I am so excited to be returning to Quito this June….I can’t wait, in fact. Ecuador is my very favorite country on the planet. (While I am no longer living in Ecuador full time because of family obligation, I hope to do so again some day in the future.)
I don’t wear a watch. I have one (of course), but I don’t need it. In fact, I haven’t worn a watch in six years because our retirement in the Ecuadorian mountain city of Cuenca has given me back the gift of time.
“Honey, I think we need to make a trip to the ‘Tad,” my wife Rita said to me the other day. “Great,” I replied. We’re just mad about the ‘Tad. The place my wife was referring to was La Libertad—a.k.a. The ‘Tad—a bustling commerce town a short bus ride from our home in Salinas on Ecuador’s Pacific coast. We often make the trip there to do a little shopping and run some errands.
When people hear that I live in Ecuador, they often assume that I've given up many of the comforts I had back home. I've actually been asked if I can watch television, if I have internet service in my house, or even if there are international airports here.
If you’re someone who is looking for the conveniences of a good-sized city close to the beach and the mountains, I may have found the sweet spot for you. Especially if you are a trailblazer—someone who would enjoy the experience of immersing yourself in a new language and culture.
Sitting in our own private little courtyard with a bubbling stream on one side, a warbling symphony from the aviary on another, with pink bougainvillea and fiery red geraniums cascading down a third, my husband Michael and I could be in Italy.
Sitting in our own private little courtyard with a bubbling stream on one side, a warbling symphony from the aviary on another, with pink bougainvillea and fiery red geraniums cascading down a third, my husband Michael and I could be in Italy.
Ecuador is packed full of beauty, and it comes in many different forms. I've walked along golden beaches awash with turquoise waves. I've explored cloud forests under a lush canopy of broad-leaved trees.
"I love walking along the Tomebamba River," says Janda Grove. "I think it's one of the nicest things about Cuenca." Boasting romantic 18th-century architecture, and a rich artistic and cultural tradition, the colonial city of Cuenca is set high in Ecuador's Andes Mountains.
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