Ahhhh – mañana lifestyle, weekly blog turns into semi-monthly blog. Cannot believe it has only been four weeks, feels like we have been here for a long time.
Ecuador has the highlands (8,000+ feet), the midlands (4,000 feet), the coast, and the Oriente (Ecuadorian Amazon). Having spent two weeks in Cuenca highlands we ventured into the midlands further south to the beautiful villages of Vilcabamba and Malacotas. A beautiful 4-hour drive through amazing Andes mountains brought us to Vilcabamba and the spa resort of Izhcayluma. Nestled in the hillside overlooking the village we were transported to peace, tranquility, and solitude. Private cabins with terraces, one can lay in the hammocks listening to birds and gentle rustling of trees. Spa 90-minute full body massage for $22 – wow! Temperatures in the midland were higher in the 80’s during the day, and encountered some nasty no-see-ums bugs that brought us back to tropical reality.
The midlands are mineral rich and can grow practically anything one wants. Walking through the village countryside, we were stepping through guavas, mangoes, bananas, and cherimoyas, all growing by the roadside in the wild.
Vilcabamba is very small, about 5,000 people, many of them Gringos who were not too friendly, and lots of hippies – going back in time to the 60’s. We even scoped out an affordable house ($600/month) on a hillside with awesome views. Always dreamed of Shangri-La to be what I encountered in Vilcabamba, but being the socially active beings that we are, we questioned whether we could last more than couple of weeks before we got totally bored. Exactly what we needed to figure out through our experience in this Ecuadorian exploration.
Having had a great vacation we transported back to Cuenca. Riding through the Andes this time through misty clouds, we felt a tremendous relief getting back. The pleasant temperatures in the 60’s, thinner, crispier, sweeter air was extremely welcoming. We felt like we were returning home – our temporary home.
Now to the title of this blog – had plenty of time to continue our immigrating discussion and time and again we kept coming back to comparing what we have in Del Mar. We ventured to Ecuador, totally out of the box of our thinking, and now there is a feeling that the grass is greener inside the box we were in. Most of it is being so far away from family and friends.
In the short time here we have made very good friends and have found multiple areas of activities we could dive into. Setting family and friends aside, I feel that if I can combine the city life of Cuenca with the tranquility and bounty of Malacatos, I will have my Shangri-La. My better half has her side of the feelings way stronger than mine. We are certain we will come through with the right direction for us in the next few weeks.
We are close to half way through here and are looking forward to our close friends Pam and Curt to visit us for a few days at the end of this month. We are also going to explore the Oriente, going to Macas on the edge of the Amazon rain forest. I am trying to convince Reeta to join me on a three hour river boat ride to visit Shaur Indian village and participate in a Shaman cleansing ceremony ( so far her answer is “never in a million years”). Following that we will head to the coast, check out seaside living, and visit Isla de la Plata, the poor man’s Galapagos. Then circle back to Cuenca, still continues to be the city of our choice, before we head back to US.
Adios amigos!
