Sad to think down to the wire and less then 10 days left on an incredible journey. Off to Cuenca for one last visit tomorrow for a convention and then we head home and have 4 days left. As we prepare to go home you get a realization it will cost a lot to go home. In fact I bet I could live here for several months on that cost.
Things to factor in that maybe you don't think about before coming but realize as you head home. We sold our house and now will need to rent an apartment. In Ottawa rentals run at about 1200$ a month and we will need first and last months rent. Our car we kept so thats a good thing but that being said it's been sitting for 9 months so needs some work probabky somewhere between $500-1000. And if you are going to drive you need insurance so there's another $1000 for the year. These are the basics but unfortunately there is more.
Clothing here in Ecuador is not well made and with all the walking and washing your clothes take a beating. Plus you will probably lose weight so now you need to buy clothes when you get home. And yes one final thing technology here is expensive so you are best to bring items that you don't mind selling. The nice thing about this is that the money you make selling your items you can use to buy new items back home.
One of the last factors is work. If you have a job to come home to then that's great and helps. But remember you may not have a check for 2-3 weeks after you start. If you don't have a job it's time to hit the pavement looking. At least I do have a job to go home to which helps a lot. Everything having been said is it's definitely worth the time and money to have an adventure such as this. And personally I look forward to doing it again. Maybe Mexico next time.
Showing posts with label canadians in ecuador. Show all posts
Showing posts with label canadians in ecuador. Show all posts
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
A Trip to the Coast
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| The beach in Olon |
Upon arrival we checked into a small hostel called Hostel Oloncito. It was a nice little place with 7 rooms. The owner calls it a family hostel and likes to keep it that way. And where ever other hostel charged 15$ per person this owner gave the kids at half price. He didn't have a restaurant but he did have a kitchen and gave us full access to it. It was a 2 minute walk to the beach, if even. Definitely a place to stay again.
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| Beach in Montanita Son helping Dad at work |
The beach was beautiful. I would say it rivals the beaches in Cuba. It was secluded in that it is nestled between 2 rock masses. It is cut off from Montanita which is the next town over. There are about 10 cabana's on the beach to buy food and the fruit drinks are amazing. The one stand we were using put 4 oz of rum in the glass and with fresh pineapple for your Pinacolda what more do you need, Oh yes $2.50.
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| Fresh Fish in the Morning |
We took a day and visited Montanita. We finally found great variety in food. Anything you wanted was available it was a nice change from the usual Chicken and Rice. Although, the beach was disappointing, too many people, they wanted to charge for a chair, and all and all if your not in the party scene stay off. Many told us that this beach was well basically the drugs, sex and rock and roll capital but really I found no worse then any other place. That being said we did not stick around to see the night scene. It could very well change fast.
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| Keefe's Starfish |
On our last day we walked the beach to the next sleepy town over and must have walk about 5 KM. it was an enjoyable walk and we found all kinds of marine life. If you want to see Sand Dollars we must have found about 50 of them. And then there are the starfish as well.
We headed home at 6 PM. And did our trip home in reverse. We went from Montanita to Santa Elena on one bus. Then arrived with 5 minutes to spare to catch the bus to Guayaquil. We arrived in Guayaquil at 10:30 and caught the 11 PM bus to Cuenca getting home around 3 AM.
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| A dead turtle but a big one |
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| Stingray on the beach |
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Health Care in Ecuador
One concern many have is what is it like if I get sick or need something medical in Ecuador. Well have no fear, here are a few examples of health care here. And Heidi probably already wrote about some of it so sorry if I'm repeating.
First let me say, if you need dental work come here for it. I finally made a visit to a dentist that had been recommended to us. When I called to make the appointment I thought I was going to struggle explaining what I needed, funny thing was the dentist answered in English. On my first visit I had a cleaning and 1 cavity filled. I have had both those procedures done back home but will say this was my best experience. I have found that some dentist back home can be quite rough but this guy was great and there was no need for freezing and no bleeding either. Cost was 50$. I had to go get an X-ray for the dentist cost was 20$ and I was given the results. I had a follow up appointment to remove a tooth that I broke about 8 years ago(hence the X-Ray). This tooth was broken below the gum line and badly abscessed. It took him 20 mins to remove it and I was fine by that afternoon. Again the cost was 30$. Last tooth I had pulled cost me over 150$. Lastly I need 4 wisdom teeth removed next week. Back home the cost to me even with insurance is 1500$ here my cost will be 120$ maybe 150 as one tooth is impacted.
What about doctors. Well if you've ever had a blood test how long did it take to get the results? One maybe two weeks. Heidi went for blood test and had the full results in her hand in 5 hrs. Everything she needed and wanted to know and they gave her the results not the doctor. Next she went to a cardiologist and he gave her the results instantly. Cost for both visits 80$. No three hour wait in the waiting room. No we'll call in two weeks, everything instant. Health care here is not something to be concerned about. Pricing is good. Doctors are good and many speak or understand English as they are expected to learn it in University.
BTW it is our half way point here. So in one of my next blogs I will write about the pro's and con's and see who those change between now and when we leave.
First let me say, if you need dental work come here for it. I finally made a visit to a dentist that had been recommended to us. When I called to make the appointment I thought I was going to struggle explaining what I needed, funny thing was the dentist answered in English. On my first visit I had a cleaning and 1 cavity filled. I have had both those procedures done back home but will say this was my best experience. I have found that some dentist back home can be quite rough but this guy was great and there was no need for freezing and no bleeding either. Cost was 50$. I had to go get an X-ray for the dentist cost was 20$ and I was given the results. I had a follow up appointment to remove a tooth that I broke about 8 years ago(hence the X-Ray). This tooth was broken below the gum line and badly abscessed. It took him 20 mins to remove it and I was fine by that afternoon. Again the cost was 30$. Last tooth I had pulled cost me over 150$. Lastly I need 4 wisdom teeth removed next week. Back home the cost to me even with insurance is 1500$ here my cost will be 120$ maybe 150 as one tooth is impacted.
