SO WHAT’S ECUADOR REALLY LIKE? – RETIRE AND GO PLACES

Michelle and I have spent much of our last two years in Ecuador. Back when we were kids I don’t think either one of us ever dreamed that one day we would get rid of most everything we owned, hop on an airplane and fly to Ecuador sight unseen for the purpose of becoming residents there! We had done a lot of research on this place and watched a lot of videos from our favorite (at that time) Youtube couple (Amelia and JP), who had already done exactly what we planned to do. Amelia and JP moved to Ecuador from Colorado in 2018. In their Youtube videos they showed how inexpensive it is to live in Ecuador, and also how nice it is here. Additionally, they explained how relatively easy it is to obtain a retirement visa for Ecuador. This sounded great to us because a lot of countries that we’d been looking at seemed almost impossible to get a visa to stay long term, but Ecuador was well within reach so we watched Amelia and JP intently to learn all we could about moving here!

After they had arrived in Ecuador, Amelia and JP first lived in Cuenca, which is in the mountains of Ecuador, and then moved to Olon, a small coastal village that looks like a wonderful place to visit but felt to us a little underdeveloped for what Michelle and I were looking for in a place to live. However, when Amelia and JP moved to Manta and we saw the place where they lived, and the cost, and how nice it looked…we were hooked! We began planning on our move and hoped to make it happen in January 2022.

We started the process to apply for a retirement visa while we were still in the US. Amelia and JP recommended a company called Gringo Visas on their videos that could help facilitate our application process. Click HERE for the link to their page. They were extremely helpful, and although there were many steps that we had to go through, we qualified for and received our retirement temporary residency visa about 2 months after we arrived in Ecuador and it’s valid for 2 years. Ours will expire in March 2024.

So after spending the greater part of 2 years in Ecuador, we want to share with you what we think of this country, just in case you might be looking for a place in which to retire where your dollars will probably last much longer than anywhere you might be coming from.

So here is the good, the bad, and the ugly of Ecuador…

The Good

The Cost of Living

There is plenty that is good in Ecuador! One thing that we had looked for was a country with a low cost of living that provided a decent quality of life. Our first apartment in Manta was in a gated community, in a building with 24 hour security that had a gym and swimming pool. It was a two bedroom apartment with a large kitchen and a big balcony, and we were only about 100 yards from the beach. During the months of July to September, we could actually sit on our balcony and watch humpback whales swimming in front of us! We were also within walking distance of everything we needed, to include a rather large shopping mall and a Mega Maxi Supermarket (picture Wall-Mart), and a Mega Kiwi (the Ecuadorian equivalent to Home Depot). If we needed to go further, taxis were available everywhere and a trip from one end of the city to the other might cost $3.00! Buses cost 30 cents. Our rent for getting to live there was $1000.00 per month! We could buy breakfast for two at our favorite morning restaurant for $10.00 total and that included coffee and juice with our meals. Everything is roughly 50-60% of what it might cost in the US. A Doctor visit costs $40.00 (and that is without insurance). Manta is one of the more expensive areas in Ecuador to live, but a budget of $3000.00 per month for 2 people is easily done and very comfortable!

The People

The Ecuadorian people are fantastic! They are friendly and warm and will go out of their way to help expats. One day after Michelle and I first arrived in Manta, we were trying to figure out how to take a bus to a shopping center that we’d never been to. An App called “Moovit”, which can be helpful to figure out which bus to take was failing us that day, so Michelle and I were at a bus stop at a loss trying to determine which bus we needed to get on. We were looking for a particular bus but one bus after another came and went, but still the one we thought we needed never appeared. We must have looked a little lost (and stressed), when a tiny (certainly less than 5 feet tall), older Ecuadorian lady came up to us and started to speak Spanish. We didn’t understand her, but she seemed to know we needed help so we did our best to explain that we were trying to go to a certain shopping center but didn’t know which bus to take. She smiled, and (using hand gestures) motioned for us to wait with her. Still not knowing exactly what was happening, we decided to wait. When a certain bus stopped, she motioned for us to follow her. So we did!

We got on the bus and sat down. The lady sat a few rows ahead of us but kept turning around and smiling at us. At each of the next several bus stops, she would turn around each time, smile, and then turn back around in her seat. Eventually the bus came to a stop and she got up, motioned for us to follow her, and we all got off the bus. She, still speaking in Spanish and using hand gestures, motioned for us to follow her down the street. I remember as we followed, thinking how crazy this was. Here we were following a tiny Ecuadorian woman we didn’t know down a street that we didn’t know, to a place that we’d never been before! But something about her made us feel as though she was trying to help, so we kept following her. We made a few turns, crossed a few intersections, made a left hand turn, and there, lo and behold was the shopping center that we were looking for! We were so thankful! We kept saying “Gracias! Muchas Gracias!!” She only said “De Nada! Buen Dia!” (You’re welcome. Good Day!) And then she turned around and walked back down the street the way we had come before. It was then that we realized that this lady, who we’d never met before, went completely out of her way that day to help us, simply because she knew we needed it! I’m sad to say this, but I don’t think many Americans would have ever done this for someone who didn’t speak English. And I feel bad about that because I know that I was one of those Americans at one time.

