Exploring Ecuador for Two Months

I just got back from 2 mos. in Ecuador, mostly in Cuenca. Traveled a bit around the small, very beautiful, green, lush country. It's green and lush becuz it rains most of the time...they're attributing the 'unusual' weather pattern to La Nina...again. I was there May and June and a week in July, which was the beginning of the 'dry' season. Dry...NOT...Traveled hundreds of miles away from the rain and it followed us....
I stayed w/a friend (who relocated there a few mos. ago) in the historic district, i.e., downtown....within walking distance of the plaza that was cleaned hourly. Many indigenous groups. I used to live in Oaxaca (1992) and was very enchanted w/the indigenous there, am embarrassed that I soon (after 1.5 yrs.) got irritated by their habits...
Everyone is saying Ecuador is 'cheaper, safer, a new "paradise"'.....I think I can fairly give a humble opinion about life there.
I'm into sports, anything physical and outside. You'd be hard pressed to find a restaurant that could have tables outside...why? too cold and wet.
Cheaper: There's a 12% tax on everything, and if you're in a restaurant, be sure to check the bottom of the menu to see if the tax AND the 10% service tax is added, otherwise, you're overtipping....10% is the usual tip there....
Rentals: Nearly every rental is unfurnished....NO stove, NO fridge; so be sure you really love the place you rent as you'll be paying dearly for your appliances. There are very few apartments w/green space....I longed to open a window for some fresh air, but all windows opened up to another room.
Buying: I spoke w/and became friends w/an Ecuadorian contractor. He happened to have worked in the U.S. He said 'nothing is built to U.S. standards; a good earthquake would take down your home"....
Yes, you can get an 'almuerzo' (lunch) for $2.00 - $4.00, but can't we here, too?
I have a few friends that have already moved there; I have many friends that have visited there & agree with me. After 2 months I was ready to come to my home, Mexico.
I think it's a great place to visit, but not to live, at least not for me.

OK you have burst my bubble on that trip.....jaja. Thanks for the quick run down.

Who knows? You might like it there, many do, I was just giving MHO..
There's a place called Villcabamba....it's a much lower altitude....Cuenca is at 8400 ft or so and Vill. is at 4700...the altitude never bothered me but it does some....in Villca....it's a time warp....everyone stopped growing up in the late 60s...I'm still trying to figure out where they buy those damn flour sacks for those poor little girls!
Alotta hawking of homemade 'jewelry' in the plaza....alotta stoners....and activists, if you ask them, that's what they'll tell ya!
And there are beaches there, too...didn't have time to explore them, but after having lived on the Carrib....there's no pleasing me!

Mexrose,

Why don't you copy your post on our board also. Very interesting.

Thanks, mexrose, for that brief summary of your time in and around Cuenca, Ecuador. I am not surprised that you found the climate there at 8,400 feet bracing and the apparently copious rains an annoyance. At 8,400 feet, even at or near the equator, it can get quite chilly and, during rains, clammy as well. In 2006, we built a second residence in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas at 7,000 feet and we live there during the dry winter months (normally), say, December or January until the rainy season kicks in in May with a bang. The best months in the Chiapas highlands are normally March and April for high mountain brilliant sunshine and crystal mountain air. The rainy season extends from May until September and, while we may occasionally visit Chiapas then, we don´t reside there full time as the rains in much of Chiapas including San Cristóbal are very often virtual inundations bringing flooding and an uncomfortable summer chill starting about mid-afternoon. During the summer months we return to Lake Chapala where the rainy season is much more pleasant. I can imagine that, if San Cristóbal at 7,000 feet is chilly and damp during the rainy season, Cuenca, at 8,400 feet, may be even more depressing when the rains prevail.

You say many expats live in lush, green Cuenca full time and really like it and that´s fine - to each his own. While we love living seasonally in Chiapas which is in its east, also lush and green with foliage ranging from high alpine forests to mid-level coffee country to lowland splendid jungles , living there full time does not appeal to us so a few months in Chiapas and a few months at Lake Chapala suits us as we find the variety appealing. Living in a high altitude place such as Cuenca all the time and experiencing the vagaries in the climate at that altitude with no escape might drive Dawg insane.

San Cristóbal, like Cuenca and Oaxaca City, has a large indigenous population which we consider to be one of its great charms and the $2.00 USD almuerza, and a damn good one at that, is easily found around town if that is what one seeks. We eat like kings in San Cristóbal for peanuts, mainly at home as we are able to find an incredible variety of outstanding fruits and vegetables at the enormous indigenous market just a couple of blocks from our home at unbelievably low prices - and, I might add, we are never taken advantage of by indigenous vendors because we are foreigners.

Since you indicate that you are a Caribbean freak and imply that, therefore, the Pacific in Ecuador is not up to your standards, you will be pleased to read that, within relatively short distances from San Cristóbal in various directions are the splendid Caribbean beaches of Quintana Roo, the white sand Gulf of Mexico beaches north of Mérida or the wild and often desolate and deserted Pacific beaches from the Guatemala border through Oaxaca State. You can take your pick of the crystal Caribbean waters, the magnificent Pacific surf or the normally calm, warm waters of the Gulf from Progreso eastward to Isla Holbox.

You folks residing in Mexico who may have developed itchy feet, before you give up the treasure you have here for residency in distant Ecuador, I suggest you take a hint from mexrose and vacation down there for a while before deserting the charms of Central and Southern Mexico for the unknown.