Loja, Ecuador May Well Be Home

Keltic Tom wrote:

I plan on flying...to Houston...then onto Loja....Any proven thoughts out there?

Houston, we may have a problem (but it's not in Texas).

A guy who posted on this blog that he has had trouble breathing above 3,500 feet in the U.S. should be wary of living in a mountain city such as Loja which is at almost twice that altitude.

Tom, you'll have to keep us up to date on Loja! My husband and I are planning a move in February of 2015, and I am VERY interested in finding out more about that area. We're going for 2 weeks in another few days, so I'll report back with anything I find out as well.

I reviewed my past in México and realized that I lived outside of Guadalajara at 5,300' no problem. I regularly traveled to México City at 7,300' - no problem. Three years ago I was in San Miguel de Allende at 6,800' - no problem. Guess I did not realize how high I was. Fifteen years ago I visited Santiago Tiangistenco, México monthly at 8,500' - no problem. I shall see or feel as it were.

Regards .... Tom

Tom,

Lily Ann Fouts showed up in Loja last January and experienced quite an adventure in scouting for and securing an apartment there.

She posted the details online along with relevant and well-done photos of the area and apartment lodging.

I think you'll find it fascinating.  Go to lilyannfouts.com or google "finding an apartment in loja ecuador lily ann fouts".

Hello Vicatella,

I have been reading and reading and I have ruled out a number of places do to traffic, pollution and crime. The more I read about Loja the more I like it. Loja and my home town of Buffalo, New York have something in common. They were both the first cities in their respective countries to have A/C electric. When Buffalo hosted the 1901 Pan American Expo the visitors called Buffalo the City of Lights. I had thought that Buffalo was years ahead of all others but come to find out I was wrong. Loja turned on its lights about the same time as did Buffalo which shocked and humbled me.

Loja is a college town which I feel tends to made the people some what more progressive. Loja is considered to be the arts, crafts and music capital of Ecuador all of which I enjoy. The weather appears to be some of the finest in Ecuador. Loja is smaller in size and population (180K / 210K metro) than the other popular cities. From the photos I have seen it looks to be clean and orderly and the scenery in that part of Ecuador is breath taking. The big question in my mind is rentals. On arrival I will be looking for something small and furnished for about 6 months. Once my residence visa is finalized I will be looking for something permanent. I will then ship my house hold goods and rent a 1 bed room unfurnished.

I await your first hand report. Wishing you a safe and pleasant trip.

Regards,   Tom   aka   Don Chema

Hello Tom,

Read your posts and they sound realistic. There is no need to get a Real Estate agent they all up the prices.
I live near Loja in Vilcabamba. I know there are nice places to rent in Loja, you can get something furnished $200.- to $300.- no problem.It is much better to rent first, before buying, to make sure you like the area and the neighbors.
I made before I  moved here an explanatoric trip with my friend Ingrid for 5 weeks in Ecuador.We traveled all over from Quito and many places around it to the coast to the amazon and then to Cuenca.
I went home to Toronto packed and mostly gave away my stuff and moved to Cuenca with 10 suitcases, had no idea where I was going to rent. When I got here it only took 10 days to find a furnished appartment for rent. Of course I paid too much because I used an agent who was related to the owners. $600.- is much to much for Ecuador. When my lease was up I rented a full furnished house with all the conveniences for $500.-. Eventuell I found out that Cuenca is a beautiful colonial city, but much too cold and a high altitude. I also got robbed 4 times. So I moved to Vilcabamba, a one hour bus ride from Loja. I am renting here on a temporary basis a 2 bedrm 1 and a half bathroom ,
large living room and kitchen and a nice outdoors terrace for $400.- but will be looking for a small house. There are quite a few expats living here and it is peaceful and quite. No air polution, it is mostly always pleasantly warm and the altitude is only 5.000 feet. Loja is a bit higher, but you see when you get here. I lived in Ecuador now 3 years and 6 month and I just love it. People are nice, and a very good energy here. No stress. You wrote in the blog that you are interested in the indigenous cultures. There are many opportunities here to see and learn about them. My niece from Austria and her husband where here a year ago and went right into the jungle with permission from the Shaman, they found it so interesting. I was so happy when I went with them on one of their excursions and saw wild monkeys hopping around the trees. A childhood dream fulfilled.
If you have any questions you can write me. I won't be here Nov. 18th to Dec. 15th. Have to make an appearance in Canada so they won't decrease my pension, but will be so happy to get back to Ecuador again.
I wish you happy travels to Ecuador, but write me if you need some information. Good luck
Light and Love  the Gemini Lady  (Lottie for short)

Hello Lottie ...

