Researching Living in Ecuador Online? Here are some NON BIASED tips.

Packing up your bags and moving to another country, for whatever reason, can be a daunting task.  Many people spend numerous hours of their days towards making this decision, but is the research even accurate?

What is the crime rate of Ecuador?
Are their any Jobs in Ecuador?
What is the best place to live in Ecuador?
Can I drive there?
Do I need to learn Spanish?

Thousands of questions pump through your cerebrum, ricocheting throughout the depths of your mind as your fear and anxiety start to overwhelm you into possibly backing out, or making a decision without doing your due diligence. 

I am going to give you a few non biased tips on doing your online research so you can come to your own decision on whether Ecuador (or any other country if you happen to be researching elsewhere) is right for you.

Tips to researching Ecuador as your living or retirement destination:

1.  You can not just simply Google ¨Living in Ecuador¨ or ¨Retiring in Ecuador¨ and clicking the first page you see.

Companies pay heavily for you to click on their site after searching those keywords.  Although these companies are doing exactly what they are supposed to do (promote the country they are selling in a positive manner), you must realize they will most likely paint Ecuador to look like a masterpiece from the distance of behind your desktop, only for your to arrive, take a Real Estate Tour that you already paid for, and realize in your eyes it is more of a monet.  Please note I am not saying to avoid reading the information these companies put out.  I am merely suggestion to broaden your search more.

Instead of relying solely on organizations marketing Ecuador to help furnish your final opinion, try to find some blogs, facebook forums, and places such as the ExpatExchange.com or Expat-blog.com to connect with expats in Ecuador directly to get their personal feedback.  Be aware some of them may offer you more than just free advice, but also understand there are plenty of Expats here who have offerings that will genuinely help you.

2. When using Google to search for keywords related to Ecuador, format your search for the most recent results, or results written in the past year.  That way you do not get OUT OF DATE information which may hinder your research efforts.  Here is a screen shot I made showing you how to fine tune your Google search in Firefox.

3.  This one should be obvious, but I have to state it anyways because I have seen it happen many times.  TUNE OUT THE TROLLS.

Anyone who constantly posts negative content in the forums about Ecuador yet happens to live here for years, or anyone who thinks they know everything about Ecuador, but have never put their boots on Ecuadorian soil, are not good sources for research.  Someone who can not put together a cohesive sentence on the internet is also probably not a good source of information, and more likely someone who has forgotten to take their meds. 

Instead, if you are chatting in social networking communities find reputable people who are vouched for and give facts, or at least solid and well educated opinions about their life here.  If you want to know who some of these people are feel free to send me a request in my contact form which goes straight to my email.

4.   Include a 3 to 4 week trip (or as long as you possibly can) into your research efforts.

Book the flight and put your boots on the ground, using all the contacts you have established that you have confidence in to help you along your way.  Really get a feel for the country and how your life would be.  Go to the malls, grocery stores, mercados, a church, or whatever places you would normally need to go.  Don´t dedicate your whole trip here to touristic adventures because your real life here will not be all about chasing butterflies in Mindo or walking La Ronda in Centro Historico Quito.  You most likely will not be going on jungle Safari´s either so make sure you take time to research regular life activities. 

You will need to shop, eat, pay bills, and do regular routine tasks you had to do in your former life.  These routine tasks may be performed substantially different than what you are accustomed to in your home country so you must be aware of these changes, and determine whether you can adapt or not.


If I think of any more tips I will update this post, but I hope this gets you started on researching whether Ecuador is right for you.

Mike
www.themiddleoftheworld.com
  

Why NOT retire IN Quito Ecuador??

Ok so maybe living in the center of a city full of 2.5 million people doesn´t appeal to the average retiree or semiretirees looking at Ecuador as an option but WHY NOT?

Skyline of Beautiful Quito Ecuador.

As I stand here on the outside I see so many people passing through Quito within 3 days HELLBOUND for Cuenca or Cotocachi, and I am thinking... Why??

1.  Quito has the best hospital in the country in Hospital Metropolitano.  You are going to eventually get sick right?  Or maybe you would like to jump on the opportunity to save some money on that ¨Lifestyle Lift¨you wanted?

2.  Quito also has all of the amenities of any major world city which, believe it or not, you have become accustomed to having in your native developed country.  Right?

3.  Looking for culture?  Quito has the largest and most well preserved historical center in all of the Americans.  It is literally half the size of all of Cuenca population wise.  Quito also has many exciting day trip destinations for the active retiree within a few hours drive on well paved roads.  You can´t always hide in your new home, fenced in with electric wire can you? 

Ok, so maybe those three points alone will not persuade you to change your mind from buying or renting your quiet piece of the Ecuadorian pie smack dab in the middle of the city, but maybe you should be looking for your piece of the pie somewhere near Quito?  Oh my how sweet the pie is here in the Pinchincha Province.

To the EAST* (Thanks for the correction Journeyman Jack!):  Cumbaya, Tumbaco, Yariqui, Puembo, Quinche, and many other smaller suburbs and towns surround Quito and offer a quieter lifestyle within an hour of the city.  They also offer temperatures in the mid 70s to the mid 80s, Everyday.   

There is also Pomasqui and San Antonio to the north of the city, also featuring warm and dry weather, along with Valle de Los Chillos to the South.

in fact, Sprinkled in and within an hour to an hour and a half of Quito are many small towns that are all charming in their own way, and close enough to the city where it won´t be a hassle just to live daily life.  Not all of them are called Cotocachi either which is realistically more than 2 and half hours away from Quito.

