What are you missing in Ecuador?

Hi Ho,

don't we go abroad to learn other customs and traditions?

If I always want to experience the same thing, I might as well stay at home.

So be open to a different country, different culture, different food, different holidays, etc.

And if the homesickness really gets too strong, then take a holiday in your old home country.

Greetings from Germany
Senior Otti

I just got here and found out about the mail system. Is there no way to get mail sent here without being charged an arm and a leg? Someone said the only way to get mail is from the mule group.

vtahawkins wrote:

Is there no way to get mail sent here without being charged an arm and a leg? Someone said the only way to get mail is from the mule group.

Dear VTA Hawkins,

Welcome to the Ecuador forums of Expat.com ...

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Bingo, Gringo!

You have found Ecuador's Achilles heel.

Here at my condo complex in Quito, one of the front-entrance guards tells me that nobody in the complex receives mail.  I personally haven't received any mail delivered by Correos del Ecuador since 2019!

Receiving packages is even more problematic.  I ordered some stuff that included cereal boxes (violation!) from the USA in mid-July.  So far, I have been required to pay $1,500 -- includes paying $448 to my Quito lawyer's firm to keep the SENAE fines from piling up further -- and the package is apparently back at the MyUS shipping company in Sarasota and is undeliverable in its current form to Ecuador.

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Sure, look into the mule group .. and let us know how those mules are working out.

cccmedia in Quito

The good, the bad and the 'feo' -- Top Ten Ways That Not Having Mail Service Affects Gringo Life in La República.

10.  The good -- No more dealing with birthday cards to send back home: finding a card, hoping the signed card gets there.  Your built-in excuse -- hey, we don't have mail service in Ecuador.

9.  The bad -- When tax filing time comes for the home country, no 1099's or other annual forms arrive at your rusting mailbox.  So you have to email the agencies and companies and have them re-send the missing forms via email attachments.

8.  The 'feo' -- Anyone trying to send you a check in the mail (a) it's not getting to you, and (b) you may never know it was being sent in the first place.  Same for greetings from old friends and relatives, inheritance notifications and any government/'stimulus' payments you may or may not have been expecting. 

7.  The good -- It's no longer necessary to check with your guard or 'vigilante' several times a week to see if anything arrived for you. 
(Spoiler alert -- nothing showed up.)

6.  The good -- Remember that long trip you made to Colombia, and maybe the tax collecting agency there has some 'noticias' for you about supposedly being a Colombia tax resident.  Well, that notification isn't ever going to show up at your rusting mailbox in Ecuador.

5.  The bad -- Those periodic forms the government used to have you fill out known colloquially as 'proof of life', the forms that show you are still at your longtime address and qualify for continued Social Security and/or Disability payments -- well, those proof-of-life forms are not coming either.  Good luck getting your SSA payments every month without interruption.

4.  The bad -- Still own property back home?  Well, if something goes wrong and some agency needs to advise you that the property has flooded .. or the property manager sent you a registered letter that he decided to quit .. or a tenant has sued you and you need to be represented in court by such-and-such a date -- well, you ain't gonna know nuttin', honey .. until it's too late.

3.  The good -- You probably weren't getting much junk mail even before The Situation put the final nail in the Correos coffin.  Now you don't get any junk mail ever, at all, fuggedaboutit.

2.  The good --Remember having to buy stamps at the post office, stationery at the Maxi 'escolar' section, and replacement pens wherever pens are sold -- well, you don't have to buy any of that stuff any more. 

1.  The Feo...
And the number-one way in which not having mail and delivery service impacts the Gringos of Ecuador:  You continually experience the hellishness of living life without ever having what you want sent or delivered to you when you want it .. or within a reasonable time period thereafter.  In fact, it probably won't be delivered at all.  What a country!

How is sauerkraut not available in Quito?  I haven't seen it, not even at MegaMaxi.

Please state your local source of sauerkraut in this capital.

cccmedia in Quito


According to wordreference.com, sauerkraut or fermented cabbage, is translated to Spanish as 'chucrut' (CHOOK-root).

there are some are imperfect  work-arounds that have pros and cons:
-- virtual address and mailbox services
-- going paperless as often as possible, including workarounds like e-faxes, apps like adobe scan.
-- mules
-- freight forwarders / cargo consolidators / legally registered couriers (they have an RUC in Ecuador)
-- keeping an eye out for the absolute cheapest round-trips from GYE/UIO to South Florida on discount airlines. There's an enormous amount of shopping that can get done in 48-72 hours if you plan it carefully. I've seen one ways on Spirit, for example, selling for $50 October 2021 ... That was what I paid for importing 5 pounds of stuff using a registered courier in April (though now they might do it for $35).  Come with a carry on and two empty duffles. return with 80 pounds of stuff.

I've seen sauerkraut at Coral and Commisarito in Guayaquil

I don't know if they will ship to Quito, but I get excellent sauerkraut from L&S Artisan Meats in Cotacachi. They have a driver who makes the run from Cotacachi to Cuenca twice a month. Try getting hold of Lindsay by email to see if there is a way for them to ship to you.

Daughter misses "real" (sharp) cheddar cheese.  Me, I wish only for a local source of soup base... All the local stock mixes available are the powdered crap and include garlic, which doesn't belong in a corn chowder, vichyssoise or even a mulligatawny.  Shame I have to set aside 10 pounds of suitcase space for chicken and beef stock concentrate every time I visit the US...  And even then I can't make soup as often as I'd like.