uncomfortable.  It was not until I started to look around that I realized, no-one was in Shorts.........except me that is.  dawb! as Bart Simpson would say.....and my slacks were in the checked baggage.  Oh well, I won't make that mistake again.   Ecuadorians are very self conscious about their dress and their shoes.  

On arrival in Cuenca, we were met by our lawyer's driver and immediately taken to her office.  Lina, our lawyer is a nice lady.  She also owns a Real Estate Company.  I handed her the original documents and she looked them over.  "I would like you here on Wednesday August 21.  We will apply for your permanent residents Visa's at that time.  You will have to get up early and be in the lineup around 6:30am.  The offices open at 8:30 am.  I will meet you and join you in the line at 8:15 am" she said.  "Your documents look in good order, Now enjoy the rest of the day and relax.  My driver will take you to your hotel" (The Santa Monica).  

Once our application is in she said to expect the Visa approval in 3-4 weeks.  Once the Visa is in your passport, you have just 30 days to apply for our Cedulas (ID cards that by law every Ecuadorian or resident of Ecuador must carry at all times)  That process takes 2-8 days, and it must be done in person, so....now our one month trip to Ecuador has become a possibly two month trip by the time everything is settled......if everything goes smoothly.

That afternoon, we toured around through the Park of the flowers (Park Des flores) and to some street vendors where Donna purchased a couple of Panama Hats for $10.  Don't know if you are aware, but The Panama hat is made in Ecuador.  The same hats (sombreros) were on sale in San Diego for $200.  I saw them there three days before.  

Then we hit the Coffee Tree, a favourite haunt of Ex Pat Gringo's.  We sat outside on the patio and people watched for a couple of hours as we sipped our cold beer and wine.  We listened to the chatter, much of it in English then, we headed back to the hotel.  On the way home, we dropped into a Jazz club and had supper for $6 each.  We spent an hour there listening to the a base guitarist and a 70 year old pianist playing Jazz.  They were very talented.  Then, we left for the hotel.  We were tired and it was the end of our first 24 hours in Ecuador.  I did not dare broach the question what do think then honey?  I didn't want to know.

At 6:30 am sharp, Patricio (a man) the taxi driver turned up at the hotel and we loaded up the taxi with our suitcases and headed for the airport once again, this time, to fly to Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city.  The flight was quick, just 40 minutes on a small prop airliner.  I am not sure if Donna was trying to lift my spirits but as we were all stood in the aisle ready to deplane, she turned to me and said "do you realize, you are the tallest guy on this aircraft?"......I looked around and yes, at 5' 10" It was true.  YES, I thought silently.  I've made it.  I was stood in the centre aisle of the aircraft looking down on these small Ecuadorian men.  I mused for a moment - maybe I could get in the offensive line of the stampeders, and then again hmm.  Maybe not.  It was a fleeting moment of joy though.

Guayaquil is a port city of about 3.5 Million people, not somewhere we would want to be.  We had decided that rather than catch the bus for the two and a half hour ride to Salinas, upon arrival, we would rather be met by a Taxi. The American girl who sells real estate in Salinas and who is managing the property we would rent sent her driver.  The two and a half hour trip by taxi cost us $50.  The bus would have cost us $8.50 each.

We pulled into Salinas, picked up the keys from the real estate office and headed to the apartment.  Below are some pictures and views from the apartment, a 2100 sq.ft unit which has probably never been cleaned in the past year.  It does have glass walls that slide back so the living room is wide open to the Pacific.  These pictures are all taken from our living room in Salinas.  As you can see, dusk is setting in here.

Night comes very quickly here.  One minute it's light, then it's dark.  24/7/365

This next shot is taken from our living room

What more could we want than this?

Tuesday (tomorrow) is a big day.  We are up early and have to catch a bus for the return trip to Guayaquil, then a flight back up into the Andes to Cuenca.  It's also my 65th birthday.  We will join the line of people waiting to get their papers approved at the government offices on Wednesday then we will fly back to Guayaquil and catch a bus back to our apartment in Salinas.  We anticipate having to stay here for a further 4 - 6 weeks and hopefully then, we will have our permanent residents visas, and the real adventure will start to unfurl.

Yesterday we took a walk along the Malecon It was about a two to three kilometre walk,.  We turned around for the journey back and decided to swap over to the other side of the street for the journey back.  We walked about a 1/4 mile and saw an open bar with what appeared to be many people like ourselves busy in conversation.  