What about doctors. Well if you've ever had a blood test how long did it take to get the results? One maybe two weeks. Heidi went for blood test and had the full results in her hand in 5 hrs. Everything she needed and wanted to know and they gave her the results not the doctor. Next she went to a cardiologist and he gave her the results instantly. Cost for both visits 80$. No three hour wait in the waiting room. No we'll call in two weeks, everything instant. Health care here is not something to be concerned about. Pricing is good. Doctors are good and many speak or understand English as they are expected to learn it in University.
BTW it is our half way point here. So in one of my next blogs I will write about the pro's and con's and see who those change between now and when we leave.
Friday, October 12, 2012
A Trip to the Cajas
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| The back of a pick up at 100km/hr |
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| The View |
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| The forest from the Wizard of Oz |
We arrived at Cajas National Park around 10:15 and begun our hike. We chose the second entrance to the park as there is a little more to see. Our hike started at one of the many lakes and the weather was cool. As we made our way up and down the hike we saw many different flowers, plants and cactus. But the most amazing was the paper tree forest. It kinda reminds you of the forest in the Wizard of Oz. I was just waiting for the flying monkeys.
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| The Climb |
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| The peak we climbed |
One note on the weather wear layers. In a span of 5 hrs we got weather that was near freezing point, heat of 20-25 degrees and hail. So be ready, pack a lunch and enjoy the scenery.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
A Trip to the Zoo
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| The path through the zoo |
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| Loose Monkeys |
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| Baby Tiger |
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| The Lion Cage |
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| A View from the Top |
Friday, September 28, 2012
A Trip to the Coast
We made our first trip to the coast. Off to Puerto Lopez we went. First stop Cuenca Bus station to purchase a ride to Guayguil, cost 24$ for 4 people. The bus ride to Guayguil was 4 hrs down the mountains and through the beautiful Cajas. Upon arrival in Guayguil we found the ticket booth for the bus to Jipijapa. This bus takes you right into Puerto Lopez. Again a low cost of 16$ for the 4 of us. This bus ride stops in Jipijapa for about 15 min and then continues on to Puerto Lopez, altogether about a 4 hr ride as well. So all in all an 8 hr trip but well worth it.
Upon arrival we checked into a nice little Hostel about a 1 minute walk to the beach. The room had a double bed, and a bunk bed which worked perfectly. We also had a private shower. After a good meal of burgers and salchipapas on the beach it was time for bed to prepare for our big day tomorrow.
An early morning start is hard in some small towns. I've never had as hard a time to find a good breakfast stop as I have here in Ecuador. Finally after finding one and paying nearly 17$ for 4 breakfasts we were off to the beach. First stop whale watching. And what a scene it was. Not the clearest picture but by the time you click the camera they are already back in the water.
Next stop Ilsa de Plata AKA the poor mans Galapagos. This was a beautiful walk on an undisturbed island. Animals just sitting and not worried about us the people. On the island you will find several animal. They have the Blue Footed Boobies, some small lizards and some nice Turtles.
We enjoyed our lunch on the boat with these beautiful turtles all around us. It was truly a privilege. Next off we go around the island to do a little snorkeling. Now this was my first time trying snorkeling and was quite interesting. Some beautiful fish were in the water, Keefe even claims he saw Nemo (the clown fish).
Around came 3:30 and it was time to go home. Everyone was tired out and sleepy on the trip home. The boat ride back is about 50 mins.
As much as the island trip was beautiful, we are told that during the months on Jan - April the vegetation is much more lush and it is a good time to visit. You just need to watch for rain showers during those months as they can come out of nowhere.
The next day we did decide to go home as it was quite the overcast day and the beach would not be as enjoyable. We hopped a bus to Jipijapa then a second bus to Guayguil. Once in Guayguil we decided to stay a few hour and check out Iguana Park. If in Guayguil you must make the trip. It's about 10 minutes from the airport and bus station and something you will never forget.
Seeing both this and the Isla de Plata shows one thing, man and beast can live in peace. In both the areas the animals had no fear of us and were fine walking side by side. And with the Iguana's you could even touch them as seen above the old man is feeding them.
Home we go. A short trip but one none of us will ever forget. In fact so enjoyable we will do again. This is just one of the many different things you can do here in Ecuador. The land with many lands.
Upon arrival we checked into a nice little Hostel about a 1 minute walk to the beach. The room had a double bed, and a bunk bed which worked perfectly. We also had a private shower. After a good meal of burgers and salchipapas on the beach it was time for bed to prepare for our big day tomorrow.
Next stop Ilsa de Plata AKA the poor mans Galapagos. This was a beautiful walk on an undisturbed island. Animals just sitting and not worried about us the people. On the island you will find several animal. They have the Blue Footed Boobies, some small lizards and some nice Turtles.
Around came 3:30 and it was time to go home. Everyone was tired out and sleepy on the trip home. The boat ride back is about 50 mins.
As much as the island trip was beautiful, we are told that during the months on Jan - April the vegetation is much more lush and it is a good time to visit. You just need to watch for rain showers during those months as they can come out of nowhere.
