Ken and Sharon do Cuenca

 

So we went to Cuenca a few weeks ago to get our cedulas. It’s like an identity card and you have to have one after a certain amount of time in Ecuador in order to access the health care system etc. Anyway, we were looking forward to the trip as it was going to be a nice break from the usual. Cuenca is a much bigger city than Loja, approximately 5 hundred thousand, and it’s where most of the expats land since the expat community is about 12,000. It’s also one of only three places in the country where you can get your cedula, Quito, Cuenca and Guayaquil.

We decided to take one of the mini vans that leave every hour from Loja for the four hour ride to Cuenca. $12 each and the dog was free. Taking the dog was cheaper than boarding him and the hotel was pet friendly. We had booked  a nice 5 star hotel, right in the center of the city for $50 a night, with breakfast

 At 7 am the next morning Sharon set off for her first appointment. I already had the final document she needed so I didn’t have to go. She was accompanied by our agent, Santiago who has been guiding us through this whole visa process. Be advised that it is more than worth the money to have an agent as the process is complicated enough without struggling with your rudimentary Spanish. (More on that later). Anyway, that went well and they were back by 11am and we all headed out to actually get the cedulas. The Central Registry office was a zoo, with people lined up out the door, but thankfully, everyone here wears a mask, everywhere! Eventually around 3pm we got to the head of the line, got fingerprinted, photographs taken, and then went to sit and wait for the cards. After about 45min my card showed up at the window but not Sharon’s. Out of an abundance of caution because of Covid and crowded spaces I went outside to wait. Sharon then proceeded to have all sorts of problems, had to go back and have the whole thing done again and it was almost 6pm before it was all satisfactory and we could leave. Oh well, that’s life in South America, learn patience. Could have been much worse.  Then a nice dinner at the hotel and early to bed.

Next morning the cab comes to pick us up at 10:30 for the 11am mini bus back to Loja and we are the only passengers with two drivers! How nice is that!  Off we go and before long it’s raining Gatos y Perros. After 3 hours we get to some stopped traffic and discover that the road has been overrun by a mudslide. After much discussion in our broken Spanish we understand we have two choices. Return to Cuenca, (3 hrs and another night in a hotel) or walk with the spare driver past the mudslide. He has called ahead and there will be a cab waiting for us on the other side to drive us on to Loja. After some more discussion we opt for the latter and set out. The mini bus heads back to Cuenca.

After wading through mud and rushing water up to our knees (remember the Gatos y Perros?) we get to the other side only to discover that not only do we have to hike 4 more kilometers but there are more mudslides before we get to where the cab is. And much of it is uphill. And it continues to rain, and before long it will be dark!  Lesson learned at this point? Keep up with the Spanish classes so you know what’s Really going on! Great advice, but the mini bus is gone, along with our options. I turn my head so no one will see me crying, and we head off.

Man, it was awful. Raining, mud, wet wife, wet dog, soon angry wife and resigned dog. I start slowly handing stuff I’m carrying to Sharon until she begins to look like my bearer. Hey, she’s twenty years younger than me, there has to be some advantages to being old! I’m positive it was more like six km, and after 4 hours of walking and    mudslides where we wade through quicksand like mud, desperately holding on to each other in order not to be swept away, we arrive in the little town of Santiago where the cab is. The main street is a foot deep in mud, water, rocks, and logs with traffic backed up for miles. But there’s our cab, a splendid looking chariot if I ever saw one!  When we get in I really should care that the back of the cab is getting caked in mud and water from us and the dog, but I don’t. Not I my friend. Too exhausted.

 We get home at eight. What should have been a 4 hour ride was 9 hours in total. I just turned on the hot water in the shower and walked in with my clothes on, dragging  the dog in with me. For awhile I thought all the mud would clog the drain, but shortly I am on my face, on the bed, out cold. Went for a short walk this morning but for the next few days the dog and I will be staying close to home. He’s just lying there, occasionally looking at up me as if to say “What the ….. was that??!” Anyway, all the above is by way of saying, this living in an exotic, foreign country is not all sun and roses. Occasionally you have to pay. But that’s true everywhere I suspect. Next time I will go back! Turns out I’m a hotel bar kind of guy. Who knew? Intrepid is gone. Hello to sitting in a comfortable chair with a cool drink at hand,  waiting for young folk to come up to me looking for wisdom. First piece of advice… don’t be a hero, take the bus back to the hotel.                                                                       

No telling how many lives I will save!

Merry Christmas

 Here's a big shout out to all our friends and regular readers. Just want you all to know we are well and ready to welcome the New Year. Some of you have been wondering if we are alright  since we haven't posted for  awhile. We were up in Cuenca to get our two year temporary residency visas and our cedulas a couple of weeks ago and the trip turned into an adventure of somewhat epic proportions. I was going to post about it earlier but the magazine International Living had expressed an interest in publishing the story and they didn't want it showing up on our blog as well. It now appears as though they are somewhat lacking in good taste so I will post the story here, with the gruesome pictures, very soon.