Thanks for the lovely and informative letter. Since I began thinking Ecuador and begone to read I have ruled out a number of places like Cuenca & Guayaquil do to a perceived sense of crime. Others were crossed off the list do to traffic and/or pollution. Then I discovered Loja and the region. I am a native of Buffalo, New York ... ask me when I left ... the answer is, "As soon as I could read 'Exit.' "  I grew up thinking the following to be true: Buffalo hosted the 1901 Pan American Expo and was called by the visitors the "City of Lights." Thanks to the force of Niagara Fall / the genius of Tesla and others Buffalo was wiring its homes and factories between 1895 and 1900. I was shocked and humbled to read that Loja, Ecuador turned on the lights about the same time. It could have been a photo finish!

Four robbers is far to often. As the son of one of Buffalo's Finest I am always on the look out. Vigilance and a good dog go a long way in keeping pests away. As soon as I get settled permanently and with landlord approval and confidence I will import a Bouvier Belge des Flondres. Big name for a dog but what a friend and what a deterrent to robbers. Do to their French origin many can be found in QUE. The last one I had was a slightly larger than normal bitch and Rolex weighted 85 pounds. I had a big dog while living in Kuwait that could clear at the sook ... like the biblical parting of the sea. Timex weighted 175 which was 7 or 8 pounds more than I did.

I feel as if my ability to speak Castellano (the real name of the language) will make so many things go smoother. I began to learn Spanish at work in 1966 from a variety of latinos: Cubans, Argentinians, Guatemalans, Mexicans and others. I worked in Costa Rica (2yrs) and México (12 yrs) so I have been immersed. I am at the point now where I can chit-chat without a lot of thought.

Hope you have a pleasant trip to and from Canada. We shall keep in touch.

Regards ... Tom .... Don Chema - the kids added the 'Don' when I hit 55. Chema stands for two names: Che - José ans ma - Maria. My MBZ business card read - T. José Ma O'Brien. I was baptized Thomas Joseph but being the odd man out I took Mary as a Confirmation name.

Geminilady wrote:

I found out that Cuenca is a beautiful colonial city, but much too cold and a high altitude. I also got robbed 4 times....
Love the Gemini Lady (Lottie)

Lottie,

Your overall post was terrific, and the information about Loja probably reassuring to Tom.

But what about those four robberies...what was that all about...were they at your home...what was the lesson in that aside from deciding to move....

Good luck to you --I will be in Loja 11/22- 11/24 to scout out rentals <I live in QUito more than 3 years and Loja is not going to be an easy, I think.  It is not overcrowded with gringos quite yet and in my previous trips, it is a wonderful, small city with access to country but they are a simpler people than I know in QUito, for sure -- so be prepared.  It is like a small city in SPain.

If you know a small place with comfortable accomodations for reasonable cost ($10-12 per night) let me know.

S. Schloth   Quito

sueb4bs wrote:

I live in Quito more than 3 years and Loja is not going to be an easy....It is like a small city in Spain.  -- S. Schloth

Sue Schloth,

How is Loja like a small city in Spain...
What are you getting at in saying "Loja is not going to be an easy"...

cccmedia, Quito

Keltic Tom wrote:

Hello Vicatella,
I will then ship my house hold goods and rent a 1 bed room unfurnished.

I would suggest you reconsider on shipping your goods to a place you have never lived in before.

I have read about several situations in Cuenca (although different than Loja) where people have moved their household goods back to the US because they could not make a go of it in this country. The cost of shipping a container is quite high. I have heard figures of $6000 (and sometimes more). $6000 to move to Ecuador and then $6000 to move back to the US. Ouch!!!

I would want some absurdness before making such a commitment. But I guess if you have lots of money the gamble might be worth it.

Geminilady wrote:

Have to make an appearance in Canada so they won't decrease my pension,

Where did you get the information that they would decrease your pension (in Canada) if you did not make an appearance?

My understanding is that Ecuador has an agreement with Canada (I have read the document) that states Canada will deduct a maximum of 15% from your pension because you are considered a "non-resident" once you move to Ecuador and no longer maintain a residence in Canada. You can, however, submit a tax return if you feel that you have over-payed and they will issue a refund.

