Where to find the ideal rural retirement area w/llamas, fauna & flora?
Replies: 12 - Last Post: Nov 29, 2012 10:01 PM Last Post By: quelian
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Where to find the ideal rural retirement area w/llamas, fauna & flora?
I am planning my first exploratory visit to Ecuador in order to find my ideal retirement country. A couple more in different continents are on the agenda. Who has suggestions as to where one whould live, renting a house with a garden, can keep a couple of llamas and pets, can walk in the country side to the market (distance no object) and be not too far from water =river, lake or ocean. I am interested in living with the local people in/or near a small town. Bus access is important. Fauna and flora, a nearby market, are more important than society events and mingling with expats. Thank you for writing to me with your ideas. Going to the country around end Nov for 18 days.1
Well llamas won't particularly like the coastal areas so if you want to keep some then rule out the ocean as far as water goes and look around the river and lake areas in the Sierra. Vilcabamba area has rivers, the Imbabura Province has lakes etc. so you might start looking in those areas and see if you can find something....2
I was thinking more central Andes--Cotopaxi, Tungurahua, Chimborazo, Bolívar provinces; closer to Quito, easy bus access, and, except for Baños, way fewer gringos than Vilcabamba, which is being overrun by New Agey types.3
Or somewhere near Loja but not Vilcabamba so you are near a city which hasn't got a large expat community like Cuenca and Quito have but still has decent cultural activities and health care should it be needed. Ibarra is another area with nearby villages but not Cotapaxi or Otavalo which do have lots of expats.5
In and around the town of Cotapaxi itself. Lot's who have come there due to conferences arranged by Gary Scott and International Living. Most seem to be from the US and Canda with a sprinkling of others from the rest of the world.... but there are other lovely villages etc in the Province of Imbabura.6
I have a similar scenario however my husband and I are both professional musicians (cello and Bass). I also teach High School ORchestra so would like to continue some teaching or at least private lessons. We will be coming to Ecuador this summer to explore and visit cities with pro symphonies like Cuenca, Quito and Quaquil. We'd like a small farm 2+ acres where we can grow our own food like we do in Oregon and perhaps have a few rabbits, chickens, etc. On our small savings and SSecurity we are hoping to make the funds stretch farther than they do in Oregon. We too enjoy living with the locals - We've never enjoyed the Touristy places like Puerto Vallarta. We always stay about an hour north in a small fishing village and are very happy with dirt streets and fresh vegies. Are we dreaming or do you think we can make our dream come true?7
Check out Loja a rather cultural city and safe city not too far from Cuenca and quite close to Vilcabamba but not very many expats living there but a musical city nonetheless.....However it is still small enough to be able to live near it and enjoy the conveniences it has to offer and is still - like most of Ecuador - cheap enough be able live very well and cheaply....8
Hi Camellady. I do wish you would return to give feedback of your experiences in Algeria and the Palestinian territories. You ask plenty of questions, get heaps of advice and then vanish.9
She might have done that on threads appropriate to those areas since they aren't Ecuador....12
That's my point. Heaps and heaps of detailed questions, getting an awful lot of time and attention. But then no feedback on any of the various suggestions, itineraries, anything. Just a single line saying that a single hotel was "superbe" - in response to plenty of attempts to encourage responses.I am happy to give advice - as are so many other members of the forum. But it is rude to ask so many questions, especially starting new threads that supicate other threads you have already started - and then offer no feedback.
