From Ecuador to California

On Vacation… From Ecuador to California

Can I get away with this as my April post?

Just post “On Vacation” and send it out.

See you next month.

Of course not, but I do have a few challenges here. The only internet connection I have at the cabin in California is my cell phone. And I have limited data.

So, lets have a guest writer this time. My friends Mike and Lotis traveled to Cali, Colombia, and have some pretty good things to say about that trip.

And I have some pictures of the first week of my travels in California, some pictures of an old home we are rebuilding here in Forest Falls, and some other easy to post items. All these items are fun but only a few are about Ecuador.

But what do you expect…I’m on vacation.

Lets start this with a couple of letters I received from Ecuador George readers. The questions people ask are always very interesting.

 

We Get Letters

Dear George,

We know friends that live in Ecuador and they have told us that every apartment they have rented has been right next door to a meth lab. These apartments were in nice neighborhoods! Is this a problem? Can you avoid these areas?  Is there anti gringo sentiment within the current political regime? How much is health insurance? Is there contamination in the air in Cuenca and are there chem-trails in the skies? Is there a 100 percent duty to export items like leather products. How is the plumbing situation? Can an expat start a small business in Ecuador?

Please respond soon. These issues are important to anyone wanting to retire in Ecuador.

Best regards,

R@#y

 

Here is what I know…

• I have never seen or heard of a meth lab anywhere in Cuenca. I am sure that there are people here that make drugs, but not in the amount that your question suggests.
• I have experienced the odor of marihuana just walking down the street here in Cuenca and it was all over the place in Montanita. I have also noticed that special brownies are always available at parties I attend. I think most expats in Ecuador have glaucoma.
• As far as I know the current political regime has a welcome mat out for expats and gringos are courted to retire here.
• The majority of people I know pay $70 a month for health insurance, and if you have a spouse, they are insured also for an additional $15 a month. Many expats don’t carry insurance because handling normal medical issues are so inexpensive here. I know a man who had prostate cancer and the entire issue was handled for just over $5,000.
• The only real polluted areas in Cuenca are in certain areas in El Cento, mostly caused by the diesel buses. By next year the Tranvia will be operating in El Centro and that pollution should be reduced. We live about a mile outside the center of town and the pollution is minimal.
• I have seen what looks like condensation trails in the sky. Not to many, and I would have no idea if they have chemicals in them. I am sure they are not seeding the clouds…we already get enough rain to float a boat here in Cuenca.
• The import duty is very high, but the export duty that you are asking about is very little or maybe nothing. Ecuador loves exporting anything that is produced here. They do regulate what is coming into the country and many have the opinion that the regulation is too stringent.
• Toilets flushing is the test of any working plumbing system. I have been all over the city and flushed many toilets. They all worked fine. No unusual sewer smells either. I have smelled much worse in New York City.
• With a good idea, money can be made here in Ecuador. If you create work for the locals, you become a local hero. It is not a good idea to start a business that takes away jobs from the already economically challenged local work force. I personally don’t know anyone getting rich by starting a small business here, but I do know a few people that are surviving.

Hope this information helps you.

George

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Dear Ecuador George,

What do you do all day now that you are retired? Do you ever get bored?

Jane W.

 

Dear Jane W.

I do get bored once in a while, but that is because I get lazy and don’t plan my day very well. But most of the time there is more than enough to do.

I walk everywhere so it takes at least half a day to complete a task. Just food shopping will take 3 or 4 hours.

I go to a couple of meetings a week. I write the blog, a few short stories, and a column in our local paper. I am also working on a couple of books.

I spend a little time each day learning and practicing Spanish. I love criminal and detective television. I go to the gym now. I am in Spanish Language School off and on.  And I love to travel.

Check out the pictures below of some current travel and tours that I have been on.

Beautiful day tour of Giron Ecuador

Not shown in the picture above are the beautiful waterfalls in Giron. This little town is just outside of Cuenca and always a very relaxing destination. This tour lasted all day and also included a visit to a Tequila factory.

The Bamboo Hotel in Canoa

The picture above is from our week long coastal trip of Ecuador. We went from Salinas in the South all the way up to Canoa. This was a pretty good trip. We rented a car from Cuenca Car Share and drove ourselves.

 

 

Tequila Factory Tour

If you are around Cuenca long enough and get out of the house, you will make new friends. These three characters I already knew and I met even more nice expats on the tour we were all going on.

 

 

A Trip To The Galapagos Islands

This was taken a few months ago in the Galapagos Islands. When you live here you will find very economical ways to tour areas that are usually very expensive. This 5 day tour included airfare and food was only $799. That is a pretty good price.

 

 

Wine Tasting Party at Casa Ordonez

Expats like their wine. Here is a great way to pass your time. This was a wonderful event. Lots of good information on how to really enjoy wine and when the evening was over you got to keep the expensive wine glasses. Everyone had a great time.

 

There is something going on almost every day. Most events are free or very cheap. If you want to stay busy it is very easy. I sometimes have to say no, just so I can stay home and enjoy a night off.

Thanks for the letter Jane

George

 

Featured Guest Writers Mike and Lotis on Cali Colombia

Mike and Lotis are friends of mine. They were just in Colombia and were nice enough to send me a little article and a few pictures of their trip. I was just in Medellin Colombia a few month ago and it was beautiful. I could easily live there.

Lets see what they have to say about Cali.

 

CALI COLOMBIA

by Mike and Lotis Sullivan

My wife and I are very happy permanent residents of Cuenca Ecuador for the past year and a half. We are originally from Brooklyn, New York.