For now, here are the lucky couple celebrating with their hard won Cedulas and ready to meet 2021 head on. 

Hope you are all as well as we are and please, have a great holiday.

                           Yes, we are official temporary residents!   

         Remember, on January 1, hindsight will officially be 2020!

The Fight against Complacency

 Every time I start one of these I am awestruck by the size of my ego. To think that there is anyone who would care, one way or another, about what I think about anything is more than a trifle egotistical. But like a fat man looking at an eclair, it's there, I have to eat it. I had an idea, I have to write it down. And if you were foolish enough to get to this page by mistake, or even through carelessness, it's on your head. So today I post some personal thoughts about complacency, both usual and as it pertains to the pandemic.

The pandemic has been raging for months and at the moment is getting worse by the day. And yet the caution that I felt in the beginning has largely disappeared. I suppose through what they are calling "Covid fatigue". One can only stay on guard for so long before your attention starts to wander. You peek your head over the top of the trench and, ping, they pick you off. I seem to remember having the same problem in school, so why am I surprised; "Ken could do so much better if only he would pay attention in class!" An additional sixty years doesn't seem to have solved the problem. But at least now I know it's a problem and I try to guard against it. When an idea for doing something outside of the confines of my limited personal interactions comes up I have to slap my imaginary face more often now. That little voice that says "it'll be alright," has to be stomped on and shut back in the closet. And I have to keep reminding myself of how stupid I would feel if I was very careful for months and then died because I thought some event or occasion would make a nice blog post or a picture.  Here lies Ken Taylor, he got the picture. Too bad it was out of focus!

And I certainly don't think I am the only one. We all want our old life back. I'm trying, but I don't think I have fully incorporated the fact that that's not happening. Ever. Things will be different. The problem is, as yet, we don't know exactly how different. Is it simply that I will have to get an extra shot in the arm every few months or will I have to live the rest of my life wearing a giant rubber condom whenever I leave the house. Maybe that's the problem. I can't see the shape of the future. I just know I want to have one. So I have to keep telling myself that I shouldn't change what seems to be working. Ignore the sirens on the rocks that keep waving at me and saying that life is much more exciting where they are. They never tell you that it might be much shorter as well.

It is especially hard when you are in a new place and want to get out and experience it. Otherwise why are you here in the first place? Top that off with the fact that I have never been the poster boy for delayed gratification and you have a recipe for disaster. When my mother left the room and I was alone with two cookies, having just been told to save one for later, there was never a look of surprise on her face when she returned to find me licking the table top and not a cookie in sight. Oh she tried, I'll give her that. But I always seemed to know that there were more cookies where those came from. Couple that with the attention span of a flea and I was on to other things and other adventures. Which I proceeded to gobble up with equal abandon.

So what's my point? For the first time in seventy .....  years I am realizing that, this time, if I eat the second cookie there might not be any more. In fact, if I eat that cookie there might not be any more ME. Sobering thought. I want each of you to pause for a moment and take that in. Imagine how colourless and grey your life would be without me in it.  It won't matter to me, I'll be dead so I won't know, or care. But you! All of you will have to go through the rest of your drab and featureless existences without me and the constant inspiration I provide. And just now, realizing that, suddenly I an infused with a new commitment to the care and attention ... of me! I have new motivation. I can do this. For you, all of you. Even those of you who will be completely unaware of the work and sacrifice I am putting in. Just so you can continue to have an example before you of what can be achieved if you fritter away every opportunity presented to you and relentlessly pursue each shiny new bauble that appears on the horizon. A life some might deem wasted, but you and I know, is the pinnacle of achievement. That oh so exclusive club of dilatants and vagabonds secretly admired by everyone for their seemingly carefree and useless lives.  Grasshoppers of the world arise!

So I am hereby dedicating it to you, whoever and wherever you are. Come back to this blog in the coming months and realize that you have had a small part in its continued worldwide success. Please, no need to thank me. I am buoyed by picturing the statues that will be erected to me in the future and by the fact that, if I am really careful, I'll bet I can outlive The Orange Idiot. Now there's a goal, (and an opportunity to gloat!) that is worthy of striving for.

I am renewed. Thank you.

Living With Constant Difference

 

   Living With Constant Difference - How to describe the expat life

    I have been trying for sometime to figure out how to describe, in a visual sense, just what the expat lifestyle is like and the hurdles and joys of what a person faces when they decide to live in a strange country. Lo and behold the other day I ran across a fruit I had never seen before which perfectly embodies everything in Ecuador that I find puzzling and wonderful at the same time. 

                            Behold the Granadilla fruta. 