The girl outside the bar asked if we wanted to come in for a drink.  Why not we said, and we found ourselves immediately in the midst of many Ex Pats all interacting with each other.    We had a great time.  We met lots of people eager to help us out, fun staff who had smiles that seemed larger than their faces could hold and they all had time.  No rush.  The first word you must learn is Mañana.  Most people who know Spanish think that Mañana means tomorrow.  Actually we have already learned that mañana in real terms means not today....sometime in the future.

Donde Esta El Banos por favour? I asked the waitress.  She pointed in the direction of a small circular wall with no signs on.  As I headed toward the wall looking for the gents washroom, I heard the grey haired Ecuadorian behind my back say in Spanish....."that guy speaks Spanish.  I know him from somewhere".  NOT I thought.  upon my return towards Donna sitting chatting at the bar with an older version of Dave Murray, a very good friend of ours from Calgary, the grey haired man stood up as I passed by........he held out his hand and said.  I'm Eddie, this is my wife.  Please join us.  Not wishing to be rude, I sat down and found out that his wife is one of the local dentists.  He does odd jobs to keep himself occupied and he like many Ecuadorians creates his own opportunities.  OK, more beer.  More talk..... Believe it or not, he and his wife had recognized my face from one of the Ecuador Groups I had joined on Facebook....amazing.

Eduardo and his wife Paola Berreto (dentista) with Donna.  Lovely people, salt of the earth, 

All of a sudden, one of the waiters comes over, I believe he is from Argentina.  We speak...trying to learn our language are you? Se was my reply.  I speak German fairly fluently, so this is not a big deal, at that point he slipped seamlessly into German as if to test my truthfulness.  Bad move.  I had lived and served in Germany for a long time.  He asked me a question in German to which I replied in German.  Paola, not to be left our, immediately came back with a German statement.  So there we were, this waiter, an Argentinian I believe, the dentist, an Ecuadorian and me, an Ex pat Brit now a Canadian all speaking in German in Ecuador. Very strange but we had a lot of fun.  

Well, today was relaxation day.  One of the ladies in our building Cathy, took us on the bus to the Mall in La Libertad.  Donna got to try out the ATM and bingo, money came out.  Great.  Now we know we will not be destitute as it worked perfectly.  

We walked around the local shopping mall and quickly came to the conclusion there is no such thing as XXL here or if there is, it's a well kept secret.  Oh well, I have two options, trim down and fit into XL tee shirts or, buy them in the US.  That also applies to shoes.  Here, they are very expensive.

I have probably bored you too much by now, so it's time to sign off.  What to do, what to do.  Nothing until tonight when we are meeting up with a bunch of Ex Pats at a restaurant and bar for Ribs.  More next time.  Keep safe and for those of you who were worrying about our safety, Don't.  Guns are banned in Ecuador and it's as safe to walk down the street here as is is in any district in Calgary.

Buenas Suerte.

Waiting Time in Mesquite, Palm Desert, San Diego then Onto Ecuador.

Salinas

The drive from Calgary was smooth as we headed for the US border crossing at Coutts Crossing, just south of Lethbridge.  We had picked up a Uhaul trailer for our trip south, packed it with stuff we could not give up or thought we might need, hooked it up and left Okotoks, Alberta around 9:00am July 13th.  

We expected questions when we arrived at the border but they never materialised which was a relief as I did not want to unload the whole trailer again.  We handed over our Nexus Cards and Passports to the US Customs official, he asked a couple of questions, asked us to lower the rear windows, peaked inside the truck then bid us goodbye and sent us on our merry way.  

We reached Dillon MO. ten hours later, and were glad Donna had the forethought to use her Ipad to book a king bed in the Best Western while we were on the road, as we snapped up the last one available that night.    

The next morning, we hit the road early. The drive through Salt Lake City was also clear.

The Mormon Tabernacle Left of Centre with the Dome.

I wondered why Calgary would not do an HOV lane system on the Deerfoot like the one we were now on. It would certainly ease traffic issues and one nice thing about the way they have traffic organised is - large trucks or vehicles pulling any trailers are not permitted in either of the two left hand lanes at any time making the flow of traffic much more fluid.  