Another thing that has struck Michelle and I in such a positive way is the way Ecuadorians approach their jobs! Whether their job is in a restaurant, or supermarket, shopping center, bank, security guard or just about anywhere, Ecuadorians take their jobs seriously. They are always professional and dress sharply. They are always polite and helpful! It’s such a difference between the way it is here, and the way it was back in America when we lived there. We’ve been in countless business establishments here over the last 2 years and we’ve always been provided top notch professional service from everyone we’ve encountered. It really feels like Ecuadorians take pride in their work and are very happy to have the job they are doing. They are always smiling and go out of their way to help. It’s truly refreshing to see this and experience it!

It’s not only Ecuadorians that one encounters in Ecuador. There is also a sizable expat community! We’ve lived in both Manta and Cuenca, and there are plenty of expats in both places. In Manta, the expat community got together every Wednesday night for dinner at a different restaurant every week. In Cuenca there are so many expats that activities are happening all the time! In fact there are so many, the expat community has designed a website called gringopost.com where people can post events, recommendations for different places, things for sale, etc. It’s updated every morning. If a person becomes bored in Cuenca, it’s really their own fault!

The Bad

The Noise

Ecuador is overall a very loud place to live! There certainly doesn’t appear to be any locally enforced statutes that restrict decibel levels in any of the places we’ve lived or visited. It’s not uncommon for groups of people to get together on any night of the week and blast music that is quite loud enough to be heard well into outer-space! I am not joking when I say that it doesn’t matter what day of the week it is, what time it is, who else is around, or where it is, loud parties can pop up anywhere! When we first arrived in Manta, on certain nights of the week, a group of younger people would park their cars across the street from the Airbnb we were staying at. One car would inevitably have a speaker the size of a Volkswagen mounted in their trunk and would turn that thing up to levels I never knew were possible! It rattled our windows, and could knock tooth fillings out of their respective teeth if one opened his or her mouth too wide! Additionally, car alarms go off constantly and drivers love to use their horns to beep at everything that moves. It’s not uncommon for a car to have its alarm going off while being towed down the road on a flatbed truck while the flatbed truck driver simultaneously beeps his horn at oncoming traffic!

If that isn’t enough, Ecuadorians love fireworks and will set them off for any and every occasion! In fact, Churches even set fireworks off at times, and this can be late at night, or very early in the morning. These are more like cannon explosions and they set them off for different reasons. I’ve heard that one reason is to “wake the saints”. (I’m not sure if saints are actually woken, but I certainly am!) Another reason is that a statue of the Virgin Mary is carried around to different churches within the city where she stays with them for a few days. While she is there, that church will set off loud explosions about every 30-40 minutes to let everyone know where she is. (I haven’t seen anything official on this, but this is what I’ve heard).

Parties can also happen at any time, anywhere. It can be a wedding, a “Quinceanera” (an Ecuadorian girl’s 15th birthday), a family reunion, or simply because it’s Tuesday!

I’ve never heard any Ecuadorians complain about noise. It is part of their culture, and they seem to not only accept it, but to expect it. They like to have fun and noise is just part of that experience! Expats on the other hand, are usually the ones to complain. Resistance is futile, however. Some expats never get that concept and they get angry about it. The smart ones who understand the culture here simply invest in good earplugs and accept that this is the way things are in Ecuador and go back to sleep!

The Ugly

The Drug Cartels

One of the things that drew Michelle and I to Ecuador originally was that it was considered to be very safe. The research we’d done reflected that it was one of the safest countries in South America, and that was very safe to walk around in the cities. The worst thing one might need to worry about was petty crime such as pickpocketing. It was considered generally safe throughout the country and when we got here, we did feel that way. Even though folks here are not generally as well off as people in the US, two things that are not present here are drugged-up individuals laying on the streets, or homelessness. There are no “tent cities” here like in many cities in the US. Michelle and I generally felt safe no matter where we walked, and it was great!

Sadly, safety is no longer one of the better qualities overall in Ecuador, especially along the coastal cities. Drug cartels from Mexico, Columbia, Peru and even Albania are infiltrating these places and they are trying to secure and grow their turf. Gang violence and murders are becoming real problems in these coastal regions. Within the last 6 months there have been political assassinations by cartel Sicarios against one Presidential candidate and one Mayor (of Manta, Ecuador). A new President was just recently elected so it remains to be seen if he can turn things around here. We are praying that he can!

So far, Michelle and I have still felt very safe in Cuenca. Honestly though, we’ve been more cautious this time than we’ve been in the past. No longer do we take our safety for granted like we did before. I think we glance over our shoulders more often. Because of everything we’ve heard about in Ecuador over the last year, it’s just not the same for us as it used to be. Which is sad.

The Verdict

Ecuador has been very good to us! We’ve met so many wonderful Ecuadorians and we will always remember how warm and friendly they are! From our real estate agent in Manta, “Stella” who found us our perfect apartment, to the world’s most friendly and helpful driver “Juan” who always went above and beyond for us whenever we needed to go somewhere, to our banker “Javier” who was an absolute pleasure to work with, to the woman who helped us find our way on the bus that day, we simply can’t thank you enough! We don’t regret moving here at all and we will always have fond memories of Ecuador.

Why have we decided to not renew our visa, and to instead leave Ecuador? Only because we feel that Asia is where God is leading us now. When we visited there last year we fell in love with it and so very soon we will be back there again.

Would we recommend moving to Ecuador? In good conscience, I would say “YES” with a caveat. I would wait to see what happens here over the next year to see what happens with the crime issues, and what happens with the new President. If things don’t get worse, then Ecuador is a wonderful, inexpensive place to live! It’s also on the Equator, so you can basically choose the weather you like simply by deciding on the elevation in Ecuador that you choose to live. I recommend Cuenca!

Have a great day everyone!