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In Cotacachi many people drink the city water and never have a problem. Some of us like to be extra cautious and so we buy bottled water or use water filters.

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I’m not certain if the $42 fee would apply to such a situation Hayden. My understanding is that “packages” are charged this fee while documents are not. I’m not sure how customs would classify an envelope or box stuffed full of mail envelopes. I would suggest getting in touch with FedEx to see if they have a clearer view of how this would work.

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I replied to your e-mail address, but also wanted to post my answer here for anyone with a similar query.

Cotacachi has quite a few expats for being a small town, so you’re likely to run into us all over town. But here are a few places that specifically tend to attract expats.

Solid Rock Cafe – This is a popular spot in the mornings for breakfast and/or coffee. You’ll see expats sitting here for hours shooting the breeze any morning except for Sundays when they are closed. You can find them on 10 de Agosto as you head towards the market/bus station.

Serendipity and Trebol – These are two popular restaurants that sit across the street from each other on Gonzalez Suarez just off the main avenue of 10 de Agosto. Trebol is only open Fri-Sun, but Serendipity is open every day.

Rio Intag Coffee – This is a great little coffee shop right of Parque San Francisco and expats wander in and out all through the day.

The BAR – Often there is live music on weekend at The BAR and this draws large crowds of expats. There are also big screens for watching sporting events. You can find them about a block north of 10 de Agosto on Pedro Moncayo.

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FedEx and DHL are the most commonly used international courier services here. I don’t think they deliver to home addresses – you’ll need to pick up your package at their office, but you should double-check with them as sometimes services vary from town to town. If you go to fedex.com or dhl.com you can check the pricing and time estimates for sending packages internationally. It’s fairly expensive, but some people do use them when they need an important document shipped quickly.

There are customs limitations on all packages coming in to Ecuador. They cannot be more than 4 kilos or have a value of more than $400 or it will be subject to import fees. Also $42 per package is charged to the recipient. Most of us just choose to buy anything we need from the states when we visit or have friends bring it back when they visit the U.S.

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Hi Don,

In most of the popular expat towns you’ll be able to find furnished apartments and houses for rent. Even if for some reason you couldn’t find what you wanted with furniture it would probably be cheaper to buy furnishings for a small place than it would to ship a container down.

Many of the furnished rentals will include a washer and dryer, but if not there are laundry services available. Some of them will even pick up and deliver your clothes to/from your home.

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I just saw an advertisement for a very nice looking (though probably much smaller than you’re used to) gym in Salinas on Facebook today. I know that Manta will have gyms too. I’m not sure about any of the smaller towns – it’s hit and miss when you get into smaller populations.

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Yes sir. Nearly anywhere that excepts credit or debit cards will take the Visa and/or Mastercard cards. The same goes for most ATMs. Just be sure to let your bank or cc carrier know that you’ll be in Ecuador so charges from here do not raise red flags. You don’t want your cc frozen because your bank thinks it was stolen.

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Hi Mike,

Cost of living on the coast will vary a lot depending upon which town you live in and what kind of lifestyle you’re looking for. You certainly can live there for $1,000 per month, but probably not in a luxury condo. Three years ago in Bahia de Caraquez I rented a 2-bedroom furnished apartment for $350/month. I’m guessing it might rent for $400/mo now. We bought most of our food from the local market where we got good deals on seafood and produce. And transportation by bus is very inexpensive. I would say that my family of four definitely lived on less than $1,000/mo for basics while we were there. So if you don’t mind living a low-frills lifestyle and doing a little research to find good rental deals then yes it’s possible.

But, you’ll need to take into account that you’ll have to spend extra money when you first arrive for things like visas, furnishings (if necessary), internet installation, and stocking your refrigerator and pantry. Plus if you need frequent healthcare or medication that will add to your monthly expenses as well. And you should always try to cushion your budget with a little extra in case of unexpected expenses.

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There is mail service to Ecuador. We have a post office box and get mail there, but if you put the recipient’s physical address on the envelope the postal service will usually hand deliver it even if there is no external mailbox. That might be a little risky though with sending money so you might want to try another option. If you want to send a check you’ll need to get an international cashier’s check from your bank and you could send it through DHL or FedEx. Your best option though might be Western Union.

Another idea is to use PayPal. I use this frequently for sending money to people in other countries and there’s no cost. You just need to make sure that the sending and receiving parties both have an account and then choose the option of sending money to friends or family when you make your payment. If you choose the option of paying for goods or services PayPal will keep a percentage of the payment as a fee.

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I’ve not heard of a limit on the number of pets you can bring to Ecuador. In fact I know several people who have brought more than 2 animals per person. Individual airlines might limit the number of animals you can bring per flight, but I’ve heard nothing of the Ecuadorean government placing a limit on the amount of pets you can bring in. For more information on bringing your pets to Ecuador you can look at the information on our main Ecuador Insider page here: https://internationalliving.com/country_clubs/ecuador/moving-to-ecuador/#pets

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Martina, the general understanding is that Ecuador is more concerned with felonies than an old driving infraction. I know of expats here who have had more recent DUIs and didn’t have any trouble. I won’t tell you that you will have no problems because you might have to deal with that one official who is a stickler and will question everything. But I will say that it’s highly unlikely you’ll run into any issues at all.

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I have heard of a few (very few) expats getting financing from a U.S. bank for a property purchase in Ecuador, but it’s not very common and I would think financing would be difficult to obtain. Ecuadorean banks are not as liberal about loaning money as those in the U.S., so they do not readily hand out loans. It might be possible to get a mortgage here, but I think it would be very very difficult. Like Edd said, your best bet is to pay cash.

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I am betting there is a very good chance that what your relative heard was fireworks. They are very prevalent here and used for most all celebrations and they can sound remarkably like a gun shot. Now, it is possible that she actually heard a gun firing, but I never have in my three years here, so it would have been a very isolated incident. I don’t feel at all unsafe being near Colombia and I (along with many other expats) cross into Colombia on occasion for day trips or shopping.

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I spent two months in Bahia and never noticed an insect problem there. Of course right on the beach you have a nice breeze which keeps most insects at bay, but even in town I never wore insect repellent and I’m one of those people that attracts every biting insect around!

I suspect if you go farther inland you might find no-see-ums in grassy or swampy areas, but I never noticed a problem at all in places like Bahia, San Vicente, or Canoa.

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Loja – About the same size as Ibarra, and larger than Otavalo. It has more colonial buildings and parks and plazas than the other two locations. There are several music schools there so the city is heavily influenced by music with free concerts every week.

Ibarra – Close to Yachay. The geography is a bit different than Loja with several dormant volcanoes nearby giving it a little more of a dramatic setting. You’re not far from the Colombian border if you are interested in visiting and Quito is only 2.5 hours away which is convenient for access to the international airport and the visits you’ll need to make for obtaining your visa and cedula.

Otavalo – Smaller than the other two cities, but is a thriving market and tourist town. If you like culture and history Otavalo has it in spades. Every Saturday there is a huge indigenous craft market in town.

None of these cities have a very large expat population and while English is spoken by some, most people you’ll encounter will speak Spanish. Ibarra and Otavalo are close to Cotacachi though which has several hundred expats if that is something important to you.

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