Our Fourth Month

     We started the month off by paying our rent for the condo which is $900 per month. The power bill came in at $58.09 which has been the highest so far. We have been using the air conditioner in the bedroom more often. Normally starting it when heading to bed and sometimes starting it before we get out of bed. I would try to remember to shut it off before my little button opens the window. It's a big window and the air conditioner is right next to it.
     After paying the rent and utilities we decided to walk over to Chipipe Beach. We had noticed that there was a weekly meet set up on the beach and thought it would be a good idea to get some steps in and meet some of the local expats.

https://vimeo.com/217937659

     We found their tents set up closer to the condos so walked up to them and joined them for some drinks.




     We met a few expats while visiting. Everyone seemed friendly and helpful with advice. We even got to experience some fishermen hauling in some fish with their nets. It was interesting how everyone seemed to get involved. Some even brought their own bags or containers to help pick the nets clean.




     What was interesting was that this whole thing just happened so quick. One minute they spotted some fish jumping and the next minute they were dragging a net out into the sea and looping it around and bringing it back to the beach. Meanwhile one fella with a snorkel was making sure that the bottom of the net stayed on the bottom which was definitely working as there were fish jumping over the net. The Frigate birds were having a feast!

https://vimeo.com/217936850

     After a few drinks with the other expats that we met at the beach beersby we started to walk back home. We scored over 10,000 points on this day. Once we got home I found out that we would be visiting the house again. Lourdes would be taking us out there. She was the listing realtor and knew the owners which was very helpful as we got to learn more about our future neighbors along with the community. She even took us to a local manufacturer who crafts baskets and mats from Banana root and also carvings that looked like ivory but were actually carved from a fruit seed. The manufacturer actually exports around the world. It was good to know about a local manufacturer. I have been thinking about importing/exporting and if I ever get it off the ground, I would be able to help sell items like this for them.

     We arrived at the house and the guardian came over to open it for us. The photo above is the entrance to the property from the malecon. I kind of like it as there is privacy for the patio and pool and the tree also helps to create more privacy. There is a tree house to the right of the entrance that has some steps leading up to it. Would be a nice spot to have some tea, or other refreshment while reading a book or just looking for a nice private spot. The master bedroom, office and living room all have views of the ocean and you can hear it too. A short sample video from the living room window is below.

https://vimeo.com/219251184

     As you can see, it's going to be a great spot to have a drink, read a book and listen to some tunes. The patio wraps right around the house and they have even built a picnic table which appears fixed to the concrete patio. Great spot to have morning breakfast or dinner with a sunset over the ocean.

     

     That is the table under the tarp. Truly looking forward to sitting out there and listening to the waves and looking out for dolphins and wales. We can even put our granite table and chairs out here too. I am more interested in putting some concrete or wicker couches on the patio by the swimming pool along with a few lounge chairs. There will be plenty of room on that patio for that stuff. And once the Casita is finished, whomever is renting it can utilize the patio and pool while at the same time, we would have a bit of a private area at the front of the house.

     I have been busy ordering stuff from Amazon.ca and Amazon.com and having it shipped to our daughters so that we can throw it in the sea can in the middle of June. Some of the things that I wanted wold not ship to Canada so I have set up an account on MyUS.com and I can have those items sent to an address in Florida and then they will hold it until I am ready and then ship it to me in Canada or anyplace in the world.

     

     

    The view from the front of the pool shows just how close it is to Montanita. The surfing town is just up the beach about a 10 or 15 minute walk. This shot also shows the neighbor's front patio. They actually have this home listed for sale now for $174,000. Not sure why they have now raised the price as they have not done any upgrades to it since we last looked at it and the market has not gotten any better since we moved here. There are a lot of homes that have been on the market for well over a year.

     A couple of days after seeing the house, Claudette had to fly back to Calgary to do an audit. That will help pay for the shipping of the household goods. I then heard back from Sandra as she had a quote that was not the lowest, but the Canadian portion of it could not be beat.
    Claudette took the bus into Guayaquil and then flew to Bogota, Colombia and the on to Mexico City and Vancouver. I will be doing the same trip in a couple of weeks.