In the first week of February 2015 we took a trip to Cali Colombia using our timeshare exchange bringing two friends with us. All of us had an outstanding time there, as Cali surprised us in many wonderful ways.

It’s only natural to make comparisons between Cali and Cuenca. And I will do so in this article.

Cali is the second largest city in Colombia (in area) behind Bogota; with Medellin surprisingly coming in third place. It has a population of approximately 2.5 million people making it more than 4 times the population of Cuenca. It is 3281 feet above sea level in a basin surrounded by mountains, making it much warmer than Cuenca and easier to breathe. The week we were there the temperature (in degrees F) reached into the mid 80’s with amazingly low humidity during the day, and down to the low to mid 70’s at night with nice cool breezes.

There are so many things to see and do and buy in Cali, from nightclubs and casinos (Cali is the Salsa Capital of S.A.), to world class restaurants, an amazing zoo, historic churches, monuments, museums, parks and squares. I will leave it to this link in Wikipedia about Cali to describe them all in greater detail.

What I will include here are our personal experiences and impressions of Cali, together with a few of our own photographs.

Unlike Ecuador, shopping in Cali was a pleasant surprise to us. You can buy cars and TV’s and clothing and liquor and just about anything else at close to the same prices as in the US. There are huge open air malls such as Chipichape Mall which we saw. However, the best prices for consumer goods are in Cali’s outlet stores where prices are even lower . The reason for this is that Colombia has an open trade agreement with the US and other countries, while Ecuador does not. For those of you that love to shop at Costco when you were back in the US, Cali has the equivalent mega warehouse stores called MAKRO (for commercial businesses) and PriceMart for the rest of us. Both require club membership cards and have very low bulk prices on consumer goods. You can even go to a shoe store in Cali and pick up size 13 shoes if you need.

 

Because of the diversity of people in Cali, expats tend to blend in with the general population, unlike in Cuenca. The people of Cali are extremely open, friendly, and accommodating when you engage them in a conversation. Also, it’s true what they say, the women (in general) are tall and beautiful in Cali.

 

Within Cali there are plenty of yellow metered taxi’s to take you anywhere you want to go safely and securely. You just need a basic understanding of the peso conversion, as it can put the fear of God in you as you see the taxi meter going up into the thousands for the first time, but actually only costing you (in pesos) the dollar equivalent of $2.50.

 

Considering that gasoline is not subsidized by the government as it is in Ecuador, the cost of a gallon of gas in Cali is over $4.00. But taxi rides are still comparatively cheap.

Contrary to our pre-apprehensions about security in Cali Colombia it is, in our opinion, actuality very safe. We never felt unsafe be it day or night. When you walk through neighborhoods you will not see any homes with electric security fences as you do in Cuenca. Also, very few visible armed guards in banks or stores, unlike in Cuenca. When we spoke to our host and hotel owner about security concerns in Cali, he told us that security concerns were grossly overblown by the US and other countries and are practically nonexistent in normal everyday life. Colombians prefer it that way as it tends to limit the number of visitors to their beautiful country. However, it always pays to be vigilant no matter where you go.

During the time that we were in Cali I took the time to check out the price of properties in the beautiful neighborhood that we were in called Miraflores. A typical house in Miraflores with multiple bedrooms could list for the USD equivalent of $200,000 and up. The yearly property taxes in Miraflores could range from $700.00 USD and up. Much more than in Cuenca if you chose to live there.

 

The neighborhood of Miraflores reminded us of the hills of San Francisco; and the clusters of great restaurants within some local neighborhoods also reminded us of lower Manhattan in New York City.

I’m missing Cali already!

 

The next time we go to Cali, or possibly Bogota, or Medellin, in addition to seeing and experiencing new areas of Colombia, we will go there with almost empty suitcases so we can buy great quality clothes and other merchandise at more reasonable prices.

Whatever we can fit in our suitcases.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

 

Thank you Mike and Lotis for this great article on Cali Colombia. I feel a shopping trip in my future. Who wants to go to Colombia with me?

 

I have run out of time for this post. Lots of meetings with friends today and tomorrow and then I am off to the island of Maui. Not sure if you would be interested in hearing about Maui. If you are, and want to see pictures, let me know in the comments and I will include some in my next post.

Maybe I should have called this post “From Ecuador to California to Hawaii”.

 

And I promised a few pictures of what I have been doing for the past week here in California.

Mostly I have been visiting friends and cleaning up around the cabin.

Here are a few pictures of a family project that I am involved in. It is a cabin rebuilding in downtown Forest Falls.

What do you think?

Should be pretty close to finished by the time I am ready to go back to Ecuador.

 

Below is what it looked like when we bought it last year. This home was being held up by rocks and boulders. There is now a brand new concrete foundation under the entire home. We chose a California Craftsman style because it is such a classic look and fits in just about anywhere. I am very excited to be involved in this project and grateful for my very talented family and all their hard work.

 

Here is the little sketch I made right after we bought the house. Came out pretty close to the drawing.

 

Almost done…

I do want to post a couple pictures of a family outing.

A few days ago we went on an 8 mile hike in the woods in my neighborhood. It was a perfect day.

 

 

See you next time.

You know I love comments and questions… Leave them below and I promise to answer each one.

Much love to all of you and especially to my family for all their support on this trip.

It is alway good to be close to family but I miss my Ecuador too.

 

Tags: best blog in Ecuador, Cali Colombia, featured, from ecuador to california, Living in Ecuador

Category: Living in Ecuador, Retiring in Ecuador