So again I ask, Why not Quito?  It is the perfect base camp to find your dream retirement destination, and I can not put my finger on why their are not entire retirement enclaves scattered throughout the cities suburbs and city limits.  Maybe all the major publications (no names mentioned) have bypassed giving Quito its true praise due?  Even my Ecuadorian father in law of 81 years calls Cuenca a ¨Baby Quito¨.   

Well, Quito and all its secret gems are doing just fine without all the marketing dollars being pumped into it from the retirement publications.  How?  Well, because it is already a self sustaining city without the retirement community investing in it.  Whether or not you settle here, Quito will continue to grow with its rising working middle class and many American establishments that make you feel at home when you are away.  Its developing Yachay Technology Center will most definitely attract more international jobs, (including consulting) and wealth.  No one is slicing Quito´s suburbs up into ¨dream retirement homes¨(yet).  No one really needs too, their are already plenty of middle and upper class Ecuadorians laying their nest eggs there.

I am not knocking Cuenca, Salinas, or any of the smaller retirement destinations that Ecuador has to offer, but they are all knocking Quito all the time.  Its too dangerous, too dirty, too congested, too this and too that.  Not entirely true.  There are sections of the city and its suburbs that are safe, clean, and quiet also.  Ever heard of Tenis? Gonzales Suarez?  Amaguana? Guayllabamba? Probably not.  All you can google up of Quito without due diligence is Mariscal and the Centro Historico (which is which nice in areas also).

So what I am saying to all the retirees who are considering Ecuador is give Quito a shot.  Take it from someone who is 32 years old, not a Real Estate agent or investor, and has NO SKIN in the game whether or not you even retire here.  Check out QUITO before you make your decision.

Mike
www.themiddleoftheworld.com

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Ecuador - Whale Watching and other things Tonsupa - Esmeraldas Province.

So my family and I decided to take a last minute trip to Tonsupa for the weekend to get out of Quito.  It was just me, wifey, the little one, and my suegra.

The road trip took about 6 hours and featured a stop for delicious Almurzos in Puerto Quito at a small road side restaurant with a river running right by it.  My son and I went down to the River and spotted a few things photo worthy.

I bet this spot would make great for fly fishing

So many rocks

I am not sure what kind of bird this is but its super cool

Can you see the Trucha?  (Trout)

The river was a great unexpected diversion from the road trip and one day I hope to go back to explore Puerto Quito further.  Anyhow, this place served the yummiest breakfast.  I had a simple Continental Breakfast and it gave me the boost I needed to keep driving.

We arrived in Tonsupa around 12:00 and it was jam packed with locals from Quito and tourists from wherever.  We made the mistake of not securing reservations and had quite a hard time finding a hotel for 4.  We ended up in Hotel Tulipanes which is more of a hostel than anything.

Los Tulipanes Cabanas - That pool looks inviting. 

I was so happy to see this sign after 10 other hotels were already full.

Nice little waterfall rock thingy

Great place to kick back. 

  Our room was not so much photo worthy because it was simply two sets of bunk beds for the 4 of us.  Needless to say we weren't planning on hanging out in the room at all anyways.  Cost was $120 for all 4 of us.  We were about 4 blocks from the beach.  The owner was a great guy.

We hit the pool immediately and withing 30 minutes some drunk ass Ecuadorian college kids came plowing through the hotel towards their room.  They must have gotten an early start and one of them was flat out belligerent.  He could barely walk so I had a good laugh.  apparently he didn't like that too much.

When I got out the water and towards our room, the guy stumbled up to me and started saying something.  I never took a course in drunken Spanish so I didn't understand him but it had tough guy words in it.  Me, being with my family, I simply turned around, and my wife told his friends to collect his drunk ass before he got hurt.

The guy tried to grab me but he was so limp from drunkenness he had the grip of a jelly fish.   He must have weighed in at an even 120 pounds, I am pretty sure my son could have pummelled him, so instead of laying him out like a lawn chair, I just said "NO ME TOCAS!", and stepped back.  They he said something that sounded like "what did you say?" in Spanish, and I said "You heard me!".  Then his friends finally dragged him off.  That guy is lucky to have such good friends, I will leave it at that.

Anyhow, back to enjoying our time.  After the pool it was time to hit the beach!  I didn't take pics personally because I didn't want to risk getting my phone wet or sandy but here is a good shot of Playa Tonsupa I found on the net.  If you took this pic please let me know so I can give you credit.   

Playa Tonsupa Skyline

  I did however get quite a nice snapshot of the smooth road we walked in order to get to this beautiful beach.

This was one of the few roads in the beach area that wasn't just dirt rocks or sand.  Tonsupa is definitely in its earlier stages of development in comparison to places I have visited in the Sierra.

One of the highlights of this weekend getaway was having the opportunity to ride alongside of humpback whales!  I will let the photos do the talking here.

Seeing the Mommy and Baby whales frolic in the water made the whole trip worth it, and I highly recommend whale watching in Tonsupa.  If you'd ever like to take a journey like this don't forget to contact me on my company's official website www.themiddleoftheworld.com  and I will be happy to have it arranged.

I wish I could have highlighted a bit more of the NIGHTLIFE in Tonsupa but Mother in Law wouldn't babysit the little one for the night.  I guess it all works out however because I found out the week after the trip that my wifey is now Pregnant with number two!!  Life is grand and I am excited to have another one in my life.