Retirement abroad

Hello Reesey,  We live here in Bahia de Caraquez on the North Central Coast of Ecuador.  I can't speak for other areas as much , although I have visited the Coast from Salinas to Rio Verde (north of Esmereldas), Spent time in Guayaquil, Quito, and lived in Manta.  We have not seen the evidence of Racism here.  We have heard of the "Olden Days" when the northern areas were populated by
Black settlers from the Caribbean areas, and there being some prejudice from locals when they settled in the northern border areas near Columbia.  Also the old prejudices in Latin America towards people of Color.  I am Caucasian from Seattle Washington.  I have not seen any prejudice in my travels here .  We enjoy our dear friends in Seattle and here of all colors and creeds.  We have wonderful friends Here in Bahia from the USA who we thoroughly enjoy who happen to be Black.  Come join us here and live in a society where all persons are accepted and welcomed.  There may be some North Americans who have brought their prejudices here.  We haven't seen it and will not tolerate it.  You will thoroughly enjoy the wonderful, welcoming Ecuadorian People.  They really are warm , friendly, inviting and want to get to know us. It is a very laid back easy life here Reesey.  Look me up when you come to town.
Happy to welcome you to Bahia.

Still Living It and Loving It here in Bahia, Ecuador
Charlie

Hello and thank you!   Your response and kind words warmed my soul and brought tears to my eyes.   I know that Utopia does not exist, but I am looking for more and other than this!   How long have you been there?... I would love to know more and hear of your experiences.  Please....more!!

Hello again Reesey, It is truly a Sad thing for you in your Retirement years?( I am guessing you are retiring) to have to be concerned about whether or not you will be safe and secure where you go because of your skin color. How ridiculously absurd that you even have to have these concerns.  I apologize to you for my fellow small minded earthlings.  We want to have the opportunity to find out what your contribution is as we feel we all have something special to contribute to each other. It does not make me proud of my fellow earthlings that anyone ever hated or harmed someone because of their race, religion etc. (Slavery, The Holocaust etc.)

But having said that you deserve to live a happy life after working hard all your life.  I am so happy that I warmed your soul and made you happy.  Do not be afraid of Ecuador.  We came here to get away from the daily killings, gangs, constant fighting over everything in our Government, what we see as an attempt to change our way of life in America for the worse,  and the constant stress, high prices and horrible traffic where we came from.  We knew we could not afford to retire in America after we along with many others lost the values of our homes, our businesses were becoming unprofitable or worse, we lost our good jobs , etc. We also wanted to live where we can be warm at the Ocean.  We tired of the cold weather and the rain.  We wanted something more tranquil and with easier living and lower costs.

We also tired of the constant bitterness over race, wars, etc. and felt Ecuador was a place we could be without all of that.  You are right, no where is perfect.  We simply wanted an easier existence.  The pace of life here is slow and the Ocean is very calming.  The people here are very family oriented.  Children walk arm in arm with their parents or siblings.  The families stay together and help each other all the way through their lives.  The people here
are happy just to have a family and be able to feed them.  The materialism  we are used to is not what they value here.  It is each other and just enjoying life that matters to them here.

In our research we read that the people of Ecuador are known as the kindest , friendliest people in all of South America.  From this the live and let live, kindness and helping attitude springs down here.  We have found and continue to find that the Ecuadorian people are just waiting for us to be friendly and readily give friendliness back to us.  As we give them our respect and accept them as they are, we are then given respect and acceptance.  They love to have fun here and are happy with very little.  We have much to learn from them and have learned much from them.  They too want to learn from us and are very interested in learning about us and from us.  The area we settled in is warm 70'to 85' year around, has great growing soil, and has trees which we are very used to.  It is a very interesting place to live.  Lots of History and fun things to do.  Most of all Reesey you will be accepted here for who you are not what you look like.  We like it a lot here.  We have been in Ecuador for about 8 months this year and were here 3 months last year.  We researched Ecuador for several years as well as other Central and South American Countries.  For many reasons Ecuador was our choice.  We are Residents having gone through the Residency process here. 

It would be helpful if you would tell me more about yourself and your aspirations so I know what you would like to hear about from me.  Like where you are from, when you will retire, when you want to come down etc.  I am involved in Developing some property north of here about 20 minutes.  We will be living at the Ocean yet close to Bahia where all the commerce is. 

Come down and see for yourself what it's like here.  You may want to look at other areas of Ecuador.  Each person has their preferences as far as climate etc.  I don't believe you'll experience racism here though.  Most people here just want to earn a living and take care of their family.  Let me know what your other questions are.

If you click on our names you can private message us if you want to send something private.  Enjoy your adventure, learning and exploring it's half the fun. 

Still Living It and Loving It here in Bahia, Ecuador
Charlie

Hi Reesey,

A new topic has been created with your post on the Ecuador forum for more visibility and for more interaction

Thank you,

Priscilla
Expat.com team

I can't say I agree with a single thing Serevi posted. Forums are a great first place to start your research before you come for a visit. It's a good way to narrow down the field so you know where you want to visit. I also think that two of the "safer" countries Serevi listed are actually more dangerous than Ecuador.

