Panama hats are made in Jipijapa, Ecuador in the Province of Manta.

First came to Ecuador in 1976….back in Guayaquil to visit with my wife’s (Ulvia) family.  Her family lives in Guayaquil.  The roads are now much better….a new 4 lane road is being built headed from Progresso to Playas and Pasorja. The beaches in Playas are very wide and nice.  We ate in Playas at a funky little restaurant called “Juan Ostra.”  I can say that this was the best fish I have ever had in Ecuador and I have eaten a lot of fish in Ecuador over the past 34 years.  Here is the story on Juan Ostra.  Juan, whose real name is Juan Reyes Torres, is a diver who dives down around 20 feet without tanks or equipment and brings up the huge Ostras.  And he also gets this own seafood fresh from the Pacific there.  In addition to the fresh seafood, one son has studied the culinary arts in 5 star restaurants and hotels.  He cooks the fresh “dorado” in olive oil and it makes a real difference in the taste. Ulvia had ostras.  Juan takes the ostra out to the sidewalk curb in front of his restaurant  and breaks them open right there, pours the natural juices back on the ostra and serves them on the half shell.  One ostra is about the size of 7 or 8 “normal” oysters.  The building itself is a bamboo and wood shack…one thing that is lacking though a window to see the ocean….it is very closed in and dark inside when I would like to be able to sit there and see something else. However, he has little choice since the restaurant is not in front of the ocean and if he opened up the windows one would only see another wall.  So maybe with some success in a few years he can move to have an ocean view.  And this is my only negative comment about Juan Ostra….he is very, very accomodating to his guests at the restaurant.  Go to Playas and give it a try.  You get there by going to the end of the road, take a left at the red light and follow the sign that says “Ostras que fuma.”  (Oysters that smoke)….you will find a treat there.

Playas Ecuador

Now that's and Oyster!

Hey. Ulvia and I just bought a condo or apartment in Salinas about 2 weeks ago. I am going to give you the straight facts, ok? Some writers who write about Ecuador only speak flowers and roses, making everything seem so rosy and making sure nothing “smells bad.” I will not do that. Ecuador IS a beautiful place. Ecuador HAS a low cost of living. Ecuador people, by and large, ARE wonderful people! Ecuador HAS beautiful beaches, mountains and jungle. I love Ecuador. However, like all places in the world, including the USA, there are places to stay away from and rules to abide by so as not to get hurt.

We have been wanting to buy a beachfront property for several years now. We arrived in Ecuador on September 28, 2011 and set about to look for property. First night, we stayed in a hotel in Chipippe about 3 blocks from the beach. Cost about $20 per night. Then we found a condo for rent in Chipippi right on the beach. Since it is now low season, we were able to get it for $500 for one month. Since we are both fluent in Spanish (my wife being a native Ecuadorean), we just walked around looking for “se aquila” signs for a phone number and called one up that we liked. First we went to the building and asked the “guardian” to let us look at the apartment. Then we called up the lady who owns it and asked her “how much?” She replied, $400, plus some costs. My wife replied, “how about $500 all included?” She said, “yes” and gave us her bank account number and we went the next day and deposited the money into her account. The next day she called us and tried to get out of the deal. Her children had told her that she did not charge enough. And “you don’t even know these people!” That kind of thing. Where upon we replied, “hey, a deal is a deal.” She relented and asked us to be out by November 1, before the start of a long holiday so she could rent it out to someone else. We said, “sure, not a problem.”

The next several days we looked at raw land, houses, and condos or apartments as they are called in Salinas. We first hooked up with an American lady who sells real estate in Ecuador. She speaks very little English. Bad idea! She did have a vehicle though, which most agents do not have. So unless you have an automobile, you have to get around in taxi or bus. Unless your agent has an Ecuadorean connection, the first thing the prospective seller does is go up in price. Have an Ecuadorean or someone who is fluent in Spanish and knows the culture go with you to look for property.

We decided not to buy a house because some houses in Salinas, Punta Blanca and around the Santa Elena Peninsula have been robbed by armed robbers in daylight hours. Same modus operandi each time. 6 guys show up claiming to be either policemen or soldiers who want to look around the place and then they bring out pistols and place everyone in a room and haul everything out to their waiting truck. They come prepared. One of our friends daughter was at a cook out up in Punta Blanca enjoying the evening when around 11:45 pm the 6 “pistoleros” show up. The children are off playing Nintendo in a separate bedroom. The father of the children asks them not to harm the children when one of them pistol whips the father and tells him to “shut up.” He is left unconscious on the floor. Other than this no one is hurt. The house is left barren of TV’s, and some nice objects. Everyone has their cell phones, wallets, keys, and shoes taken. The same thing happened in one section of Chipippe and another house in another area on the same day. Even Roldos, the ex-VP of Ecuador was robbed at the house in Chipippi. They did the same thing that was done in Punta Blanca. A friend of ours, Mario, told us that over the years several houses had been robbed in a similar manner BUT NOT ONE CONDO had been robbed like that. Mario and his wife Betty have a condo. This is one of the reasons we also chose a condo.

Tomorrow I will write more about our recent 5 week stay in Ecuador. Ulvia is still there getting some remodeling done. She comes back in a couple of days and we plan to go back down in a few weeks.