Seeing both this and the Isla de Plata shows one thing, man and beast can live in peace. In both the areas the animals had no fear of us and were fine walking side by side. And with the Iguana's you could even touch them as seen above the old man is feeding them.
Home we go. A short trip but one none of us will ever forget. In fact so enjoyable we will do again. This is just one of the many different things you can do here in Ecuador. The land with many lands.
Monday, September 17, 2012
The Thermal Pools of Banos Cuenca
Another week gone by and a busy one it was. It's nice to be in a regular routine in our new home. This week we toke off on Friday to Banos (Cuenca). This is a thermal hot spring about 10 minutes out of town. There are 4 different resorts that we found out there. The nicest appear to be the one we choose which was called Piedra De Agua. It was $10 each and $5 for the kids. For that you have access to the Turco (steam bath), Hot pool, and freezing cold pool. There is also a $20 upgrade to get into the Spa. The Spa gives you access to a personal assistant who walks you through the Turco, the Red and Blue mud bath. He then takes you below ground where you sit in the hot tub for 10 minutes and then a freezing cold tub for 2 minutes, and finally you have the steam box. A nice experience and I bet it's even better if you don't have any kids with you.
The picture above is the mud bath area of the spa. To the left this is the hot pool with basic access. There is also a eating area as well as massages available. Definitely worth the visit if in the area. And for us worth several visits as it is a 10 minute bus ride. We walk 5 minutes up the road grab the #12 bus and 10 minutes later we are there.
We didn't do much exploring this week. But we did have an opportunity to meet many of our neighbors. And what's quite interesting is that most of them speak English, in fact in our building of the 7 families it appears 6 speak English.
The question does remain is life here feasible? We found several things out. If looking to maximize your stay here you can take a 1 year Spanish class at a University for between $1000-1500 including books. This will allow you to apply for the student VISA. That being said we understand laws to change quickly here But technically you could come in on a tourist Visa, Apply for a 6 month Visa, after which you could take a University course and then apply for a 1 year student Visa. Giving you a total of near 2 years in the country.
Looking for work during this time? You have options. One I found the other day is called oDesk. At oDesk you sign up for free, post a resume and search for jobs that are done online. It can be anything from writing reports or proposals to being an admin assistant or even posting products online. Everything is done and logged online. There are hourly jobs as well as contracts. Another option is Open English, this is an English teaching online opportunity. You sign up and get paid to teach online. There are quite a few friends down here doing this option. Another teaching opportunity is Tutor ABC. The difference with the two is that Tutor ABC is teaching to Chinese where as Open English targets South America.
So can life down here work? Yes, how free you want to be depends on how much you want to spend, and how simple you want to live.
The picture above is the mud bath area of the spa. To the left this is the hot pool with basic access. There is also a eating area as well as massages available. Definitely worth the visit if in the area. And for us worth several visits as it is a 10 minute bus ride. We walk 5 minutes up the road grab the #12 bus and 10 minutes later we are there.
We didn't do much exploring this week. But we did have an opportunity to meet many of our neighbors. And what's quite interesting is that most of them speak English, in fact in our building of the 7 families it appears 6 speak English.
The question does remain is life here feasible? We found several things out. If looking to maximize your stay here you can take a 1 year Spanish class at a University for between $1000-1500 including books. This will allow you to apply for the student VISA. That being said we understand laws to change quickly here But technically you could come in on a tourist Visa, Apply for a 6 month Visa, after which you could take a University course and then apply for a 1 year student Visa. Giving you a total of near 2 years in the country.
Looking for work during this time? You have options. One I found the other day is called oDesk. At oDesk you sign up for free, post a resume and search for jobs that are done online. It can be anything from writing reports or proposals to being an admin assistant or even posting products online. Everything is done and logged online. There are hourly jobs as well as contracts. Another option is Open English, this is an English teaching online opportunity. You sign up and get paid to teach online. There are quite a few friends down here doing this option. Another teaching opportunity is Tutor ABC. The difference with the two is that Tutor ABC is teaching to Chinese where as Open English targets South America.
So can life down here work? Yes, how free you want to be depends on how much you want to spend, and how simple you want to live.
Monday, September 10, 2012
A trip to the Museum
Life is surprisingly busy here. For one thing anything you need takes time. The other day I needed a few items and by the time we went to the grocery store and hit the downtown area for a 1 lbs of coffee for $3.50 it took about 1.5hrs. So with a schedule of up and out every morning for 3 hrs and then work for 2hrs it doesn't take long that your day fills up. Before you know it, it's 8 o'clock and your ready for bed. All that being said Friday's are family day.
After lunch it was off to some friends house for board games and snacks. Life here keeps us busy. But the fun is always as a family. Something you don't get to do as much back home. To see the unity with the friends. The interest in the people, and the time you spend as a family truly is a blessing beyond compare.
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| View from the bottom |
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| View from the top |
Monday to Thursday Heidi schools the kids each day. And it's quite amazing how much they are learning. Aidan can now add and subtract and Keefe is learn multiplication and division. But Friday's are special, we take a field trip. So on Friday we went to the Bank Museum. The name was very deceiving to me. I thought why would anyone go there. Turns out it is a history museum and it goes through the different tribes that lived in Ecuador and how they lived. They even had real shrunken heads in the Amazon section of the museum. Then you make your way outside and there is a Inca ruin, still not sure if it was just a
reconstruction or whether there was an actual burial site there as there is a tunnel which is closed off that are what appears to be burial grounds. And as a bonus it's FREE to go in. Imagine that a free museum that is interesting.  |
| A Inca house |
Sunday's are always quite interesting. There is always such a flavor at the meetings we have American's, Australians, Canadians, and local Ecuadorians. All giving comments and participating. This week was special because we had friends come down from the coast who had just finish pioneer school and were actually in the July study issue. The very one we were studying. After we had the pleasure of going for Lunch - Almoerzos of course and had soup, chicken, rice, beans, and fresh juice for $1.75.
