New members of the Ecuador forum, introduce yourselves here - 2023

I join with Julien in welcoming new members

aboard for 2023.

After you have introduced yourself on this thread,

which is reserved for intro's, you may initiate

a new thread or post any questions for members

on the Ecuador mailbag thread.  Both options

are clickable at the Ecuador welcome page.

cccmedia in Quito

Expat.com designated expert for Ecuador

Hey all,

Newbie on here and seriously looking at moving to Bahia, Ecuador.  Any suggestions? Any other places along the coast I should look at?  Looking at a condo there next month and really wanted some feedback about the area, if it is expat friendly, and just some more information.  Thanks in advance.

@bohowander, you might want to do some research on crime, especially violent crime in Manabí Province. 

I do not mean to scare you, but I was told to not consider purchasing real estate in Manabí Province because of crime.

Crime at the Coast.

Located between the world's top producers of

cocaine, Colombia and Peru, Ecuador's coast

has become a major transport hub for coke

being shipped by cartel operations to Europe

and North America.   The crime factor has

multiplied in the past few years .. and Ecuador and

the U.S. have not gotten a handle on the problems

created by the drug traffickers.

Ergo, the advice Mr. Cox related is valid.  If you feel

compelled to buy property in Ecuador, look to

the Andean highlands or Loja-Vilcabamba and

not the coastal areas, at least for now.

cccmedia

Mr. Cox and I, responding to a new member's

valid concern about crime in coastal Ecuador,

just took a brief detour to discuss that matter

on this thread.

However, further discussion, if any, about

crime in that area, should be posted on the

thread titled Trouble on the Coast.

The reason for re-directing to that thread

is that this new-members thread is

designated for introductions only.

The Trouble on the Coast thread is

clickable at the Ecuador forum welcome page.

cccmedia

member, Expat.com experts team

@Coxhere1 This is not the case in Manta. Like every other small to mid-sized cities across the world, there is crime as expected. We own property on the beach and love it! Pickpockets and petty theft are the primary crimes. Murders are always targeted by Guayaquil gangs (not random expats).

I have lived in Atlanta, Tampa, Sarasota. The crime rates in these cities are far more vicious and frequent than in Manta

@Julien

My fianćce is from Quito, Ecuador. I'm from India. I want to come to Quito to marry my fiañnce. So what is VT-TUR Visa ?

If a country offers a visa for victims of human trafficking, this thread dedicated to new members intros is not the place to discuss it.

You may google related terms, start a new thread or post on an existing thread that is relevant to human trafficking issues.

cccmedia, member, Expat.com experts team

Hola!

Very happy to have found this site! I am planning to come to Ecuador in the fall. I currently live in North Carolina. I do like it here but my money tree isn't producing well since I retired!

I am using Babbel everyday to aprendo español. And I have been trying to study different areas of the country anyway I can for now. I'm getting excited!

@Mickael I am now loving here now thank you so much appreciate the information is it possible I can have a contact for  you would like to ask few questions.

Hello collintapid484,

Welcome to expat.com!

How long have you been living in Ecuador?

Yoginee

Expat.com team

@Julien

Iam Onayi Mzengeza residing in South Africa

My nationality Zimbabwean

I  arrived in South African 2007!  Till now

Iam qualified electrician also Did appreciate for plumbing

Because of my status that cannot go back to my Country iam looking for better safe Coutry to stay and work

Iam 55 yrs

Hello good people!

I am new to the forum, and new to Cuenca. I just arrived May 5 and have been loving every minute of this delightful city!

I'm a former journalist and transportation supervisor (among other things) who has finally found some online work to tide me over until retirement.

I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life in this amazing country!

PS: I have a blog about my adventures, if anyone is interested: ecuadorious.com

Hello and welcome Ecuadorious,

Thank you for your introduction.

You are most welcome to register your blog in the Blogs from expats in Ecuador section of the website.

Also, feel free to interact with members of the Cuenca forum should you need any info or just want to know our members.

All the very best

Bhavna

@Bhavna Thank you, Bhavna!

Hello.  I'm Bill, and I currently live in North Carolina, United States.  I'll be 62 in October 2024 and at present plan to live abroad.   Doing as much research as I can, but Ecuador seems to be checking all the boxes for me.  I look forward to reading more on this site, and thank you for the invitation. 

Welcome Bill !

We hope you can gather enough information to make your choice. Ecuador could be a beautiful destination indeed.

All the best

Bhavna

Hola hola!  I'm Cindy, and have lived in Cuenca for about 3 years so far.  Got my perm residency, and enjoying life as a retired expat from Georgia.  How to learn and share!

@Bill Greene Hello Bill my name is Richard Walker, I been living here for 4 years. I came several times before for workaway program.

I will try and answer all your questions. There is a lot of people that try it before visiting it and there not happy and leave after 6 months

. What I cam say there is different climates for everybody.

Things are very slow here but things are getting better. I advise anybody to try it out first before committing to moving

Hello Richard Walker,

Thank you for the input.

I suggest you browse to Ecuador forum, where you could potentially assist other members based on your experiences and knowledge.

Cheers,

Cheryl

Expat.com team

@Julien

Hi  Terry here  My late wife and I visited Cuenca in 2011  We spent a month there and found it amazing  Great weather, wonder people and a beautiful country/city. 

I lost my bride in 2021 and I am now CONSIDERING a move to Cuenca.  So my journey begins for information. 

Thank you. 