HOV Lanes on Interstate 15 through Salt Lake City - Minimum two people per Vehicle to travel in this Lane

We eventually pulled into Mesquite at 5pm local time on Sunday July 14. It was 111F. We stopped quickly at Smith's Groceries, grabbed some items to tide us over until the next morning and headed for home. 

It was delightful walking into our home once again.  We had not been there for the past seven months.  It was nice and cool, clean and hardly a spec of dust as the homes are built airtight, to conserve energy.  Our neighbours had been kind enough to go over and switch on the central air conditioning for us before we arrived.

The front of our home in Mesquite.

After unpacking the trailer the following morning, we dropped it off at the local Uhaul dealer as soon as we could.  The manager's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he looked at the tires on the wheels of the trailer we had rented from Uhaul.  There was absolutely no tread on the tires.  I had not noticed this when we picked it up.  The manager asked how far we had driven the trailer.  We told him we had just driven 1495 miles from Canada.  He shot a glance at me as if to say you did what?  He shook his head and told me he would have never let this trailer out in that condition, he went on to say the trailer was in an outright dangerous condition, that the brake lights and indicator lights did not work and that the Calgary dealer should never have let this trailer out in this state.  He could not believe that anyone would be so reckless.    

I would not have minded but for the fact that when we picked  up the trailer in Calgary, I specifically asked the girl handling the handover "have you checked both tires, wheels and tire pressures?"  ......Oh yes! she said, then she quickly asked me to jump into the cab of the truck so she could check out the lights, flashers etc. which she said were all working fine.  Another lesson learned - check it all yourself.  This is the second time we have been let down by this company, so Uhaul is now toast in our books. 

The temperatures in Mesquite are holding steady around 108F to 113F.  It is expected to stay that way for the next month or so or get hotter which makes sense, after all we are in the Mojave Desert.  

We did lose some plants in the heat one month ago when temperatures reached around 119F, so our next job is to buy more plants and get them planted in Sept. once the weather cools to the mid 80's.

Donna relaxing in the front courtyard or our home

If you would like to take a tour of our Sun City subdivision, click on this link. http://goo.gl/b6ykDC It's a great place to relax, and if you are a golfer, it's heaven on earth - a small town with seven or eight golf courses.

Unfortunately on the way down, maybe because of the heat, our windshield cracked, but after enquiring with Ford of Canada, It was evident we were still under the first years warranty on our truck and we were below the 20,000 km limit so the local dealership replaced the windshield free of charge.  They actually sent their glass guy to our garage and he replaced the windshield right there.    

On our drive to San Diego, CA, to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary August 7th, we will leave Aug 4 and we will spend two nights in Palm Desert.  We have to bypass two massive fires burning near Palm Springs and Palm Desert, so we hope we don't run into traffic issues or smoke problems en-route so we must ensure we have a full tank of gas so we can keep the air conditioners running in case we are caught on the road in a line-up, because in this heat, you would not last long in a vehicle without air.
  

This picture was taken a few days ago and the fire has not yet abated but I don't think that the township or City is in imminent danger.

We will be in San Diego Aug 6 and 7 somewhere nice then on Aug 8, we will drive the seven or eight hour journey back to Mesquite to prepare for the trip to Ecuador.  

We will book into a hotel Aug 12 in lost wages (Las Vegas) as we fly from Las Vegas to Panama City, Panama then, after an hour or so stopover it's on to Quito, Ecuador's Capital City 9500 ft up in the Andes.  

The person dealing with our Visa applications is sending his nephew to meet us at the new airport just outside Quito.  

Quito is a city of around 1.2 Million people. The climate ranges from the high 50's to the mid 70's.  It is spring like weather year round.  We will stay there for just two days, then we will fly to Guayaquil, a port city and the largest city in Ecuador.  On arrival, we will seek out the bus for the trip with all the locals and head for Salinas on the coast or "Costa".  

A picture of Quito with the Volcano in the background.

We understand that Salinas is semi arid, is more humid than the Andes and the temperatures range from the Mid 80's to the mid to high 90's 24/7.  It is nowhere near as hot in Ecuador as it is in Mesquite though.  Even if it is just one degree south of the Equator.  That's because you have the coastal winds blowing onshore most of the time which help a lot to moderate the temperature.  