   When I first saw it I thought, "Oh, it's an orange, a little different but I've had different oranges all over the world, this is just another variety." So I picked it up and, surprise surprise, the outer shell is hard. Not like a nut, but hard. And here begins your first lesson in the expat life. Whatever you think you know, you are probably wrong. Things may look almost familiar but starting right from the surface they are not. Time to rearrange your expectations. But don't worry, this is not a bad thing, it's just different. And you will have to adapt. Wherever you are, it's you that will have to make the change. The country may have a hard shell but with just a little effort on your part it will give up it's secrets.

   So what are your first steps? Well, lets try to peel away some layers and discover what lies beneath. It can't be all hard shell. So you make your first tentative tries at peeling away some of the outer protective layer to see what's inside. We all have a outer shell which we use to ward off that which might attack us and it's the same with countries. Sometimes they don't give up their secrets right away. You are the foreigner, so you are the one that has to make the first gentle tries at getting under that hard exterior.

   So we begin, gently peeling away the outer shell. 

   Whatever we do we don't want to bruise what's underneath. After all, that's why it has a hard shell in the first place. But the good thing is, whatever is inside is probably worth the effort. 

   And as soon as we start we immediately come to something we think we recognize. It's the white skin you will see on the inside of an orange. The kind of sinew that holds the pieces of pulp together. So now we are in familiar territory and we can relax a bit. This is not so strange after all. It was just the outer shell that was different. I'll be able to figure this country out in no time and be perfectly comfortable, right? Not so fast!

   By now we have spent a few months in our new country, we have run across a few hard shells, and now we are ready to try to dig a little deeper and really get at the fruit. How different can it be. Just peel away this second skin and get to the juicy fruit part. So we take some Spanish classes, study a bit of history, are pleasant and nice to everyone, and then we break the skin a bit and find... not what we were expecting at all! 

   Underneath all that protection is a tender sack filled with seeds, and all held together with a kind of jelly-like substance that you don't recognize at all. In Ecuador, and in every country on earth, this is the essence of what the country really is. The seeds of what it is, held together by something you've never seen before. And it is completely foreign to everything you know. Some of it, if you are honest, is even a little off putting. Is this something you could get used to? Are you even going to try it? It looks a bit slippery. And how do I eat it? This doesn't even look like it belongs in the fruit category. Kind of like the first time you were encouraged to eat a snail or an oyster.  Guess what, it's a test my friend. Welcome to expat life.

   So get out  your bowl and spoon and start digging. You have to be determined to make a go of this. And surprisingly, everything comes out easily. The seeds are held together by the jelly and it all comes out in one piece. And now comes the ultimate  test. Are you going to trust what others tell you and put it in your mouth?

    At this point you are allowed to make a compromise. You are an expat after all. No one is going to fault you if you don't do exactly as the locals do. If it makes you feel better, add something you are more familiar with, like another fruit, and some granola, and then some milk, and away you go!

   And guess what. it's fabulous! Slightly sweet, smooth, and the seeds are crunchy and delicious. With the granola and a banana you declare that this is going to be your new go-to-breakfast. And, to top it off, apparently it is very good for you. Who would have thought? But that's the mantra of expat life. Try it, you'll probably like it.

   So it's time to sum up what we have learned today about expat life, wherever you are experiencing it in the world. It's never what you think it's going to be. In an earlier blog post I mentioned that at home, time was always  speeding by without you being aware of its passing until one day you said, "Man that year went by quickly." But remember when you were a kid in grade school and summer vacation seemed to go on forever? That was because you were doing something new every day. Things you had never done before. And the reason it speeds by now is because every day you are doing things you have done many times before. You are set on automatic. Expat life is like summer vacation when you were seven. New things, surprising things, exciting things, puzzling things... every day! Some you will embrace, some you will take a pass on. You don't have to love everything. But at no time will you be bored. And guess what, life does seems to slow down! You will never become a native. Don't even try. You don't have enough time. But around every corner is a new adventure. Every day is a chance to learn something new and to challenge yourself. A chance to grow.  

   And, just like when you were seven, it's a never ending summer vacation!                                      

                 Remember Einstein's definition of insanity!

Don't Get Excited

   As always, I am sitting here wondering what to do for a blog post. Initially when we started this it was supposed to be about our new adventures in Ecuador. To most of you that was probably evident from the title. However, the pandemic hit and adversely affected everything, including this blog. Being of a certain age, which unfortunately begins with a seven, the best advice for me was (is) to stay inside, avoid contact with all those filthy diseased persons roaming the streets trying to infect me, wash my hands, and hope I'm still around when the vaccine arrives. Which I have done. However, posting "I walked the dog, I read a book, I watched TV", every week doesn't inspire return visits to our blog.  So I have been racking my brain for something new. And then it came to me!  I'm old, I mean OLD. And since every persons' life is unique, and I seem to have had a bit more varied life than most, maybe I should just occasionally write a post about that. So that's what I'm about to do. At this point you are free to switch to the latest episode of  "The Bold and the Beautiful" if you like, but the gems of wisdom will be few and far between over there.