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| Our new celebrity friends |
Monday, September 3, 2012
Our new home
So here we are our new home in cuenca. It's a 2 bedroom fully furnished apartment. It even came with washer and dryer which you don't get everywhere, plus utilities are included. Even internet is included, finally unlimited internet with a decent speed. The area is great, a park 2 minutes away where we take the kids to play soccer or I should say futbole and let them run around. There's 4 bakeries in the area. Buses are a 5 minute walk away and we can get anywhere in the city within 25 mins on the bus. There's even a shopping mall a 20 minute walk away.
Up the street we found a little restaurant like a st.hubert and got a half chicken, fries, rice, sauce and some kinda of vegetable we couldn't identify for $9 in a nice little to go box. We also found a little tailor that fixed our sons coat for $1 and a shoe repair shop that fixed 2 pairs of shoes for $8 although I'm pretty sure he gringo taxed me should have been $5 at most.
Sunday we went for Almouzos which is the term for a standard lunch which includes a soup, rice and chicken and a glass of juice. All that for $1.75 and if you want to have it in a fancy restaurant it's between $2-2.50. Anyways we were 9 of us and lunch cost $20 for all of us. Today we went to the market and stopped at another little lunch stop and had Salchipapas which is a bowl of fries with a hotdog and lettus for $1.00 and that was the large one, could have got the small for $0.75 and would have been enough. Juice was another $0.50.
The last thing I needed to setup was a mailing address. So how do you get mail here especially things you need. There is a service called Club Correo and basically it gives you an American address in Miami after which your items get imported here and they call you when your package arrives. And the nice part with this is that it is all setup online and after paying with PayPal you're ready to roll and start receiving packages. All that being said it's setup, we'll see how it works I've ordered my first package. I'll keep you posted.
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| Kitchen |
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| Livingroom |
Up the street we found a little restaurant like a st.hubert and got a half chicken, fries, rice, sauce and some kinda of vegetable we couldn't identify for $9 in a nice little to go box. We also found a little tailor that fixed our sons coat for $1 and a shoe repair shop that fixed 2 pairs of shoes for $8 although I'm pretty sure he gringo taxed me should have been $5 at most.
Sunday we went for Almouzos which is the term for a standard lunch which includes a soup, rice and chicken and a glass of juice. All that for $1.75 and if you want to have it in a fancy restaurant it's between $2-2.50. Anyways we were 9 of us and lunch cost $20 for all of us. Today we went to the market and stopped at another little lunch stop and had Salchipapas which is a bowl of fries with a hotdog and lettus for $1.00 and that was the large one, could have got the small for $0.75 and would have been enough. Juice was another $0.50.
The last thing I needed to setup was a mailing address. So how do you get mail here especially things you need. There is a service called Club Correo and basically it gives you an American address in Miami after which your items get imported here and they call you when your package arrives. And the nice part with this is that it is all setup online and after paying with PayPal you're ready to roll and start receiving packages. All that being said it's setup, we'll see how it works I've ordered my first package. I'll keep you posted.
Monday, August 27, 2012
A Drive Through the Andes
The dilemma get from Quito to Cuenca with 2 kids and 8 bags. The choices. Overnight bus, airplane, taxi/busetta, or rent and a car and drive. After trying for several days to locate a busetta we started to think about the plane as the trip would have cost for all 4 of us under 200$ problem being, bring all the bags and loading and unloading. More pain then it was worth. So we decided to rent a car and drive ourselves. Those who know me know I will drive almost anywhere and anytime. I mean after Mexico how bad can Ecuador be. We decided to go with Avis rent a car. Probably paid more then we should have but I felt with a national name we should be good. We got a a 4 door Mazda BT-50 pick up truck. All I can say is gut less.
We left Quito at 7am and arrived in Cuenca at 2pm so basically 7 hrs. The drive is something special in so many ways. To drive through the country side and see the beauty all around it really makes one marvel in awe at creation. Rolling hills that only to see can explain. Homes on the side of beautiful picturesque mountains. And people cultivating the grounds with donkeys and there hands. Upon seeing that you can only imagine what paradis would be like. Although living and driving in the mountains does pose its problems. As we headed out we ran into a closed portion of highway due to a landslide. And then not to mention crazy drivers. At one point we were following a trailer that was pulling a airplane and as he felt that the bus in front of him was going to slow he decided to pull out and pass into oncoming traffic. Of course realizing he couldn't he pulled right back in. Finally he managed to pass into on coming traffic of course but this time the traffic was slower and moved over for him and me. Yes as much as the road is good it is only 2 lanes all the way. Since the up and down is really steep at some points some cars are only going 20km/hr so people get inpatient. Not to forget the trucks or cars with 10-15 people in them. And here's where my gut less pick up comes in, 3rd gear doing 70km/hr going up the mountains. All said and done it was quite worth the $230 we paid for the rental.
So here we are in Cuenca where we will spend the next 8 months. We are housing for a week and then get our new apartment which us literally 1 block away from where we are house sitting in fact we can see our new home from the bedroom window. Tomorrow we start our new schedule. And already our new friends have put us to work.