The map below, albeit of not too good a quality shows the location of Salinas which is the most westerly part of the land in the SW corner of the map

  This is a shot of the Malecon and the Condos in Salinas where we may well end up buying, if we like what we see but, we will rent for a while to make sure 
before we take the plunge

We have booked a brand new 2100 sq.ft. apartment on the Malecon in Salinas for two weeks so we can explore some of the City and, look at a few properties and from Salinas, our discovery trip will take us north up the coast to Manta, known as the Tuna fishing capital of the world.  There, you can get a boat and fish for these magnificent Tuna fish as well as blue and black Marlin pictured below.  

The currents are just right for these types of fish, but one wonders how long it can last before (like other places in the world), it becomes over-fished.  

Well, it's time to end this blog.  We look forward to bringing you our next blog from the inside of Ecuador sometime between Aug 16 and Aug 28.

We should have lots of pictures and descriptions for you at that time.  We'll be in touch.  

Have a great summer everyone!

Donna and Ken

  




   

Out Of The House & Homeless In Calgary

Well, the day finally arrived.  We moved the last of our stuff out of the house and the new owners took possession of our home last week.  We have had eight years of wonderful memories at the house and I was choked, as I glanced quickly into the mailbox for the last time, trying to hide the heavy heart I bore, as one of the two new owners bid me goodbye.

It was not all sad, as prior to leaving on the day before possession, we gave our very precious and comfortable king sized bed and double box spring mattress to a young single mom who could not afford a proper bed to sleep in. Her mom found our ad on Kijiji, and emailed us desperate to find something for her daughter to sleep on.  Good for you mom! we thought.  We told her we would keep the mattress until the very last day, and gave her a promise that her daughter could have the bed provided she arranged for the pickup. It was delightful so see the daughter's face as she entered our master bedroom when she saw what she was about to get for free from someone she had never met before.

Helping her with the bed, was her uncle, a short stocky man with searching eyes.  He came to help her load the bed up into a huge F350 that he had borrowed from his brother-in-law.  

As we were carrying the mattress downstairs, her uncle told me he had been a miner in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia for 30 years previously and that he and his wife had come west to seek out a new life in Alberta. He had the look of someone who had worked physically hard his whole life. He was a positive,friendly character short, and very stocky - not unlike the Character Gloin the dwarf (although not quite as hairy), the one in the movie The Lord of the Rings, the fellow with the Axe who helped Frodo find his way through the mountain.   

Sadly, he told me how shortly after his arrival out west, he lost his wife to Cancer.  My heart was heavy for him, and at the same time, it was saying to me...yes, we are right to make this move now, because if you wait too long, you may never do it.  

Uncle was here to help his niece.  Good for you Mr. Stranger!  It's people like you who always seem to put others needs ahead of their own, who keep this world together. It's wonderful to meet such colourful people, and for us, I am sure he won't be the last of many characters we will meet on our long road ahead on our way to secure a place in the sun.    

Last week we terminated Donna's Real Estate Brokers License, and in the next few days, after the final audit of our Brokerage Trust Accounts, it will be my turn to have my license terminated by the Real Estate Council of Alberta. Inevitably, we will renew them again in a couple of years so we do not lose the qualifications we have. It was too hard to obtain to let go.  We will need time to ensure this is what we want.

Once we left home, we took up residence in a very comfortable hotel, but after two days coming from 2600 sq.ft, to down to about 200 sq.ft., we felt a little cramped, so we moved to a newer hotel with larger rooms, not quite as comfortable, but a lot more spacious.  We ended up staying there for two nights then, we were offered a chance to stay at Donna's sister and brother-in-law's home.  It was nice of them to offer. 

We have moved again, this time to son Jason's home, where we will be until this coming Friday July 5th, when we will head out to Vancouver to hopefully meet up with the Consul General of Ecuador, so we can confirm we have all the papers expected of us when we arrive in Ecuador.  

As most of us know, the past two weeks was overshadowed by the terrible floods that took place in Calgary and many other places in Alberta, when around 100,000 people were evacuated to safety and made homeless by the floods that ravaged our towns and cities, the likes of which we have never seen before.  

Devastated by the terrible rain storms that left Calgary looking something like when Hurricane Katrina had left New Orleans,  many of these unfortunate folk seem to be living in a perpetual nightmare.  They have lost everything, furniture, personal items, pets etc.  Our hearts go out to them all in their hours of need, knowing that for some it will be either months or never, that they will re-enter their homes again.  