Don't Get Excited... It Might Not Happen

   I heard the above expression the other day and I was immediately struck by what a load of... bad advice... it was, on every level. For starters, we all get very few opportunities to get really excited about anything in this life. It just plods along with things continuing to proceed in what seems like an ever repeating loop.  Months, sometimes years, go by without us even being aware that time is passing. And passing us by. If you listen carefully you can hear yourself saying "Where the hell did the summer go?"

   And then the prospect of something exciting happening to us appears on the horizon! Suddenly the days are brighter, the sun is shining, the air is cleaner, and all our senses are tuned, humming, and pointed in one direction. We remember what we did yesterday and we are anticipating what we are going to do tomorrow. Schedules are cleared, plans are made, and we tingle with new possibilities. Life is no longer a plod to the unknown but a shining pathway to a brighter future.

And then someone says "Don't get excited... it might not happen". 

   Now I realize that they are just trying to protect us from disappointment. But life is full of disappointment almost every day. We can handle disappointment.  Disappointment is the thing that we are best trained to deal with. In fact, from birth, we are constantly wishing we were smarter, more athletic, better looking, more artistic, more musical, better at math... do I need to go on? We don't need to be protected from disappointment, we are fully armored against it, daily, almost from the moment we open our eyes and realize we are wearing Pampers and not Huggies. 

   But excitement for the future, that only happens rarely. Even if it's only a possible future. So when it happens we should roll in it, wallow, fantasize about it, spread it on fresh bread and eat it. 

   If you grew up in a small town or a close knit neighbourhood you will remember that there were always a couple of old guys you would see around, doing the same things they had been doing for fifty years. Herman would stride off down the street with hopeful expectation, wishing a "good morning!" to everyone he met and meeting the new day with anticipation. Festus on the other hand would glower at you and simply grunt if you greeted him on the street. Every town had their Hermans and Festuses (Festi?) and they were spoken about a lot. When they were gone people often spoke fondly of Herman, the fun things he did and said, and what a good life he had. 

   Festus... not so much.

   So what's the difference? Herman saw the potential of every day. He got excited. It might happen! And sometimes it did, simply because he was ready and open to any and all ideas. Even near the end he could get excited remembering things that had almost happened. His life was broad and full.

   Festus... not so much. 

   So from my perch in what will be your future, get excited! Have faith, and hope that good things will happen. And when you are in that state, things that you never expected will come running around the corner and slam right into you. And your life will change in completely unexpected ways. Then, when you get older than rock, like yours truly, you might find yourself living in the sun in Ecuador, wondering "How the hell did I get here, and could the whole thing have been any more fun?"

   I don't think so.

                             Get Excited!

Why We Moved - Episode six, ....seven, eight, nine, and ten.

   When we left our couple in the buckboard they were headed over the hill with their dog and cat still searching for their elusive dream, a place to put down roots that was safe, warm, and secure. 

   As the camera lens opens this week we find them in green hills with mountains on both sides, both near and far. The sun is shining and it is obvious that it is warm and pleasant. The road is winding and as they round a corner they are met by a darkly tanned man, dressed in unusual colorful attire, walking in the opposite direction. They stop and converse and it is obvious that there is some language difficulty, but eventually they move on and their anticipation mounts. Finally they crest a rise and below them is a small Spanish style town with a river running through it and small houses rising up either side of the valley. A church bell tolls softly in the distance. They have arrived! 

                                               The End

   I was going to try to continue my little ode to Saturday serials for ten episodes along with our ten reasons for moving to Ecuador but I decided that you are probably as tired of it as I am. Getting too cute by half! So I'm going to squeeze as much into this post as I can and move on. Without further ado, here goes.

   One of the things we wanted to accomplish with this move was to simplify our lives. Get off the treadmill and attend to what is really important. We were looking for a different culture and somewhere more laid back and less hectic. Here, most everyone still takes a siesta mid afternoon, something I incorporated into my life a number of years ago.      Now some of you will be frustrated by the fact that almost everything here is sold from small shops and the shop you wanted to visit is closed for siesta when you get there, and won't be open until 4pm. Rather than get upset, you are supposed to either go home, relax and have a nap, or get yourself a coffee and go to the park, sit on a bench and relish how lucky you are to be alive. Then go back to the shop at 4pm and have a long friendly conversation, in your broken Spanish, with the shop owner who by now knows you personally.  He won't have what you want but he will know someone who does or he will go out of his way to get it for you. You might go home empty handed today but you connected with another human being and, since you no longer have a deadline for anything except living well, life is good. Welcome to Loja. And the weather is always good. 

   But here comes the warning! If you can't drop your type A personality and adopt the "go with the flow" lifestyle, then perhaps here is not for you. And there are other advantages. The country is, for the most part ,very safe. Like everywhere there is crime, but here it is mostly petty crime. Maybe we are foolish but we walk the streets here without many worries at all times of the day. There are areas in every city I have ever been that I wouldn't walk in at three in the morning. But I'm in my seventies, I can't remember the last time I was awake at three in the morning!