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| Rolling Hills |
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| Land Slide |
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| Airplane |
So here we are in Cuenca where we will spend the next 8 months. We are housing for a week and then get our new apartment which us literally 1 block away from where we are house sitting in fact we can see our new home from the bedroom window. Tomorrow we start our new schedule. And already our new friends have put us to work.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
A successful trip
It was an easy decision. The apartment was right. The price was right. And we will be able to help the way we wanted. It quite amazing how things can happen. We were worried about finding the right place. So we saw the apartment and it was perfect. The area was nice and felt good being there. A kind American couple showed us the apartment and we got a good feeling from them right away. We left them with an offer on the apartment and met our friends on Sunday. Only to find out that the couple who showed us the apartment were friends of our friends. And they were worried about renting the unit to the right person as well since they were only managing the apartment for a gentleman in the US.
Sunday we met new friends who we hit it off with almost immediately. After spending some time together we headed out for lunch at a little seafood place. Another lesson learned if eating with friends in a group make sure the waiter/waitress knows in advance that there is going to be more than one bill. This is the second time we go out in a group and end up having to split the bill manually. From lunch we walked down to a little ice cream shop on the edge of center town. Actually there are about 5 ice cream shops in the little square. The one we went to had 80 different flavors of ice cream.
On Monday we had a full day to kill so we went on a double Decker bus ride to check out the scenes. Very nice town Cuenca. And its a good size too. Not to big and not to small. Has everything you need and then some. We walked every where. Even to the bus stop at 8pm which was about a 20 min walk from downtown. Not to mention that everyone speaks or understands English. Good for teaching not good for learning. We will have to make sure we carry more English literature with us.
The bus ride home was definitely the most exciting part of our trip. It all started right at the bus terminal. They had over sold the bus to standing room only. And in Ecuador kids are not entitled to a seat they sit on their mothers lap but they don't pay for kids either. Of course a older native lady comes over and tries to sit on aidan to get him to move over and sit on me. Difference is I did pay for my seats even Aidans. She finally found something at the back. The adventure continues at the next stop in the next town where the police boarded and checked everyone's cedula. Its an ID card all Ecuadorians must carry. Thankfully before we left the ticket guy said something to me back in quito about having ID with us, as I have been using my drivers license as my cedula and it has been working, that being said I brought our Visas with us and it went well. The police here are really nice so no problems so far. After that unlike our ride up the bus stopped in every town on the way home so the lights kept coming on and people kept getting on and off so sleep was impossible. We got home at 5:30 in the morning just beat. I hadn't had the chance to work much on Monday so I had about 2hrs of work to do first then I finished painting this apartment for our landlord. Today I think we will try and rest. Keefe has an English reading tonight so we will work on that with him.
Sunday we met new friends who we hit it off with almost immediately. After spending some time together we headed out for lunch at a little seafood place. Another lesson learned if eating with friends in a group make sure the waiter/waitress knows in advance that there is going to be more than one bill. This is the second time we go out in a group and end up having to split the bill manually. From lunch we walked down to a little ice cream shop on the edge of center town. Actually there are about 5 ice cream shops in the little square. The one we went to had 80 different flavors of ice cream.
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| A Panoramic View of our New Home Town |
On Monday we had a full day to kill so we went on a double Decker bus ride to check out the scenes. Very nice town Cuenca. And its a good size too. Not to big and not to small. Has everything you need and then some. We walked every where. Even to the bus stop at 8pm which was about a 20 min walk from downtown. Not to mention that everyone speaks or understands English. Good for teaching not good for learning. We will have to make sure we carry more English literature with us.
The bus ride home was definitely the most exciting part of our trip. It all started right at the bus terminal. They had over sold the bus to standing room only. And in Ecuador kids are not entitled to a seat they sit on their mothers lap but they don't pay for kids either. Of course a older native lady comes over and tries to sit on aidan to get him to move over and sit on me. Difference is I did pay for my seats even Aidans. She finally found something at the back. The adventure continues at the next stop in the next town where the police boarded and checked everyone's cedula. Its an ID card all Ecuadorians must carry. Thankfully before we left the ticket guy said something to me back in quito about having ID with us, as I have been using my drivers license as my cedula and it has been working, that being said I brought our Visas with us and it went well. The police here are really nice so no problems so far. After that unlike our ride up the bus stopped in every town on the way home so the lights kept coming on and people kept getting on and off so sleep was impossible. We got home at 5:30 in the morning just beat. I hadn't had the chance to work much on Monday so I had about 2hrs of work to do first then I finished painting this apartment for our landlord. Today I think we will try and rest. Keefe has an English reading tonight so we will work on that with him.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Here we are in cuenca
So we took the overnight bus from quito to cuenca. We left on the 9:45 bus from Flota Imbabura which is basically a grey hound with washrooms and reclining seats so we can rest. We arrived in Cuenca at 6:30 in the morning. We took a 2$ taxi ride from the bus station to the downtown area. Now the only problem with arriving so early is that it was next to impossible to find a coffee shop that was open at that time. Finally after much walking we found one. Coffee was good but the pastries were better. From there we walked up and down to the streets to find a descent hostel. We found the going rate to be between 60 and 80 a night for a family of 4. But we finally found a cozy little place called hostel Chordeleg on the corner of Gran Columbian and General Torres. The owner gave us a room with private bath and 3 beds for 45$ a night. The going rate for the room was 60$ a night, really gave us a good price and no Gringo tax. The rooms are built around a center court or patio where you enjoy the complimentary breakfast and wifi was included. Really for the price what more could you ask for. The owner allowed us to check our bags early and we got access to the room at 9 am after it was cleaned. So you could say early check in.
