Where Gringos Roost

Posing behind a 100-year-old giant tortoise in the Galapagos and knocking knees with a Shaman at a ritualistic ceremony deep in the Amazon Basin were thrills that entranced us during our first two weeks in Ecuador. Back in the lofty capital of Quito, we sit in a lively Plaza Foch café sipping cappuccinos and formulating plans to visit Ecuador’s southern havens where fellow countrymen have chosen to live, and “snowbirds” arrive in flocks to escape Canadian winters.

How serendipitous that English spoken at the next table draws us to Frank and Alf, retirees from Vancouver who have made their home in Ecuador – Frank for 20 years, and Alf for 10. They look to be in fine shape for mid-70s, saying they walk 5km to meet with cronies every day.

My probe of “Why Ecuador?” is met with a tag-team response led by Frank. “Safe, low cost of living, good weather year round, ease of country’s currency being the US dollar….” Al pipes in, “and no jet lag after visits to BC with almost the same time zone…the bottom line – we’re here to stay.” To our southbound plans Frank says, “Although Cuenca with its spring-like climate continues to be popular, many sun seekers are looking still further south to the lower elevations of Loja (Loha) and Vilcabamba (Beel-ka-bamba) for yet balmier temperatures.” …and both gentlemen have lived in or visited all three locales. We decide to target the latter two.

On our 30-minute taxi ride from the Loja airport, the area’s spectacular scenery unfolds – vivid green grasslands and forested hills morph into distant Andean peaks of muted blues, the equatorial sun centering the azure sky. The highway is sided by adobe buildings with an industrial look, until we enter the old city through a stone archway of turreted castle-like walls, beyond where a vibrant city of 250,000 is ours to explore.

After settling into the modern Zamorano Real Hotel, it is off to visit several squares sharing shady benches with locals and admiring the colonial churches. Noting a statue of the Virgin of Loja hovering over the city from atop a hill, we climb to her base for a stellar view of the city.

On our daily wanderings, we stop for lunch at small restaurants, all serving $3 specials, which include a bowl of delicious soup, an entrée, and just-squeezed fruit juice. We usually choose pollo (chicken) or pascada (fish) for our main course – words we recognize with the waiter’s rapid rambling in Spanish. It’s even more of a surprise that our suppers at white tablecloth restaurants are under $10 – love that elastic dollar!

Sunday is Grande Market Day. All the way up the wide hilly street from San Sebastian Square vendors line the sides and centre, selling (I’d wager) every vegetable and fruit known to man. We move past mountains of vine-fresh tomatoes, carrots the girth of my arm, bananas still on a stalk, watermelon the size of Grandma’s soup pot. Most items are familiar, but some are strange, indeed. One fellow with a poster showing various body organs is promoting blackish stems piled at his feet – “respiratory” and “stomach” are words I can translate. Shoppers fill jumbo shopping bags with their week’s supply of produce for between $5 and $10 (according to a lady who spoke English). Other vendors sell snacks to the jostling crowds. Pork rind sizzles on grills, whole guy (guinea pigs) roast on charcoal, thick pancakes soar with each flip, a nun stirs a vat of rica crema (creamy rice custard). I load up on a pineapple, six ruby-red apples and a plate-sized mango – all for $1.

Across from our hotel, we are drawn to The Canadian House Center, where English is taught. The owner Diego, a native Ecuadorian, who with his Toronto-born wife, had lived in Canada for several years, is a great source for particulars on the costs of living in Loja. “Rents for apartments range from $300 to $500 per month. A house will be around $700. Averages for utilities for a month – electricity/water, cable TV, high-speed internet, will run you another hundred.”

Seeing a sign on a nearby real estate office advertising homes for $49,500, I am compelled to get the skinny on this. With our minimal Español, we go out with an agent to see these apartments (condos) near completion; the plain but adequate units are truly $49,500 for one bedroom, and up to $89,000 for three bedrooms. At the opposite side of town, we view spacious apartments in a new hillside development with a great view of the city (and a few cows grazing on a hill behind) selling for $95,000.

It is time to check out Vilcabamba. This once Inca royalty retreat is nestled in what is known as the “Sacred Valley” and “Valley of Longevity.” We hop a bus (cost $1.30) for the 45km one-and-a-half hour drive through more spectacular scenery.

The long entrance to Vilcabamba (population 2,000) is filled with shanty-type dwellings, but the heart of the village around central park is mucho touristy with plenty of good restaurants, quaint cafés, small food stores, and hand-crafted souvenir shops. We join a cluster of North American folk chatting over lunch, coffee or cervasa. Most fit the “retired here” category, with a few “wintering here,” and also some young hippy-types hanging out in this wonderful laid-back setting. Out front of our restaurant, the village’s new and only set of street-lights seem hardly necessary – two cars in an hour stop on a red, and a horse and rider once crossed on a green.

All the folks we speak to, including real estate agent Marco who was born and raised in Vilcabamba, concur its popularity with foreigners has driven up prices – large ranch-style homes spread throughout the valley rent for $800 and up a month, although one 20-year-old fellow rents an apartment in town for a third of that. Houses to purchase range from $180,000 to $300,000; the grand house we go to see on the outskirts of town had an asking price of $285,000.

Who better than Marco to address the longevity claim of people in the valley? “I personally know some centenarians,” he says, “and have heard stories from my father of even longer life-spans.” Past studies have claimed rich anti-oxidants in the mostly organic fruit and veggies. Combined with the hard work and low-calorie/low-animal fat diet, it likely keeps people healthy and vigorous into old age, which probably doesn’t hold with the relaxed expats in Vilcabamba, who say how handy Loja is for all the conveniences and foods they are used to from home.

Sitting one last time in the square, the tranquility, pure air and glorious 29-degree Celsius sunshine is overpowering. It’s back by taxi to the appealing bustle of friendly Loja. If checking out these Gringo hot-spots, be fair-warned! Like us, you may be struck by a stirring compulsion to purchase a home on the spot and never leave – but as with any foreign country it is best to first spend a winter or two in the area – just as a long engagement before marriage is wise to ensure a new love fits.

More info:
www.ecuador.com 
Google “Retirement Visa Ecuador” for information on resident visas.

For hikers – Loja is 25 to 90 min (respectively) from two major entrances of Podocarpus National Park. There are guided trails that you can take from 15 minutes (speckled bear trail) to 1 hour and 20 minutes (Cloud forest trail). There are longer trails for backpacker/campers.

Elevation comparison:
Quito – 2850m (9,350ft)
Cuenca – 2550m (8,366ft)
Loja -2060m (6,758ft)
Vilcabamba – 1,524m (5,000ft)
Spanish lessons are offered in all communities.

Zamorano Real Hotel

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