There are parts of Ecuador that are openly racist towards people with darker skin, there are also areas where blacks are the majority. In my opinion, Ibarra is the largest safe city with a strong black community. There are small towns north of Esmareldas that are almost entirely black, though many people believe that this area isn't safe due to its proximity to Columbia.

Serevi wrote:

Your retirement is too serious an issue to be left to forums and magazines. It is not like planning a holiday where you do "research" to see where is the best place to go.  If the idea is to spent your remaining days on the planet in this place you must have conviction that this is THE CHOICE, and everyone has a different way of reaching this conclusion.

Here are comparative Crime Comparison results between the four countries  from Numbeo.

The first figure is the crime Index;  an estimation of overall level of crime in a country. Crime Levels up to 50 are reasonable, and crime index levels more than 100 are too high.

The second figure the Safety index is,  quite opposite of crime index. If a country has a high safety index, it is considered very safe.

So, in order from least secure to most secure the ranking is;

Ecuador     59.06  40.94  (least secure!)
Ireland     49.92  50.08
Sri Lanka   42.03  57.97
Morocco     37.78  62.22  (most secure!)

I am not interested in which of the two countries J. thinks is less safe than Ecuador, I am more interested if he has actually spent any extended time in them, before making such misleading proclamations.

And no I never was told to "not walk alone at night" anywhere in those other countries ( with the sole exception of Colombo), as opposed to what I regularly hear about Quito and Guayaquil.

What is the source for your statistics? Are they based on government reported figures, or independently verified? My opinions about Sri Lanka and Morocco are based on the experiences of a coworker from my last job who lives in Morocco, and my direct experiences working with Sri Lankan migrant workers.

Serevi wrote:

I declared the source in the post.  Go to the site and you will find out how the numbers are calculated.   The source is a well-trusted site that has been often used to provide statistics in this forum.  As a person who has visited  over 100 countries I find them almost eerily accurate.

So you have not actually visited  these places to be able to make a direct comparison. AndI am not impressed with your second hand accounts. Have the Sri Lankan migrants been to Ecuador by any chance?

I understand that "Ecuador" is now hyped in the US, as a "retirement destination". But it is a dangerous thing to do.  Ecuador is not about hype. Ecuador is eternal  and ever-changing at the same time. Retirement is  also not about hype. Retirement is permanent, or at least a very long time. And it is the naive and weak who fall victim to proclamations of it being ( this weeks)  land  of milk and honey.

Since you didn't really answer my question about the source of the statistics, I got curious and looked it up myself. "Numbeo uses the wisdom of the crowd to obtain the most reliable information possible." Now I see how and why places like Sri Lanka and Morocco are rated as safer than places like Ireland and Ecuador.

Serevi wrote:

Your retirement is too serious an issue to be left to forums and magazines. It is not like planning a holiday where you do "research" to see where is the best place to go.  If the idea is to spent your remaining days on the planet in this place you must have conviction that this is THE CHOICE, and everyone has a different way of reaching this conclusion.

This makes it sound as if you believe that, having moved to a given country, one is obligated to stay there until death.

That is hardly the case. I moved to the Philippines in mid-2012, decided it wasn't right for me (gave it a year's trial) and will try Ecuador next. If I don't like Ecuador, I'll move somewhere else.

Your advice is valid in regard to buying property, however.

BobH wrote:

Serevi wrote:

Your retirement is too serious an issue to be left to forums and magazines. It is not like planning a holiday where you do "research" to see where is the best place to go.  If the idea is to spent your remaining days on the planet in this place you must have conviction that this is THE CHOICE, and everyone has a different way of reaching this conclusion.

This makes it sound as if you believe that, having moved to a given country, one is obligated to stay there until death.

That is hardly the case. I moved to the Philippines in mid-2012, decided it wasn't right for me (gave it a year's trial) and will try Ecuador next. If I don't like Ecuador, I'll move somewhere else.

Your advice is valid in regard to buying property, however.

Good point.  There is no going elsewhere for me, even if Ecuador turns into Venezuela someday.

Nards Barley wrote:

Good point.  There is no going elsewhere for me, even if Ecuador turns into Venezuela someday.

Well, it may not be as bad as all that, but buying property certainly complicates the 'if I don't like it, I can move on' approach. Which I why I wouldn't buy until I had stayed someplace long enough to be fairly certain I wanted to stay long-term (which I think is what you did).

When I gave up on the Philippines all I had lost (if it can be called a loss) was my airfare and the cost of my visa.

Serevi, though, seems to think that even that is such an extreme level of commitment that one is stuck forever with a mistaken choice. We all have different perspectives, I guess.

Hi everyone,

I had to moderate a few messages here. I didn't delete them, I moved them to an "admin-private-forum" for record.

Thanks for your comprehension,

Julien

Hello Reesey, I am writing to you from Ecuador. My name is Roberto and I am a retired Boston Police Officer. I have been in Portoviejo, Manabi, Ecuador for 15 years. I love it here. Please let me know how I can help you. Call me 011-593-99-880-3763 Have you read bryanhaines post in Whats the cost of living in Ecuador. Best post for the cost of everyday living in Cuenca Ecuador  https://www.expat.com/en/guide/south-am … uador.html