When I think of this, it brings to mind JFK's famous reflection on his inaugural address when he uttered the words, 'Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country', and in that spirit we have seen the outpouring of help from people all over BC and Alberta, who came to help. People who are stepping up to the plate to offer assistance to others they don't even know. Our hats go off to them all.  And let's not forget something else; Nature has yet again, demonstrated that it cannot and will not be controlled.

So to those of you who have said "wow big decision" to us in your emails when you discovered we were on the move to Ecuador, we say this.... Ours is but a simple task to relocate to South America.  Yes, it is difficult to sell all you have or let it go for a fraction of the cost, but the people left behind who have been affected by all this flooding are the people who need your thoughts, prayers and assistance.  They are the people who have to cope with ongoing hardship.  

As our careers in real estate draw to a close after 26 and almost 24 years respectively, we give thanks to the friends we have made from all walks of life and to those we have met on our travels and in the course of our businesses. We will treasure all the fond memories in the years to come.  We will be gone, but you will never be forgotten.  From the bottom of our hearts, we both say Thank You very very much for your trust and confidences.  

Some of you have promised to visit us in Ecuador once we have settled in.  It may be in Salinas or Manta or somewhere in between in the "Costa" Region overlooking the pacific or, it may be in Cuenca, 8500 ft up in the Andes, nevertheless, you will be welcomed with open arms.

I read the other day, there are over 1600 species of birds in Ecuador, and a small country like that produces over 10% of the worlds fresh fruit, and vegetables, and has many different species of flora and fauna.

Wherever it is we decide to put down roots, we can be reached by telephone, as we have just purchased a Magicjack Plus at Best Buy for $59.  It's a neat item that plugs into our Macbook, then you just hook up a telephone, choose a number and for $99 for five years, you can call anywhere in North America.  

The Chimorazo Volcano in Ecuador, The Furthest Point on Earth away from the Centre of the Earth.

We chose an Alberta, number with the new Alberta, area code (587), so if you wish to call us from now on, just dial our new number (587) 315-7413 and even though we are in Ecuador or in the USA, it will be just the same as you calling someone in Alberta (no long distance charges).

  

We will make a point of keeping in touch with you when we are there and also, we will hope to touch base with you when we come back on one of our visits to Canada, visits we will cherish when we have more time to spend with our kids and our grandchildren, in fact more time to spend with them than we would have had we stayed in Canada, because we would still have work commitments here.  

So onto the next stage or our trip.  Once we have had our Canadian documents approved, we will visit family in Parksville on Vancouver Island hopefully next week, spend some time with them, say our goodbyes then return to Calgary to pack up Items we want to take south to Mesquite from the storage locker and then we will head to our home in Nevada for a couple of months.  

Doing nothing in Mesquite will surely acclimatize us for the weather to come - Yesterday it was 54.4 degrees C in Death Valley in Nevada and not much cooler in Las Vegas and in Mesquite - that's even hotter than at the Equator where we will be living, but without the ocean breezes. 

We are going there first to wind down a bit and get used to retirement and living on a fixed income.

 
A picture of our Back Yard in Mesquite, Nevada

We will enjoy our yard, the two swimming pools at the rec. centre and of course, the weather, as long as it cools down somewhat.  If it doesn't we have air conditioning, good friends, cheap beer and a poker table to keep us all occupied.........oh and treadmills, weight machines, lots of local early morning walks before the heat of the day closes in.  All good to help us get back into shape.....no excuses now, after all, we are now officially retired.  

After a couple of months  in Mesquite, it will be a quick trip back to Canada to sell our last vehicle, then off to South America before the snow flies.

While we are in Mesquite, we will plan the next part of our journey; where to live initially to get some cover over our heads, the best place to learn Spanish is to live and mingle with the locals in full immersion so we will do that, but we have to find out where to shop, where to look for real estate, the geography of the land and all the other important stuff we need to take in to make some good decisions as to where to put down our roots which may take a year of travelling around and renting for a while.

Later on, we will plan trips to the other countries we have never visited, including Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Honduras, Belize, Uruguay, Paraguay, Panama, Bolivia and others too, if our health permits.  let's face it, we only live once.