     Shortly after she left I attended a fundraiser for the Salinas area that was put on by the Rotary Club of Salinas and the event was held at the Salinas Yacht Club. It was a well attended event especially by the women. Over 80% that night, so it was a pleasant event to attend. I sat with a couple from Venezuela who had recently moved to Ecuador. There was also an American who was dating an Ecuadorian sitting with us. We had some pleasant conversation throughout the evening. There was also some live music and the meal was great. Some good company too. I staggered home afterward and got a gold crown from my watch for the amount of steps that day and the funny thing is, I didn't even dance. And that table on the left beside the window was full of good looking women. 

          

     But, I am a married man. So we can still enjoy the eye candy and if I stop looking, than there is something wrong with me. Even the walk back on the malecon late at night was comfortable and although I was thinking security wise, I still felt like I was safe as nobody came across as threatening in any way.
     I then spent the remainder of the weekend doing some Amazon shopping and Airmiles shopping. I thought it would be best to utilize the points and ordered a TV and some speakers that would ship to our Canadian address within 4 weeks. Same with the Amazon items that I would like to have for the house down here. Some of those items will take a few weeks and it would be nice to have them all together in time to put into the sea can.
     I also booked a vehicle with the points for our stay on Vancouver Island at our timeshare for the week in June that we will be there. Once we arrive in Vancouver we can then take the car over to the island on the ferry, spend the week there and then take the ferry back to the mainland and do some visiting and then fly back to Ecuador.
     My second visit to Beersby and some more friendly conversation, cold beers and good tunes and of course, the burger off of the back of a bicycle.

     Then I spent some time emailing back and forth with Sandra and getting all of the info to her along with a deposit which I was sending from my bank via XE.com to her bank in Guayaquil. I then sent a deposit to our shipper in Vancouver. He will arrange to have the sea can dropped so that we can load it and then it will be taken to the Calgary rail yards and shipped to port in Vancouver where it will then go by ship to Guayaquil.
     I had heard about a small pub with some good ribs happening on Friday night, so decided to head over to Sir Veza's for the Friday evening. Met a few new people and the music was good. It was a young band playing Beatles music all night long for free. Accepting donations of course. The Rib dinner was delicious.

     That was one big chunk of meat from one end to the other and it just melted in your mouth. The gringo that was BBQ'ing it did a fabulous job. He had apparently been running a business in Salinas in the past and was now living near Quenca. Hope he sticks around!

     I think I left shortly after 2:00 AM and walked home along the malecon. I was surprised at the amount of people still out enjoying themselves at this hour. Made it home by 3:30 AM and enjoyed the lie in the next morning.

     I then spent a couple of days streaming the Women's Rugby Sevens. Great to see Canada come away with Silver. Now it's time to start packing for the trip back to Canada.

     Started off by taking a cab to the bus terminal in Santa Elena and then catching a bus to Guayaquil. Checked in at the airport with Avianca and then proceeded through security. No issues there so on to the gate. It was a short flight to Bogota where I then spent 11 hours on layover for the next flight at 11:30 PM. Spent most of the time catching up on the blog and surfing the web. Wifi is free and they even had a Colombia Sportswear shop which I found interesting as that company was founded in Calgary and the founder was a neighbor. 

     I enjoyed the lady that was working in the Colombia store as she had a nice figure and made sure to step out of the store and show it every once in a while. It was nice to have some eye candy in such a dull place.

     The next flight which continued on to Mexico City was a sleepless one as the lady beside me had a small dog that she liked to chat too and the fella across the aisle decided he wanted to leave his light on and count his spare change for 2 hours.

       Then a 3 hour layover and then on to Vancouver. I had about 5 hours to spare so spent some of it in Palamino's enjoying some red hot chicken wings and some beers.

     I kind of enjoyed the Vancouver airport. Will be back there again. Now it was the 4th leg of my trip and the shortest into Calgary. First window seat of the trip and the clouds broke enough to catch a shot of the city as we circled it for landing. Good to see everything is green as it was cold and white the last time we were here. My wife was waiting in the cell phone parking lot and pulled up in a new Jeep that she was renting for a month. We stopped at some friends on the way home and enjoyed a cool one and some conversation. Then it was on to Rachel's and I was prepared for a good long nights sleep.