   And speaking of being in my seventies, health care here is great. There is a national health care system which you can only access once you become a temporary or permanent resident with a government issued Cedula (identity card). But fear not, there are a number of very good private hospital plans that, depending on your age etc., will run anywhere from $100/mo. to $250/mo. And most plans are connected to private hospitals which have excellent facilities and well trained doctors who most often speak English. Once you get your cedula you can access the national health care for approx. $75/mo. if you wish.

If you have pets there are vets everywhere and the cost will be about 10% of what you were paying at home. You can walk everywhere within about twenty minutes and if you decide to live further out there are regular buses everywhere for about 30 cents. Around town a cab ride is $1.50 and every second car in the city is a cab so the wait is usually less than 3 minutes to flag one down. So you will probably be walking everywhere and before you know it you will have lost weight and be in far better shape. I have lost 50 pounds in eight months without even trying. Well, I tried a little.

One last thing that attracted us to Loja, well two things really. This is a university town. There are two big universities here which means a younger vibrant city, and Loja is the cultural capital of Ecuador. Both of these facts mean that there is art, theatre, dance, music and indigenous culture everywhere. When we first arrived we were going to some kind of cultural event two or three times a week, mostly free.  Covid 19 has unfortunately put a stop to most of that but slowly things are, and will be, returning to normal. I guess everyone in the world is looking forward to that.

Lastly what attracted us here was that everywhere else in South America is readily accessible from here. We are looking forward to being able to explore further afield in places like Chile, Argentina Brazil etc.. I may be old but I'm not dead yet.

So there you have it. The remaining five reasons we are here.

1. It's Safe

2. It has good affordable healthcare.

3. It has a simple laid back lifestyle.

4. It has a vibrant arts and culture scene

5. It's a convenient stepping stone to more exploring.

I'm sure I could think of a few more reasons but you're probably packing already. I will leave you with one story. I was talking to our landlord the other day( in my completely fluent and grammatically perfect Espanol) and I mentioned that I had to go to another city, about four hours away, to complete my visa process.  He instantly offered to drive me and two days later we made the 10 hour round trip so I could do the required paperwork. Without him it would have been two days on a bus and a night in a hotel in a strange city. A small sample of why we feel completely at home here. And did I mention that the weather is always good?

We Interrupt our Serial

   We interrupt our serial "Adventures in a Buckboard" to bring you the following:       PATHE MOVIETONE NEWS SPECIAL REPORT

  

 World renowned explorer and adventuress Sharon Taylor has just reported from her latest adventure in the wilds of South America. Following are pictures from her most recent trek with exclusive commentary only available to PATHE NEWS. Stay tuned for further adventures as they are available. We will return you to our exciting Saturday serialized adventures shortly.

I have found hikers! I am exploring the lower mountain ranges of 1000m to the higher elevations of 3000m in the provinces of Loja and Zamora Chinchipe. 

I am now hiking with a group from Vilcabamba. And I have met hikers from Loja. Invigorating outdoor exploration that follows the Covid 19 protocols of keeping safe while being physically, mentally and spiritually active during these tumultuous times.

This short vignette of photos gives you a taste of the surrounding area of Vilcabamba as well as the megadiverse zone and jungle (selva) of the National Park of Podocarpus; a protected area of more than 1400 km2 of the eastern Andes with 25% of it in the province of Loja and 85% in Zamora Chinchipe (see April post 'Wishing' for more photos of Podocarpus)

Vilcabamba is a town 45 minutes south of Loja. From Loja, I get to our meeting place in a shared taxi for $3 ($9 for one person), or I can hop on a bus for $1.65. 

Vilcabamba has been referred to as the Playground of the Incas. It also has a reputation for it's inhabitants to grow very old, to reach over 100 years. Many people from around the world have travelled (and remained) in this town after it was first introduced in a cover story in the National Geographic magazine in 1973.

Because Podocarpus is protected - no dogs allowed. Thus, the sad faces of the dog owners who were turned away at the entrance.

At one of the waterfalls in Podocarpus we were lucky to see a South American Coati. Referred to as a cucuhucho in Quechua, the indigenous language of the region. He was great entertainment and wasn't too nervous of us. They are about the size of a healthy racoon but with a much longer tail and snout. 

Some of the photos are of the Yamburara Alto of the surrounding area of Vilcabamba. Dry and desert-looking but with an abundance of water. The climate of this area is subtropical, and known as a sacred place: Valle Sagrado. We traipsed through and over rivers and on one hike found the Cascada Secreto (Secret Waterfall). 

On another hike we were above the Cascada Secreto and came upon an even grander waterfall in which we quickly bathed in (or poked our toe in).

The area around Loja and Vilcabamba is a treasure trove of hiking possibilities and I expect to be able to enchant you with more spectacular vistas in the future, from the mountains to the jungle. This is truly a year round outdoor paradise. Stay tuned.

