Ecudaor and climate

 I actually started this blog post on Ecuador and law and order.  However, as I set out to explain what we have learned so far, and how Ecuadorians utalized (or don't) their police force, it was becoming a lecture on who lived where and why, which explained police presence, and sometimes lack there of.  And since where ex pats in particular live is in part influenced by climate, I thought I would just start there.  So that will be this post, and the next one will be law and order.

Where we live, in Manta, it is a drier micro desert climate.  Within miles of the city is a rainforest, so this changes rapidly.  Other coastal towns see quite a bit more rain.  There is a definete trade off to this - Manta does not have a lot of green spaces, and the mayor is trying to change this by building a large urban park, but this has only been announced a month or two ago, so it has barely broken ground.  However, there are a lot of sunny days, and we are told when the rain does come, it rains frequently at night for some reason.  The temperature is a lovely 70-low 80 degrees.  It gets cool at night, but not chilly, and we rarely run the AC in the apartment as ocean breezes keep it at a near perfect temperature.  It is not particuarly humid.  This is important to Brian, who actually likes Manta quite a bit, but does not enjoy more extreme heat or humidity.

The oean is quite a bit warmer than it was in Oregon, and much more comfortable to swim in, but it does not have the lovely bath water temperatures of the Carribean.  The upside to this is they don't see hurricanes here.  I would compare it more to Hawaii than say, the Caymen Islands, which makes sense as it is the Pacific Ocean.

As far as where "most" ex-pats in Ecuador live, beyond Cuenca, I am unable to pin that down.  There are several popular smaller town options, and Brian and I did not condisder any of them, because we need the amenities of a big city including superior internet - Brian is a software engineer, so what is good to most of us is not what is good to him, so that limited our options some.  Another limiting factor is we did not want the bother of a car, so we wanted to live in a place close to most of what we would need.  This eliminated several of the smaller town options where ex-pats are scattered.  

Cuenca appears to be the most popular ex-pat destination.  It is very affordable (more so than Manta), and a charming colonial city - and not as overwhelming as Quito - the capital (which has over 2.5 million people to Cuena's more manageable 300,000).  The Spanish is easier to understand, a distinct advantage over Manta, which people compare to a new English learner moving to the American deep South.  But the climate can be hard - it is at about 8,000 feet elevation, and has Portland early spring weather year round - think 50's, maybe low 60's and rainy/cloudy.  The elevation can be very difficult for people to adjust to, and some are not able to.  Many people also complain about feeling constantly chilly.  We definetely want to visit, maybe even live there for 6 months or so, and will need a separate wardrobe.

Quito is even higher up - like 9,000 feet, and to us felt a little warmer - like in the 60's the week we spent there, with rain off and on.  I'm not sure how many ex-pats live there, but it is not nearly as safe as Cuenca, and getting worse, from what we've been told.  We did not feel unsafe when we stayed in a "good" area in January, as long as we stuck to known reputable drivers and took pick pocketing precautions, but we have been told that there are more attacks and unrest.  Same with Guayaquil, which currently is under some sort of curfew.  It has been making the news, but Quito not as much, we are finding out from Ecuadorians that have had to go there, including the vet that helped with Maya (he lives there).  I'm not sure why any ex-pat would want to live in Guayaquil - it is coastal, but without a beach, and very dangerous.  It is also hotter and more humid than Manta.  There are beach towns about an hour and a half away that ex-pats do live in - they are vacations spots for the wealthy of Guayaquil.  We here in Manta are the vacation spot of wealthy from Quito.  In our building, mostly the people here all the time are the ex-pats - but on the holidays, people from Quito come down to enjoy their vacation home.

Manta is growing pretty fast - over 250,000 people now, with a lot being invested in the city.  It is a working city - a port city - where fishing, especially tuna is the main industry, but it's leadership is working hard to make it a tourist destination, and it does receive cruise ships.  Because of it's climate, and proximity to lovely beaches just outside the city, it is becoming more desirable.  That definetely has an impact on police presence, which will be, as I mentioned, the subject of the next post.

ps, I know nothing about soccer, but it looks like today started the World Cup - Ecuador won.  The game started at 11:00.  The 10:30 am mass moved at a very brisk pace, lol.  Everyone is in a very good mood.