But even if you stayed in Canada you would still have to do the same thing (i.e., pay taxes) unless you are under the minimum annual income. The same applies to your living in Ecuador.

Keltic Tom wrote:

Hello Lottie ...
I have ruled out a number of places like Cuenca & Guayaquil do to a perceived sense of crime. Others were crossed off the list do to traffic and/or pollution.

I have lived here for 6 months now and spend a good deal of time roaming around the city. I have never seen one situation that would cause me any alarm. I have also read posts and talked to people who have lived here much longer than myself and there is very little crime here in Cuenca.

The traffic is certainly present and it can be noisy in parts of the city. You have to put up with drivers not being courteous to people walking across the street. So, living in a small town where there is not a lot of traffic there may be a plus regarding these issues.

The pollution in Cuenca is only noticeable if you are immersed in a lot of traffic on a hot day. I am sitting in the South part of the city (in my house) as I write this with my window open and with a light breeze and there is no noticeable pollution.

Obviously some people could be very sensitive to pollution and others not so. Comments like mine and others are very subjective. Before you disqualify a location you really need to check it out for yourself.

I plan to rent unfurnished while waiting on my residence visa 6 - 9 months. After that period of time I should no better.

Keltic Tom wrote:

I plan to rent unfurnished while waiting on my residence visa 6 - 9 months. After that period of time I should no better.

You should not have to wait that long for a Visa. It usually takes no more than 3 months. Mine was an investment visa and took 1 month. I have been told that preference is given to those acquiring investment visas. It is pretty hard to confirm that this is true. But since money is always highly valued there is likely some truth to it.

Ms. V we will be visiting on Feb 01,2015 . If you don't mind sharing some thoughts  on Loja my email is [email protected] thanks,  Joe

Hello,

We are moving to Loja in July 2015. We have looked at a lot of rentals in this website.

Check this website out: There is a cost for the people to help you get a rental, but I think its worth the cost.

[link moderated]

Lenora

Hello Lenora,

The link was removed ... [link moderated] it says.

A question if I may. On a percentage (0 to 100%) how much Spanish do you speak? What has been offered to date? A description, Sq. Mts, monthly cost if possible.

Direct email is equador(dot)tom(at)gmail.com

Regards .... Tom

Hello Tom,

the visa takes about 6 weeks to process, from what we have read. Look on the blog for more info about
residency visa.

Lenora

Hello Tom,
My husband and I are planning to move to Loja in mid-January 2015.  We two will have temporary accommodation for a few weeks while we look for a furnished apartment.  Since you speak Castellano, I've heard that the two best ways to find an apartment are look at the classifieds in the (actual paper) newspapers and walk around looking for ads in coffee shops and on telephone poles (we were in Loja briefly in November, and we did see such ads, everywhere).  Those are the techniques I plan to try, so far.  I'd love to hear more ideas.  Also, I'm thrilled to find a few other folks planning to move to Loja at about the same time!  I'd love to continue to exchange ideas with all of you.
Valerie

Hi ,I feel very blessed because good things just keep coming my way , my first stay was in a hostel and while looking for a night in another hostel a local lady who spoke good English over heard me  and  ask me if I would like rent a apartment , she then drove me around showing me several places that her fiends were renting out , 2 brooms from 300 to 500 , I took the last one ,completely renovated all tiled and new appliances and utilitys include 4  or 5 blocks from the beach . I tried the real estate people but they have bigger fish to fry , I think if you find the place were the English speakers hang out will be your best bet , a lot of them have been here for year and will give you lots of help . good luck EB

Hi my wife and i will be in Loja jan 31 to feb 09. We hope to viusit cuenca, malacatos, zamora, vilcabamba but Loja ius standing out and making connections with Baptist churches there. I still need a couple of years to porepare but as a former cop/investigator i must do my homework.  Hope all goes well, please keep us inform of the positives and negatives,  my email...chaplainjoegomez.com
Joe n Raquel Gomez

Hi , my wife and i will be visiting loja and the surrounding area on jan 31 to feb 09.  I am making contacts via the local baptist churches. I still need a coupke of years buyt as an ex cop/investigator i need to polkan a couple oif years in advance ha ha...please let us know of the positives and negatives...Joe n Raquel
My email is... [email protected]
Blessings, Joe n  Raquel