      PATHE MOVIETONE NEWS  will be following the further exciting travels of Sharon and will bring you further pictures and videos as they become available. We will return you to the serial "Adventures in a Buckboard" next week. 

Join us then!

Why We Moved - Episode 4 - Sharon Retires

 

 When last we saw our intrepid couple they were trudging off into the distance in search of a better situation for themselves.

   This week as the lens opens we see a run down shanty on the edge of an even more run down small village on the edge of a foreboding dark forest. As we get closer we see our hero sitting on the porch obviously waiting for his love as he peers down the rough road towards the village. After a moment we see our heroine walking dejectedly toward us carrying what are obviously cleaning supplies. Her head is wrapped in a bandanna and she is clearly exhausted. As she mounts the porch our hero gets up and gives her his seat where she slumps, completely spent. As they talk it is clear that they are in a situation that cannot continue and from their gestures it seems as though winter is coming again and, this time, they will not survive the cold in this rude structure. What will they do?

Sharon Retires! (Well, sort of)

   It had become obvious that for the past few years we had been working simply to keep our heads above water and to service our debts. Being debt free was a shining beacon which hovered tantalizingly in the distance but was getting only marginally closer each day. Every time some progress was made something else like a car repair 

reared its ugly head and we were back behind the eight ball. 

   Living from pay cheque to pay cheque was the hardest part of living in British Columbia. I loved my position at the community centre but keeping up with the bills and trying to get away from the dock a few times a year was becoming a struggle. I was working to live with very little living time. Obviously the solution was to sell the boat, pay off our debts and move somewhere where our available assets and income would keep us comfortable, and unstressed.

   And, having the option "to work, or not to work" would allow for some freedom. So that's what we did, and the relief of being debt free is liberating!

White building center is our Apt Bldg

   Ecuador is one of the few affordable South American countries that does not require one to wait up to 2 to 3 years before you can apply for a professional visa. The university degree must be applicable to the needs of Ecuador and my educational degree is an asset. English as a second language is a required subject in Ecuador.

   We will soon be celebrating the receipt of my 2 year professional working visa and cedula (like a combination identification and social insurance card). Not that I am eager to start working. In fact, I have taken to retirement like a duck to water; another reason we moved to Ecuador (not the part about becoming ducks).

   And, guess what?! I have recently started a small job teaching English as a second language online through a platform called Speak Louder. I teach 2 hours a week to Ecuadorian children between the ages of 5 - 11 years old. I make enough money each week to afford a good bottle of Chilean wine, a couple of bottles craft beer with some change left over.

   So as we fade back to our brave explorers in the old west we discover that they have packed up and are on the move again. They have acquired a cart and have piled their belongings inside as they set off. From off screen a scruffy dog starts trotting after them, obviously a new addition to the family, And as we close in on them we can see a cat on top of the loaded wagon. So now the family has expanded to four and, even though they have to pull the cart themselves, as the iris begins to close we can clearly see that all four are eagerly looking forward to the next stage of the adventure. Tune in next time!

   

Why We Moved - Episode Three

When we last saw our couple from the Saturday serial they were stuck in a cabin with the winter wind roaring outside.  As the big fish eye lens opens on this episode, we find them standing outside the cabin with the sun shining and the snow almost melted. All seems well until we see another buckboard coming up the muddy trail and stopping in front of the cabin. In the buckboard is an evil looking thin man, dressed all in black, and sporting a big handle bar mustache. He seems surprised to see our couple and, although there is no sound in our serial except for a tiny piano playing sound track,  it soon becomes evident that this is his cabin. As he strokes his mustache and leers at our heroine we can see that he wants money (or something else!) to let them stay there. Our hero brings out a very thin cloth wallet and begins counting out money. When he is finished there is not much left in the wallet. The evil landlord gives them a long look with special attention on our heroine and, with a last twist of his mustache, heads back down the trail. Our couple look at each other and at their thin wallet. It's obvious he will be back. What will they do?

(Photo is Pre-Covid)

Which brings us to the third reason we moved to Ecuador: The Cost of Living.


 Remember, with both Ken and Sharon not working, our monthly income was going to be reduced by 60%. As you can imagine, not an insignificant amount. All essential services had to be within our meager budget. (No more waiting until the next pay cheque). Daily expenses here in Loja are minimal.      There are markets, food stores, pharmacies, medical clinics, dentists, hospitals (we think six in Loja, both private and public) everywhere throughout the city. In fact, there are pharmacies practically on every corner since the Covid-19 pandemic began.                                                                               

                                                                                  And, veterinarians everywhere.  The cost for a check up at the vet is $5.00, with a blood test the cost skyrockets to $10.00, with the results in 24 hours. Dylan had an examination, ultrasound, then needed intravenous medication twice within two weeks and received oral medication for two weeks. The total cost ... wait for it!...$45.00! 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           No more leaving the grocery store with 2 bags of food costing $50.00. There is an abundance of meats, seafood and fish, produce, legumes, pastas and fruits often with the choice of deciding the quantity too.


