Cotacachi vs. Ibarra

Your idea is doable. 

However, you may be around far fewer Expats if you live in Ibarra.

Have you visited these places?

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I will be there this week.

By the way, are there mosquitos in Cota or Ibarra?

Ibarra is at 7,300 feet above sea level .. and Cotacachi is at 8,000 .. so encounters with skeeters should be few, if any.

You can see for yourself in a few days during your visit.

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I loved cotacotchi for the one day I visited.  Not sure where I stayed, but it may have been Ibarra.  Beautiful, cooler weather and it was so clean.  You can still get lots of US grocery stuff at a place in town in cotacotchi on the Main Street among all the leather stores.  Can't remember the name of it, but you will pay dearly for whatever you buy there.  I would love to go stay there for a month, but longer than that and I think I would go stir crazy, especially without a car.  But on the other hand, I may fall in love with it.  At the place we stayed, up a dirt road and in the middle of no where (from what I'm used to), it was very cold at night with no heat.  Thank God I bought blankets when I went to the market in Otovala, there was no heat in the room, but they did have hot water in the showers.  They also put hot water bottles in the bed at night to keep your feet warm. But the cool weather was refreshing and the air clean feeling (compared to all the dust here in Manta) and the outdoor farm tours were out of this world (on the property we stayed at).  But I'm not normally an outdoor person, but it was tranquil and very peaceful and we were the only ones staying at the place at the time.  No tv's, thank goodness for wifi as we watched football on the iPad and drank the booze we brought to pass the time after our day out, or I would have been lost with nothing to do.  I was also in heaven to actually see grass for a change and found a 4 leaf clover by the car the day we left.  Not that it ever brought me any luck.

For many, the experience of Ecuador is a "refreshing change" like going to the country when you are a city dweller. Farm and country life can be fun but you wouldn´t want to live there.

I can comprehend that, they need their luxuries, their television, their distractions and they are comfortable in the life they know.  Outside that that small sphere they become anxious, nervous, they become very unhappy. 

For these people it is essential if they plan to come to visit Ecuador that they remain closely in "first world" areas and for those who do not speak any language but English in "gringo-centric" areas.  I caution people who are not comfortable outside this limited sphere to not consider expatriation regardless of what they have read or the promises made to them of the inexpensive lifestyle.  They will be bitterly disappointed by what they find here. and in turn make those around them equally unhappy, or worse.

Ecuador is not a place for everyone.  It is a developing country.  It is in places quite dirty. It does not have "first world" amenities in all places and the cost to have those amenities can be greater than in the first world.

For me, living a bohemian lifestyle on the coast, it suits my needs and is extremely affordable, but few people would live happily at my standard of living. It is a choice I make and no one can make the correct choice for you but you.