As I approach my 65th birthday, it is important that we remember, that in Ecuador, I buy absolutely everything and every month at the end of the month, will be able to submit all my receipts to the government and I get the taxes rebated as a senior, so Donna will not buy anything as you have to show your Cedula (ID Card) if you are wanting the refund which is only available to people in Ecuador who are 65 years of age or older. 

One last thing.  If we get bored with retirement, we may even sell real estate down there as there is no licensing restrictions like there is up here.  Who knows what the future will bring?  

Have a great summer everyone. God bless you all and keep safe.  

Some Thoughts On The Trip Ahead

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.  

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Paring Down to Two Suit Cases Each

So here we are.  The last of the furniture goes out the door next week and possession on our home is June 20th.  It's Box spring and mattress on the floor time.

You know, It is really strange staring at bare walls and watching the digital clock doing it's thing on the oven.......time is ticking by.  It was only this morning Donna said to me "I am getting excited now".  Me too! I replied.

Now is the hardest part.  Getting rid of clothes Hmm!  What to keep and what to give away.  It's a big deal.  I have five suits, hardly ever worn.......I won't use them again, so they may as well go to someone who is looking for employment, my size, and hasn't the money to equip themselves out in new clothes.  In any event, I can't see me hob-nobbing around the Amazon Jungle in a suit and tie, dress shoes, Tuxedo (dinner jacket for the British audience).  It's hard but necessary, and trimming your belongings down to two suitcases each is NOT as easy as it sounds, especially when you are approaching 65 years of age and have collected so many treasures, but is has to be done.

This week was spent at our storage space we have rented putting up shelves to handle the seven years of corporate files we are required to save for the two companies we owned in case Canada Revenue Agency decides to audit us later on.  

The space is filling up, but there will be room for what we absolutely cannot take with us this time around.  Family pictures, awards, certificates, medals etc. and stuff we just cannot part with without a great deal of thought behind it or that we just cannot sell but also cannot give away this time around.  

We will be coming back during the summer months to be with family and the grandchildren, so we will attempt to sell off the remaining articles then, but until that happens it's storage time for what we can get into an 8X12 storage locker.

One of the restrictions that the government of Ecuador places on permanent residents of the country is that for the first two years, we can only leave for a total of 90 days in each year. After that, we can be gone for up to 18 months without losing our permanent resident status.

I haven't got my documents back from the UK yet, confirming that I am the real person on the birth certificate and that my Military Pension is what is written on the papers.  Those items need to be Notarized, Legalized at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London and the need for those  documents to be Appostiled.....(more about that later), so we can get our other papers that originated in Canada in order - Marriage Certificate, two passport photos each or us, CPP, OAS documents verifying our pensions etc, our Criminal Background Checks done and copies of our Passports all need to be notarized and legalized here in Canada so we can drive out to Vancouver to meet with the Consul General of Ecuador (who has been incredibly helpful).  He's the guy that will give us the official go-ahead to proceed. 

If anyone is interested in finding out about living in Ecuador, we can point you to the right places so you can find out all about it.  Just let us know.  We are learning every day.  If you go as a pensioner for example, you must show and prove to the Consul General of Ecuador, you have the necessary funds to live on, which happens to be a minimum of $800 US per month plus a further $100 per month for each accompanying dependent. Oh, and by the way, you don't have to be 65 to go on a pensioners Visa.

It doesn't matter if you have over a million dollars in the bank - that won't cut it.  As the Consul General said to me the other day, you could go to a casino and blow that in a day and where would that leave the Ecuador Government.  No, it's guaranteed funds they are looking for.  Pensions, annuities, CPP, OAS, Private Pensions, Government Pensions are all OK, but they have to be notarized and legalized before any go ahead is given.  

Because Canada never joined in on the Haigh Convention back in 1948, where many countries agreed to adopt the apostille stamp as a recognition that the documents being used have been properly checked over.  Many countries signed on to the Apostille route, that an appostile in one country would be accepted in any other country who were a part of the agreement at the Haigh Convention.  Canada refused to be a part of it and so we Canadians have to jump through different hoops.  More about that once we have been through the process and are resident in Ecuador.

We are looking forward to the Spanish Immersion part of the exercise where for the first three months, we are going to attend full Spanish Immersion classes maybe twice or three times per week in order to get going in quick time.........More in a few weeks.

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