[NoelineC]

Hi Conde
Thank you for asking me to join your group of friends. I live in Quito and can tell you quite a bit about Ecuador. Yes... there are amazing high snowcapped volcanoes - Cotopaxi, Cayambe, Pichincha, The Altars, Ruminahui, Pululuauha etc all visible and an easy distance from Quito. Tungurahua which has been very active lately is near Banos and quite a way from Quito. Pichincha which is right beside Quito last erupted through the Guagua caldera in 1999... it apparently emitted ash for a couple of days. Quito is at altitude 3,500m and most of the mountains around top 4,500-5,500m. So it takes a little while to acclimitise to the altitude.,

Quito is a very old town and the long valley that forms it is surrounded by farms and beautiful soil to a very great depth on the sides of the mountains that line sides of the valleys wherever you look. The Centro Historico is the first Patrimonio declared by UN and there has been much restoration carried out over the last 5 years and it is truly lovely to walk through. The city dates back to the late 15th early 16th century in its development. The climate up here is eternal spring... no winter, summer or autumn, which really doesn't suit desiduous trees like the London Plane although Poplars do well in Quito and are used as a street tree. The Coast is quite hot and humid and the beaches relatively undeveloped in comparison to Australia or US and not pristine like Australia. The sand is more black and the water fairly murky not aqua and clear. So the beach is not for me here and I don't really like being hot so Quito is perfect for me. So if you want to walk around in shorts and tshirt perhaps the mountains are not for you. Although Quito can be warm during the day - normal range 10 - 28 degrees celsius every day all year! no daylight saving as being right on the equator there is 12 hours of sunlight every day all year which makes for easy crop growing.

It interests me to know if you are just wanting to be a self-sufficient colony or intendi to export or manufature products either medical or general food items. There is a population of approx 14 million of which the top 5% are very wealthy and there is a growing middle group but about 65% poverty with many people living on $2 or less per day. I know we live in a changing world and things will no doubt operate differently in the future to now but now is all we have to relate to. The economy here is fragile and it is a small country with oil at present but technology changes will dramatically affect the oil position in the near future I believe, so countries that think they are wealthy with that now will be doing a rethink soon I venture. There is an election here on 28 September about changing the constitution. President Correa who is young and representing many changes with a sustained battle against corruption has some people wondering whether he is planning to set himself up as the next dictator. So perhaps his changes to the constitution will not be approved. An yway, time will tell.


All the indigenes here are the farmers and land dwellers. Fruit and vegetables in fantastic diversity are available here very cheaply. So don't think you will make your fortunes here growing and distributing fromn your farm. As an Australian, my friends are amazed at the difference in price here to Australia which like all western countries is experiencing great food pricess because of the cost of fuel in production and delivery of goods to the markets.

Dr Brian O'Leary, Astronaut, has moved to Vilcabamba with his partner to their wonderful new development called Montesuenos which I understand is to be a commercial retreat and spiritual haven.

I live in Quito and would like to move to something out of Quito, in the near future, nearby but out of town, where I can continue my gourmet food business which currently makes 2 types of Pates which are available in leading supermarkets and delis. I am planning to expand my product range in the near future by 2 products. The registration of products with the necessary authorities here for retail is about $1,000 per product and then there is the time and delay involved and the costs of advertising and promnoting products. There is definitely a lot of opportunity to develop different things here because the delicatessens are pretty limited in what they offer. I have made my focus on using the good and cheap local products to make something truly tasty and different increasing the product diversity available here and it appears to be appreciated.

It is certainly helpful to have a command of Spanish, although I have muddled through with spanglish and my castellano is improving slowly. You might find it interesting to experience the chaotic mind that seems to pervade all Latin America. All information is very secretive, the processes very bureaucratic and at times completely irrational and dogmatic, such as the banking procedures, tax, registrations of all kinds from cars to business licences, etc. If there is a hard way to do anything it is employed here. In fact as a very efficient and organised Australian I have had difficulty in just coming to terms with the "manana" (definitely a spanish/latin american word) attitude which means that what you can put off until tomorrow is a good thing. So time does not seem to matter here and people are slack with keeping appointments or meeting commitments. It can be very tedious at times. The people are very friendly and will promise you the world and then do nothing. Where abouts are your Ecuadorian relatives?

Buying property is an artform here and requires much negotiation and patience in the process. Certainly you do not come here flashing money around as you will be taken advantage of. The cost of living here is about a quarter of that of Australia, US or UK. Also the construction of houses needs to be really evaluated because sometimes things are a bit shoddy. Building materials are cheap and so construction is not a major expense.

So there is something to keep you in contemplation. I also have had much correspondence with George Green and believe that he intends to relocate to near Cuenca sometime in the future. I don't think very negatively and believe that although there will be financial crashes and restructuring of governments and earth changes (which are happening now) that it will not be the total disaster that many are predicting. I focus only on expansion of consciousness of humanity , which means focusing on my own development which will be mirrored in my environment. I dream of how I want the world to be and that is important as a daily focus. Thought is the catalyst for change and obtaining our desired result.

Let me know if I can answer any questions you may have.

Kind regards,