Ecuador

I’ve been scanning the areas south of the US for sometime as possible places to visit or live. A high school classmate is living in Panama and enjoys it a lot. I’ve been looking at recommendations made by International Living magazine, but hadn’t seen anything that looked like I wanted to see it for myself.

This week one of Elyn’s long-time friends, a native of Venezuela, called to talk. She is a professional travel agent and in the course of the conversation told Elyn that Ecuador is the most beautiful place she has seen. She says it is like her home country, but safe. This started a more serious search at our house. I got out the IL “Owner’s Manual” for Ecuador and we rented a video at the local travel store. We are liking what we see and are in the early stages of planning a two week visit in November to take a look at the country. Elyn’s friend will provide us with an easy entrée to the country and make the necessary arrangements.

What we can see is that there is tremendous variety there. The Galapagos Islands are just off the coast, there are miles and miles of deserted beach on the mainland, the terrain rapidly rises to the peaks of the Andes mountains at over 20,000 feet, and then just as rapidly descends to the depths of the Amazon jungles. All this happens in a country about the size of Nevada.

What we don’t know is what we would find to do there if we chose to live for an extended period of time. There are Spanish colonial remains, some of which have been renovated. There are the remaining Inca tribes, which seem relatively undisturbed by modern standards. And, of course, there is all the beautiful scenery. We just don’t know if we would become bored after a time. Another consideration is the availability of high speed internet service. I’m totally addicted to the internet and can’t imagine being without it.

It is certain that our cost of living would be a fraction of that of Santa Fe, NM. That alone makes for considerable attraction for me. I can certainly see spending a period of time there, even if we don’t choose to put down roots. Stay tuned for further developments.