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