Hi

My name is Patrick Ggala from Uganda who travels around the globe for fun and ambitious adventure. It's a pleasure to be here.

Hello, my name is Danielle and my husband and I are planning an initial trip to Ecuador for March/April, and hoping to move to Ecuador with our whole family later in 2024! I am enjoying learning all I can about Ecuador and am super excited to visit. It's been 16 years since I last had a holiday so it will be wonderful.

Really glad to have this resource of people and information

Thanks!

New here and will be moving as soon as I liquidate nearly everything in my life to move.

Lifestyle over possessions - No materials items I have are worth putting off a change in lifestyle which suits more of who I actually am.

Me espanol no es bueno, pero estoy apprendiendo.

I plan to assimilate, force feed myself into local culture and not rely on an expat bubble to survive.  I know myself, I'm not really going to learn spanish and culture well if I don't do that from the start.

My plans are to settle in the Andes somewhere and not the coast.

@AmericanoNorte 💜🤗 THAT is the right attitude! Bienvenidos a Ecuador 💜🌺🇪🇨

Reposting: I had visited Central America several times while I was working on Architecture projects in Roatan, Honduras. I enjoyed meeting the people, and I loved the culture, the warmth, and the nature. It was a very difficult place to live, even if you had saved a little money, but I decided to research other countries in Central and South America. When I talked to people from Venezuela and Colombia they all said that Ecuadorians are the happiest and hardest-working people in South America. After living here for a year, I have to agree.

I spent the month of May, 2022 exploring the highlands of Ecuador, from Cotacachi to Quito, Cuenca, Loja, and Vilcabamba looking for the right place to move to and try out for a year… and I think you'll be happy to hear that I would never call Ecuador a Third World country, at least not the way most people use the term. It is a developing country, but Ecuadoreans have a lot to be proud of! Yes there is a wide disparity between the wealthy at the top, and the very poor at the bottom, but overall I find Ecuador very liveable and see all the signs that it is growing and improving, in its own way, every day. Cuenca is beautiful, with trees and rivers just like Calgary in Canada, but it rains a lot. Quito is a vibrant city, it is a little warmer, a little dryer, but very crowded and polluted. Loja Is a very pretty city, it is smaller and warmer, but also very crowded.

Unlike many South and Central American countries, Ecuador does have a growing middle-class which points to a stable and developing economy despite the pandemic setbacks that all countries have suffered (Ecuador produces much of what it needs, without relying a lot on imports). Most of the major roads are well-kept and modern, the cities and some of the more popular smaller towns are constantly improving infrastructure, drinking water, hospitals and clinics, health and fitness amenities like fitness parks, walking and biking paths (particularly in Cuenca), public squares, sidewalks, accessibility, street lighting etc. Most importantly Ecuadoreans trust their national police, and their military which is very rare indeed in Latin America. Corruption remains and a lack of trust in politicians and municipal / transit police remain for good reason; poverty and temptation push people outside the line of acceptable behaviour everywhere.

Generally however, I have found people in Ecuador to be very welcoming, friendly and helpful when you make the effort to be respectful, polite, and most are very patient while you stumble through trying out your daily Spanish lessons. Ecuador welcomes foreigners and makes it easy to move here, invest, purchase or rent property, open a bank account, obtain visas and residency through a variety of means. It is a very religious and family oriented culture, where respect and community are very important… with all the benefits and positives that implies.

I respect the traditions and values of the people around me, and with some patience and an open mind, I found it very easy to make new friends quite quickly even though I too am an introvert, high functioning autistic, however you want to describe it.  It has been fairly easy to navigate through daily life, and figure things out. I'm getting used to the slower pace and Mañana culture, but definitely embracing the ”tranquillo” that comes with it, without too much trouble… even though I'm still learning Spanish too.

I found my happy place in Cotacachi, Imbabura… it has perpetual springtime temperatures, ranging from a cool 10° C (50° F) at night, to an average 21 to 24° (70 to 75° F) during the day… Cotacachi is a very friendly, clean, walkable, safe (even at night), liveable smaller town/city, with a great restaurant and cafe scene, local craftsman and great shopping, tiendas, markets, fresh produce, coffee, chocolate, wine… music and cultural events, indigenous experiences and influences, social activism and charity, nearby hiking and nature exploration and adventure opportunities… And just big enough to find things to do, constantly meet new people in a very welcoming multicultural / international community, easy to get to know people that you see on a regular basis, but without being so small that everybody knows ALL of your business. Ideal for me.

Thank you for your reply and sharing your experiences.

Developing country is a better choice of words than what I said labeling it as 3rd world.  My US harshness in choice of wording coming through. 

With as much as I've traveled I don't really consider "3rd world" a negative thing since I have had some of my best and happiest experiences in those places.

I've had numerous conversations with people I've met and, with all honesty, mentioned to them they had it better there than where I am from with all the USA offers.

Yes, I can drink the tap water in my current city and not get a stomach virus.  But that water still is not good for me and in my city people don't drink the tap water.  Our sewage system can accept toilet paper but also, that water is recycled (cleaned) and used as drinking water again but that process does not remove all the traces of prescription drugs that passed through people's systems.

Like many who have made the choice before me, I don't feel the same about the country I was born in and feel it's a good time to find a spot in the world more reflective of what I want in life.

I love being in the outdoors and like a simple life.  I'm looking forward to joining you all soon!

@AmericanoNorte I i'm sure you will find your new dream home, in the city, town, village that is just right for you… Somewhere in Ecuador, where you find your happiness! Enjoy your journey!