After dropping our bags it was time to tour the city. We made our way around the downtown and found a nice market and lots of scenic areas, a change from what we've seen in quito. We also made our way over to the Rio mall. A full service mall where we enjoyed a Mega meal lunch at a chicken and burger shack for $10 which gave us 2 burgers, fries, chicken nuggets, 2 pieces of chicken and an ice cream dessert. From there we looked at an apartment another $2 taxi ride. Arriving in the area we found a park for the kids and quite the nice homes. The apartment is quite new perhaps 3 years at most and has 2 bathrooms and 2 bedrooms along with everything we need including a washer and dryer, something not all units have. The owner wants $400 a month and will include hydro, water and unlimited internet. I would say sold. So all goes well we will be moving here Sept 1.
Now that we found an apartment time to explore the town. I found a little coffee roaster in town who grinds and bags his coffee at 3.50 a lbs. Might have to see about exporting some of that. It was a good coffee and I brought a bag home. We also found a nice pizza joint where we had lunch. Three slices of pizza, 2 burgers and a Pint and I mean a pint of beer all for $8.50. So yes there are good prices for food here you just have to look. Its very easy to spend money without paying attention. Supper last night was 25$ but here's the difference. Basically for a keg type meal you pay a Montana's price for a Montana's type meal you pay a Mc Donald's price and then if you want look a little harder and you can find the local flavor for below 10$ for the family. All three are good choices it just depends on what you want and how far you need your money to go.
Tomorrow we meet new friends here again before we head back to quito for our final few days. We have a decision to make this week. Stay in quito in one of the valleys, move to Otovalo which was really nice or move to Cuenca. We'll keep you posted.
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| Inside the Hostel |
After dropping our bags it was time to tour the city. We made our way around the downtown and found a nice market and lots of scenic areas, a change from what we've seen in quito. We also made our way over to the Rio mall. A full service mall where we enjoyed a Mega meal lunch at a chicken and burger shack for $10 which gave us 2 burgers, fries, chicken nuggets, 2 pieces of chicken and an ice cream dessert. From there we looked at an apartment another $2 taxi ride. Arriving in the area we found a park for the kids and quite the nice homes. The apartment is quite new perhaps 3 years at most and has 2 bathrooms and 2 bedrooms along with everything we need including a washer and dryer, something not all units have. The owner wants $400 a month and will include hydro, water and unlimited internet. I would say sold. So all goes well we will be moving here Sept 1.
Now that we found an apartment time to explore the town. I found a little coffee roaster in town who grinds and bags his coffee at 3.50 a lbs. Might have to see about exporting some of that. It was a good coffee and I brought a bag home. We also found a nice pizza joint where we had lunch. Three slices of pizza, 2 burgers and a Pint and I mean a pint of beer all for $8.50. So yes there are good prices for food here you just have to look. Its very easy to spend money without paying attention. Supper last night was 25$ but here's the difference. Basically for a keg type meal you pay a Montana's price for a Montana's type meal you pay a Mc Donald's price and then if you want look a little harder and you can find the local flavor for below 10$ for the family. All three are good choices it just depends on what you want and how far you need your money to go.
Tomorrow we meet new friends here again before we head back to quito for our final few days. We have a decision to make this week. Stay in quito in one of the valleys, move to Otovalo which was really nice or move to Cuenca. We'll keep you posted.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
In the crater of a volcano
Well its been a few days and eventful it was. Where to start.
Friday we had the pleasure of meeting some friends who were our first contact in Ecuador from Canada. They have had the pleasure of traveling the country and in the 12 months they have been here the have seen everything from the amazon to the coast and everything in between. It was nice to hit it off right away with them. all this thanks to to friends who had spent 6 months in costa rica and met a and a in Panama. As I mentioned they have had the pleasure of traveling all over.
Thursday and Tuesday we had the opportunity to work with Spanish friends in the area doing survey work searching for English speaking people. As we were placed 1 English speaking with 1 Spanish speaking it forced us to practice and learn our Spanish even more. What a pleasure that was.
Saturday after our meeting we went for dinner at a mall and enjoyed some good American food - burger and fries. Boy the jungle is hard. Funny story I decided to take a picture of the pizza hut and I had a guy staring at me thinking I was from the jungle and had never seen a pizza hut before. After that we went to a fair which was great as it was free entree and rides were 0.35$ each for kids and $1.50 for adults. After which we went go carting for $6.50. Of course I won.
Sunday we made our up north to a town called otovalo were we went to the market. Wow. Spent to much and by too much I mean maybe $100 for alpaca scarves, hats, blanket, and a shale. So that being said I would like to see about setting up distribution if interested. Its almost a better deal than my Chinese silk ties for those who know about that. In otovalo we met up with our friends a and a again who had scouted the area on Saturday for the big market. Almost double the size of the rest of the week. We went for pizza in a little non Italian Italian restaurant. Again we met a gentleman there from Montreal who was scouting the land. Had an interesting conversation with him. After which we headed back to the hostel for the night. Nice place just very hard beds. That being said it looked like they were slowly replacing the beds in the rooms.
Monday brought more travels. We went up to Cotacachi and had the opportunity to go to the JW leather goods store. I have yet to see the online prices but apparently we got our items at a third the regular price. Picked up book bags for me and heidi. We also went up to a crater of a volcano. It is now a beautiful lake the is protected and the colour is amazing. In the middle of the lake is 2 islands that are pretty much untouched by man - kinda reminds me of the Jurassic park movie. We took a boat ride around the lake and met a couple of Jewish guys who were on a 7 month tour of south America and gave them a ride back to Cotacachi from the volcano. Poor them stuck with the 11 of us and having to listen to us about the bible. It was a good time. They even seemed to enjoy it.