This photo shows one purchase at the local market  for Vegetales! Verduras! 

Lemons .50, 15 limes .25, 1 lb fresh peas .25, 4 peppers .25, celery .25, 6lbs tomatoes $1.00,
4lbs yams .50, 1lb acorn squash .50, broccoli .30, bananas .40, 4 zucchini .40, bread (buns) .80  The total? Wait for it ...............$5.40!   The flowers cost $1.50



Meals in restaurants or to take-out vary from $2.50 - $8.00. A typical mid-day meal (almuerzo) is $2.75 - $3.50. This would include a hearty soup, followed by a main meal of fish, prawns, meat or chicken with fresh vegetables, rice and salad and a choice of juice or coffee.
Snacks (bocadillos) - Sharon's favourite is a bag of fresh chifles with salsa which are fried plantano chips, or chicken or cheese tamales, or humitas, or an empanada all for .50 each!



Currently we are on private health insurance ($250.00 per month which covers both of us). We do not yet have the national health care insurance ($75.00 per month). But we can afford the basics without the coverage. Sharon recently had her teeth cleaned with x-rays taken and this visit cost .....wait for it......$60.00!

So there it is. The third reason we are here in this quiet friendly place and enjoying every minute.

And spare a thought for our intrepid couple from the buckboard. After pacing back and forth with much gesticulating and some tears we find them walking down the road into the sunset. As the camera zooms in we see a piece of paper drop out of the woman's handbag and flutter to the ground. The camera zooms in to reveal a poster advertising free land for homesteaders in California. We pan up to see the dust rising from their worn shoes as they disappear over the hill and the fish eye slowly closes. Will they make it? Tune in next week.

Why We Moved - Episode Two

 When we last left our intrepid pair their buckboard was going over the cliff and it looked as though they were doomed. But this week we are back with a different camera angle and just as the horses and wagon plunge over the precipice we can clearly see our brave couple leaping to safety. As they get up and gingerly brush themselves off, we can only marvel at their lucky escape from what you see pictured here. You will now appreciate the second reason they have moved to Ecuador, and that is... The Weather.
   Both Sharon and I have lived the extremes of weather provided by the lovely north country in Canada. Me in Alberta and then the Yukon and Sharon in Ontario and then Baffin Island, Nunavut. Both of us have trudged to school in -30 and have a host of fond memories from our time there... when we were younger. And therein lies the heart of the problem. Things that were fabulous and fun when you were twenty or thirty somehow lose their luster when you are sixty or seventy. The opposite is also true. While we were sailing down to and through the Panama Canal, we spent several years in the heat. When it's 35 C with 85% humidity, you have to get up at six am, work for an hour, then find some shade and lay gasping for air until 6pm, when you struggle to get another half hours work done. Then, before it gets dark, you allow yourself a cold rum and coke. Not particularly productive! The amount of working time and the cold Cuba Libres suited me fine. It was the gasping for air and running with sweat that I hated.
                                                                                       
So now the search was on for the perfect weather. But what is that? The weather in BC is gorgeous in the summer. The problem is the summer is 3 months long, with another month of hoping.  Then there is a month of maybe at either end followed by six to seven months of "we gotta get outta here for a least a couple of weeks before I go stir crazy or just rot away".  After much reflection we decided that a lovely spring day in May or early June was perfect, when the temperature is around 20 C and the air is clean and fresh. Right, so where are we going to find this paradise?
   Well, guess what, if you go into the central valley of Ecuador, that's exactly what you get! For ninety percent of the year the temperature is around 20-23 C during the day and 14-16 C at night. What could be better?

Imagine never having to spend 15 or 20 minutes getting bundled up against the cold or wet every time you have to take the dog for a walk or go shopping. Just slip on your shoes, maybe a light sweater at night, and off you go. T-shirt weather almost every day, but not hot enough that I have to expose my spindly white legs to anyone. Those of you who have seen me in shorts in the summer will be letting out a loud cheer right about now.
   During the day there is no need to run from one shady spot to the next as the sweat pours down your back. Stroll beside the river as a light breeze ruffles your hair.                                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                                                                       Now I want to say right here by way of a disclaimer that nothing is perfect. Not even here. Since the seasons are reversed in the southern hemisphere, we have just gone through a winter here in Loja. Before I describe the hellish conditions I want you to remember, and have some sympathy for us, when we remind you that there is no central heating or double glazed windows here. With that in mind, picture the fact that we have just suffered through a Month(!) of temperatures that would challenge the strongest among you. Daytime highs rarely reached more than 16-17 C, and at night the temperature plunged to a bone chilling 10-11 C. We were required by these desperate circumstances to go to our last resort, wearing a sweater inside and putting an extra blanket on the bed!! So you see, we are still roughing it. But we summoned up our northern experience and spirit to help get us through. Like the cowboy and his sweetheart in the serial, we were huddled in our cabin while the storm raged outside. With food and firewood running low and wolves howling in the night, we thought of our loved ones back home. 
     Will our handsome couple see another day? Stay tuned for episode three to see if we froze to death. It doesn't look good.                                                                     

10 Reasons Why We Left Canada and Moved to Loja, Ecuador

"The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things".

