"Local Kine" Construction Methods

A "different" way of pouring a second story floor deck.....
We were walking the along the malacon in Crucita a few weeks ago and came upon this jobsite. These guys not only work as a team, they were a team. They were all wearing their soccer jerseys. Must be the local industrial league, sponsored by the contractor. Their on-site batch plant was pretty cool.
Step 1 - human wheelbarrow, the sand guys
Step 2 - the gravel guys
Step 3 - trowing 'em inside da mixa
Notice the guy with the "U" on his shirt, signaling goals scored, he was the waterman. You can see the 55 gal. drum he was dipping out of with a 5 gal. bucket. In photo number one, #10 is the cement man. Da team was having a great time. Last photo, foreman on the roof sucking 'em up, he was also running the hoist to getting the concrete up to the 2nd floor.

Real Estate Around Cotacachi

Thought you guys might be curious about the real estate market in Ecuador. To sum it up, It's Cheap!!! Our friends and neighbors Bob and & Deb took us up to take a look at Colonial El Batan, a new 14 lot development less than a mile from Cotacachi. Marcelo, the developer, is from Cotacachi and worked as an engineer with Exxon/Mobil in the U.S. for 17 years. He got tired of the rat race and decided to come home and do his own property development. The first 4 photos are of a 3,000 sq.ft. house he built for a friend and former colleague from Exxon. Going price is $45/sq.ft. which includes the lot, for a total price of $135,000. The last photo is a smaller house, approx. 1750 sq.ft., for $80,000. If you have any further interest you can check out the following link:

http://www.MoveToEcuador.com

Awesome Vistas From Our House

1) Morning view - house behind us, owned by an Ecuadorean family living & working in the U.S. planning to retire here next year.

2) Cotacachi - zoom view, dusting of snow acouple mornings ago

3) Imbabura - morning shot out our front door

4) Cotacachi - morning shot out our back door

5) Cotacachi

Back To The Country Life In Cotacachi

When we first embarked on our adventure we had decided to spend a month or more exploring, hoping to identify a spot to call "home" for awhile. Ecuador only allows a six month tourist visa so our stay here is limited. After we made our tour of the coast and central highlands we had decided to look for a place to rent in Cuenca. We were about to take a 2 bedroom place when we received an email from our friends in Cotacachi, Bob & Deb, who told us about a house next door to them that was available. We then had a dilemma, Cuenca or Cotacachi?? Big city or small town? Ultimately, it was the quality of our personal space & environment in Cotacachi that won the day. Although Cuenca was rich in culture and we had made alot of friends there, we are afoot and the diesel bus fumes along with the traffic noise were more than we wanted to bare on a daily basis.

We love our cozy country abode outside Cotacachi. Out the front door we see Imbabura and out the back door Cotacachi, both extinct volcanoes towering over 15,000 & 16,000 feet respectively. We live on the fringe of town (a 5 minute walk) surrounded by green pastures, eucalyptus trees and clean mountain air. The house is quite comfortable and came fully furnished, with housekeeper once a week. There are 2 bedrooms, each with it's own bathroom and fireplace and an additional fireplace in the living room & front porch. Cotacachi is a town of 5,000 and has a daily produce market next to the bus station which is a 5 minute walk from our house. San Miguel, our little housing development, is surrounded by open space and agricultural land, has 24 hour security, high speed internet and we just signed up for Direct TV with many english stations & music channels (we can only read so much!). So, as you can see, we aren't really roughing it to much!

1) front of house
2) back of house
3) front porch
4) vacant lot behind us
5) adobe house being built next door

"The Circus" in Jama

The body surfing wasn't very good so one afternoon we took a side trip up to Jama, a 30 minute bus ride north. We had heard there were some beachfront lots for sale there. Never did find them but later found out we were looking right at them, just didn't know it.

1) The town clown - this guy should have been in the circus!
2) The circus really was in town!
3) Local chics in Jama as anywhere else, checking their cell phone for messages
4) Local guys being cool
5) Town bus - looks like a carnival ride on wheels

Sunset, Cervesa & Sand

1) Enjoying a cervesa at sunet
2) Belly up to the Bar!
3) Another awesome sunset
4) Guess who??
5) Bedtime under the mosquito net

Canoa - Last Stop On The Coast

While we were in Crucita we met a fellow from the UK who is married to an Ecuadorian woman and lives outside of Quito. He told us about his favorite beach getaway in Canoa, a place called Hotel Bambo. So when we got to Canoa we hunted down Hotel Bambo and we weren't disappointed! The atmosphere was casual, the beer was cold and the seafood was fresh & delicious. The hotel sits on the beach with bar and dinning terrace on the sand. Accommodations run the gamut from tent camping to the second story "matrimonial suite" (were we stayed) with prices ranging from $10 to $30. Receives our Highest Award for casual beach getaway! The beach here reminded us alot of the southern Oregon coast, with the cliffs and gray sand. Canoa is another one of the popular surf spots on the central coast.

1) Hotel Bambo
2) Our room - the matrimonial suite
3) Looking north
4) Looking south
5) View from our room

Random shots

These are random photos taken from the bus on our coastal journey, examples of everyday life in Ecuador.

1) Kids hanging out in front of a typical grocery store
2) No need going to the market...it comes to you!
3) Ecuadorian body shop
4) This creepy critter was hanging on our screen door one morning
5) Pretty typical produce market, good reason to wash all your produce with veggie wash!

Across the bay to San Vicente

San Vicente is across the bay from Bahia de Caraquez, like Oakland is to San Francisco. It's a small town with a major stop for buses going north. As we waited for the bus to Canoa, we took in the daily activities of town.

1) The popular local meat market....looked alittle sketchy to me!
2) Moto cabs waiting to pickup a fare
3) The local bus we rode to Canoa, what didn't fit inside went on the roof of the bus
4) Streetside cafe on a Sunday morning
5) Busy motorcycle cab

Bahia de Caraquez

Bahia de Caraquez sits on the tip of a peninsula which shelters a deep bay and estuary. The calm waters of the bay offers a perfect mooring spot for gringo yachts and sail boats. In fact, we later met a couple from Vancouver, B.C. who were visiting Cuenca, and they had their sail boat moored there.
1) View of the city from across the bay
2) At low tide the teenagers come out and play soccer until the sun goes down
3) Talk about "junk in the trunk"! From our hotel room we observed this scene...the whole family spent the afternoon romping in the surf, mostly clothed. Mom & dad got in the car wet and sandy but made the kids get in the trunk and they drove off!
4) Grey in the breakfast room of our hotel
5) The water taxi used to cross the bay- everyone gets a life jacket. It costs 30 cents and takes about 10 minutes. There's also a car ferry.