We finished our day a nice restaurant on the side of the water. I would say kinda like a keg just better. And the pricing was good. After which it was a long drive home but well worth the drive. So much so we are considering moving out there as our new home. Just waiting on a few call backs.
Friday we had the pleasure of meeting some friends who were our first contact in Ecuador from Canada. They have had the pleasure of traveling the country and in the 12 months they have been here the have seen everything from the amazon to the coast and everything in between. It was nice to hit it off right away with them. all this thanks to to friends who had spent 6 months in costa rica and met a and a in Panama. As I mentioned they have had the pleasure of traveling all over.
Thursday and Tuesday we had the opportunity to work with Spanish friends in the area doing survey work searching for English speaking people. As we were placed 1 English speaking with 1 Spanish speaking it forced us to practice and learn our Spanish even more. What a pleasure that was.
Saturday after our meeting we went for dinner at a mall and enjoyed some good American food - burger and fries. Boy the jungle is hard. Funny story I decided to take a picture of the pizza hut and I had a guy staring at me thinking I was from the jungle and had never seen a pizza hut before. After that we went to a fair which was great as it was free entree and rides were 0.35$ each for kids and $1.50 for adults. After which we went go carting for $6.50. Of course I won. Sunday we made our up north to a town called otovalo were we went to the market. Wow. Spent to much and by too much I mean maybe $100 for alpaca scarves, hats, blanket, and a shale. So that being said I would like to see about setting up distribution if interested. Its almost a better deal than my Chinese silk ties for those who know about that. In otovalo we met up with our friends a and a again who had scouted the area on Saturday for the big market. Almost double the size of the rest of the week. We went for pizza in a little non Italian Italian restaurant. Again we met a gentleman there from Montreal who was scouting the land. Had an interesting conversation with him. After which we headed back to the hostel for the night. Nice place just very hard beds. That being said it looked like they were slowly replacing the beds in the rooms.
Monday brought more travels. We went up to Cotacachi and had the opportunity to go to the JW leather goods store. I have yet to see the online prices but apparently we got our items at a third the regular price. Picked up book bags for me and heidi. We also went up to a crater of a volcano. It is now a beautiful lake the is protected and the colour is amazing. In the middle of the lake is 2 islands that are pretty much untouched by man - kinda reminds me of the Jurassic park movie. We took a boat ride around the lake and met a couple of Jewish guys who were on a 7 month tour of south America and gave them a ride back to Cotacachi from the volcano. Poor them stuck with the 11 of us and having to listen to us about the bible. It was a good time. They even seemed to enjoy it. We finished our day a nice restaurant on the side of the water. I would say kinda like a keg just better. And the pricing was good. After which it was a long drive home but well worth the drive. So much so we are considering moving out there as our new home. Just waiting on a few call backs.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
We are now legal
It's official, we are now legal for the next 6 months. If you are Canadian and want to make your way down here this is my recommendation. When in Canada make your way to the Ecuadorian Consulate and apply for the 6 month 12-IX. This will make things much faster. All we ended having to do is go to the immigration office on Friday which took about 2 hrs. We needed our approved VISAS from the consulate in Canada, our Passports, full color copies of our passports of both the picture pages and the entry stamps all three of them, and we also had to fill out the Direccion General de Extranjeria. From there we waited and got pictures taken and had to pay a 4$ fee. We then had to return on Tuesday to pick up our Certficado de Empadronamiento which was about another 1.5hr wait. But this time all that was needed was to confirm the info and sign for. Interesting enough here you need ID for everything from getting a rewards card to using your credit card at a store.
Speaking of reward cards we went to the movies on Monday to see Madagascar 3 in Spanish and it was great. the cost was 4.25 each but because of the reward card we paid 2.99, so 12$ for the whole family that's the cost of 1 person back home. Then we got a 6$ combo of 1 Popcorn, 1 soft drink, 1 hot dog and a 3$ phone card which I needed for my phone as my time had run out.
Yesterday we went out again and met a English speaking Ecuadorian who owns a restaurant. He was very pleasant to speak with and even accepted a study. So as much as we have to search for those who speak English when we do they are always kind and want to talk about the bible.
I will say that after yesterday there are 2 things back home I will not complain about anymore. 1) The traffic, it took us 1.5hrs to get from the South end of the city to the North in the morning and that was on a bus. 2) I will not complain about Ottawa bus. The bus here at traffic time make the 95 look like a walk in the park. None the less, it was fun just makes for long days.
And as per my last Blog, we got a TV. The landlord here knocked on our door a few nights ago and said she had a gift for us and gave us a TV to use. We get 4 local channels but they are good to a tune our ears to the language.
Next week we will begin to see the rest of the country side. We have a trip Otavalo and hopefully Cuanca as well.
Asta Luego
Speaking of reward cards we went to the movies on Monday to see Madagascar 3 in Spanish and it was great. the cost was 4.25 each but because of the reward card we paid 2.99, so 12$ for the whole family that's the cost of 1 person back home. Then we got a 6$ combo of 1 Popcorn, 1 soft drink, 1 hot dog and a 3$ phone card which I needed for my phone as my time had run out.
Yesterday we went out again and met a English speaking Ecuadorian who owns a restaurant. He was very pleasant to speak with and even accepted a study. So as much as we have to search for those who speak English when we do they are always kind and want to talk about the bible.
I will say that after yesterday there are 2 things back home I will not complain about anymore. 1) The traffic, it took us 1.5hrs to get from the South end of the city to the North in the morning and that was on a bus. 2) I will not complain about Ottawa bus. The bus here at traffic time make the 95 look like a walk in the park. None the less, it was fun just makes for long days.
