Florida, Montana, or Ecuador???

I just finished talking to a friend in Montana, the land of cold, snow, and ice. He shared with us that he had just been delivered a wallop on the side of the head from the sub-prime real estate crisis.

Then he gave us a piece of news that was even more shocking to us. He said, "lots of retired people are moving out of Florida and coming to Montana. They are sick of the heat, the threat of hurricanes, and the high cost of living."

Well, as an old Minnesota boy, I shuddered in my jeans at the thought of moving back to the cold climes of the north country, just to get away from things I don't like in Florida (or Phoenix, or McAllen where my relatives go to in the winter) or you name it.

I wonder how many of those Floridians are aware that just 3 1/2 hours south of them is a country that has no hurricanes and no really hot weather except in the jungles. What it does have are miles and miles of secluded beachfront and a cost of living that allows the two of us to live on a monthly budget for rent, telephone, food, high-speed internet and utilities, for less than $550.

When I want to splurge, I go down to our favorite local restaurant for a prime cut of Argentinian filet mignon about 2 1/2 inches thick or fresh river trout stuffed with a delicious shrimp sauce for less than $6 with tip. And if you are a beer drinker, a liter bottle of fine pilsener is $1!

Yes, I'm talking about Ecuador. Check out our website, www.pro-ecuador.com. Health care is very good and very inexpensive. Dental work is about 1/5 of what it is in the states. Ecuador is a land of clean water, pure air, wide open spaces and incredible biodiversity.

It's president is well-educated with a PhD in economics, a European wife and a progressive, independent course of leadership set for his country. We chose to live in Ecuador because after over a decade living and working in South America, Ecuador feels the safest to us and offers more of the elements we consider important for an excellent quality of life.



This is our favorite vegetable lady. Many of the items she sells she grows in her own garden. We go to the market every Sunday and buy all of our fruits and vegetables for the week, about $12 dollars worth for more than we can carry. We hired a tricycle cargo guy to carry them home for us for $.70.



Grand total for all you see above, including two dozen roses, was $11.

Wait until you sink your choppers into the delicious red bell peppers for $.10 each. Linda loves to make ratatouille with them, and I like them on the organic avocado, fresh cheese, lettuce and tomato sandwiches made with fresh corn bread or pan de leche that we buy at the nearby bakery. The avocados are in season now, and cost $.20 each. Compare those prices with the red peppers or avocados in your local Florida supermarket!

So I hate to make this sound like a commercial, but why anyone would want to move to Montana when they could live here is beyond me. This is the view of volcano Cotacachi from our penthouse terrace. We paid $5 for the flowering hibiscus you see. It usually has about 6 - 5" gigantic blooms on it an any one time.



Below is Volcan Imbabura and the view from the other end of our terrace. I'm not even going to tell you what kind of rent we pay for our penthouse, because I don't want to start a stampede!

I will tell you, however, that we can help you get into a beautiful 1,200 sq.ft. condo with more than an acre of gardens for around $46,000 or a smaller condo for less than $42,000. We expect you can purchase seven or eight condos here for the price of one in Florida! Most of the condos have views of one or both of the volcanoes shown above.