Banos, Ecuador

We have had a lot of questions about why we decided to uproot ourselves and move to South America, and specifically why we chose Loja, Ecuador.  It's not the city that most expats choose but it held some attraction for us for very specific reasons. We have spoken about some of this in previous posts. But I am getting way ahead of myself. 
Don't worry, we are going to do this in 10 installments as opposed to one long blog that no one will read to the end. Remember as a kid, the Saturday morning serials at the movies, where the cowboy in the buckboard went over the cliff at the end of the episode and you had to come back the next Saturday to see how, or if, he survived?  (Come on, some of you are as old as me!)  Well, this is kind of like that. We'll jump off a cliff each time and you will have to come back next week and see if we survived.

Episode One

Terry Kelly flies in to Visit us in Panama

   This all began in 2018 when I turned 75. By that time we had been living on a boat for about 15 years and although we loved the life style it was time for a change. Both of us were bored and I have to admit that I was tired of the stress that comes with trying to keep up with all the work that it takes to maintain a large, older boat. We had both had a taste of the travelling lifestyle when we went offshore for three years on our sail boat and it seemed like we were working just to pay bills and had little or no time to be with each other and enjoy life. Sharon had accomplished almost all she wanted to at South Arm Community Center so it was time to get selfish. I personally have no problem with being selfish, which most of you can attest to, but it was harder for Sharon. But I have learned through the years that once you get Sharon turned in the direction you want, just tie yourself to her and hold on for the ride.
   The main thing we wanted was an adventure. We wanted to take ourselves out of our comfort zone, challenge ourselves, see if we still had the spirit that made our offshore sailing such a satisfying experience. We wanted to strip ourselves of the things which were tying us down. I also hoped that learning a new language would keep my brain from becoming porridge. We had taken a three month tour of South America by bus while the boat waited out hurricane season in Panama and had had a great time, so we looked there first.

Top of the Andes between Chile and Bolivia

   Now South America has a lot of stunning countries and adventures that are free for the asking around every corner. On our bus tour we had been to Santiago Chile and Valparaiso, Mendoza in the Argentine wine country, the Atacama in the Andes, Bolivia, Machu Picchu and the Nazca Lines in Peru, and had only scratched the surface. So we sat down and started to think about what we needed to do to make this happen and what we were actually looking for in a new home. A little plug here, a magazine called 'International Living' can give you all sorts of ideas.  It can also become addictive, and on a cold winters night when you look up from pictures of sun dappled beaches and watch the rain pouring down, it can stoke a dangerous sense of dissatisfaction. You have been warned!
   So, Reason Number One boils down to ... ADVENTURE

But that word means a lot of things, to a lot of people. So, in future episodes, we will boil down in greater detail what it meant to us, and what we needed to be sure of before we took the leap. We had a lot of 'must haves' and we will go through them all and explain how Loja fit the bill. Suffice to say that, for us, the buckboard had gone over the cliff. Tune in next time to see whether we survive!
   

Escape!

 Last weekend this lovely couple, who happen to be our landlords, invited us to their Hacienda in the country. First time we have been out of the city for six months. A demonstration of how warm and welcoming all the Ecuadorians we've met have been.

Click on any image to enlarge

 Their place is south of Vilcabamba about an hours drive from Loja and on the way to Peru which is directly south of Ecuador

 As you can see it is a lovely  acreage nestled in the hills and very secluded. A river runs right past the property and we were lulled to sleep at night with the sound of the rushing water.

We stayed in the little guest house off to one side next to the river and we brought the dog and the cat since we were going to be away for two days. The animals had a great time.

As you can imagine our dog Dylan had a ball running around here.

 Sunday we drove south toward Peru and up into the mountains amongst the clouds, passing through a number of little villages on the way. Every village has it's own cathedral and town square. Then we returned to the farm , had lunch and spent the afternoon exploring the area around their Hacienda.

When was the last time you visited an orange church?

The area around here produces a lot of the vegetables for the various cities and towns in the south of Ecuador. It is also a large producer of sugar.  There are sugar cane fields everywhere. If you have a sweet tooth you can buy a kind of unprocessed sugar cane toffee which is delicious.

The rivers are fed by rain in the Andes mountains. You can just see them in the distance with the almost ever present clouds on top. On the other side is the Amazon Jungle

The air is beautifully fresh and filled with the scent of flowers and the fields.

Unusual flora is everywhere and the temperate climate means that it is always green year round. Unfortunately, Covid 19 has kept us from doing more of this kind of exploring but this too shall pass.  It's exciting to know that all this, and more, is just outside our door and waiting for us to find it.