And as per my last Blog, we got a TV. The landlord here knocked on our door a few nights ago and said she had a gift for us and gave us a TV to use. We get 4 local channels but they are good to a tune our ears to the language.
Next week we will begin to see the rest of the country side. We have a trip Otavalo and hopefully Cuanca as well.
Asta Luego
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Adjustments
It's a amazing when we think of the need of water. A minor adjustment here and it makes you realize what we need clean water for. Everything here is done with bottled water from making coffee to brushing our teeth, simple things that we were use to just going into the kitchen or bathroom and turning on the water to complete our task has changed. That being said bottled water is cheap enough a 20L bottle is $2.50. But it's the mind set, get a glass of water go to washroom and brush the kids teeth. The shower IF it's going to be hot MUST be on a low pressure setting as it runs through a small on-demand heater cup. And I think the toughest has been shaving. I have 2 choices cold water or no mirror. The sink with Hot water has no mirror and the sink with cold water has a mirror. I've tried both not sure which is better.
This is a view from the street where we toke the bus to go to the service group. There's another adjustment. Bus ride of 50 mins and then a 5 min taxi ride to get to where our group was. That being said the whole trip cost us $2.00 for the 4 of us. And to give you an idea it would be like going from Orleans to Kanata by bus and then taking a cab to Stittsville.
Service was another interesting adjustment. We arrived on a street corner for our rotating service group where about 20 of us met. From there we proceed to do some survey work looking for English speaking foreigners in the area. That being said we were 10 of us walking up the street knocking at every door. Definitely different. We had one local cab driver who spoke English accepted the articles and then came to the meeting at 2PM at the Kingdom Hall. After the meeting said he would be back every week, so this was quite exciting. Heidi also had the opportunity to speak with a gentleman in English, French, German and Spanish. Not something we get to do every day.
This is a view from the street where we toke the bus to go to the service group. There's another adjustment. Bus ride of 50 mins and then a 5 min taxi ride to get to where our group was. That being said the whole trip cost us $2.00 for the 4 of us. And to give you an idea it would be like going from Orleans to Kanata by bus and then taking a cab to Stittsville.
After service and lunch it's off to the meeting which was a 5 min car ride and we were with friends who had a car and are actually from the Kemptville area so that was neat. They have lived here for 9 years. Nice to meet friends like that as they can give us direction as to where to go and not to. The meeting was good we had a speaker from New York and his wife were there. They are leaving to go back home in 3 weeks as they have been here for a year and now are going home to pursue the goal of BSCC.
This is inside the hall. Very Nice.
We got home after a long day tired but not wiped, had dinner with the boys a relaxed for a bit before going to bed. And that is the final adjustment We have no TV and our internet is pay per meg so not really going to stream video and pay for it. So we are stuck talking to each other :). Not so bad, I still enjoy Heidi's company. That being said I may splurge and buy a TV before we leave.
Well time to paint the house today. Our landlord has been very helpful and since she is renovating we figured the least we could do is paint the house for her. The fun begins.
Chow
Friday, August 3, 2012
So here we are in the Southern Hemisphere. Our first 36 hrs and it's been quite interesting. Our Journey started with a 3 AM wake up to go to the Montreal airport on Wednesday and after spending 1.5hrs in 3 different line ups our plane left at 6 and off to Miami we were. Upon arrival at Miami we had a 6 hr layover not bad, but we had to exit and wait in lines for another 1.5hrs to get tickets and go through security again, a bit of a pain but it was done. The plane to Quito was quite nice, in fact probably one of the better planes I've taken. Captain even invited the boys into the cockpit to take pictures
Our arrival in Quito was interesting. Wind made our approach difficult and we had to turn around and try again so we were delayed in landing by 30 mins. The plane also had many Americans which were in town for the Ecuador Conference from International Living. We had the pleasure of meeting a few who were excited about what we were doing.
Now the fun stuff. Our contact/friends were patiently waiting for us with balloons and flowers it was really nice. We took a bus/taxi home which was about a 30 min drive and of course this is were we lost our first and only piece of luggage. Keefe in his daze left his carry-on, on the bus. Fortunately all that was in it was his Nintendo DS, a blanket, and a few books. I nice little tip for the Taxi/bus driver. We got to our home and went pretty much straight to bed after working out a few kinks.
Our first day. We woke in the morning to explore our new home and on our roof top we found this beautiful view 
A snow capped mountain and many more around us. Not snow capped though. No snow here except on the mountain. We went by taxi for our first shop, the taxi cost us $1.48 each way. The grocery store was basically a Cosco called SuperMaxi. Having to get the regulars plus our monthly items our first shop cost $100. But of course we forgot items. So at supper we were making spaghetti and salad but had no dressing or spaghetti sauce so I attempted to go and buy some at the local depanneur. I came home with Ketchup and Vinegar, Heidi had a good laugh now we have a 2 month supply of ketchup.
A snow capped mountain and many more around us. Not snow capped though. No snow here except on the mountain. We went by taxi for our first shop, the taxi cost us $1.48 each way. The grocery store was basically a Cosco called SuperMaxi. Having to get the regulars plus our monthly items our first shop cost $100. But of course we forgot items. So at supper we were making spaghetti and salad but had no dressing or spaghetti sauce so I attempted to go and buy some at the local depanneur. I came home with Ketchup and Vinegar, Heidi had a good laugh now we have a 2 month supply of ketchup.
All said and done so far so good and the coffee and beer is has good as or even better then I thought it would be. We will keep you posted with more fun and pics. Stay tuned.
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