The fish Pond! Snake Territory!!

Fishing in the Pond!
Now everyone has a fear of something, mine being sharks! but where i went this day brings a whole different meaning to fear! Snake territory anacondas!!!!!!
After a cracking day with the Loors at the ranch , we planned to go fishing, not your normal fishing trip,that your used to at home, using rods etc!
But this i found interesting we had 4 poles with a net attached to it, stuck into the middle of the pond, then there were 1 guy with a small net in his hand and 4 others swimming around in the water!

It took me 30 minutes to have the balls to jump in the water, as this area was renowned for snakes, not to mention the walk to the pond, walking through reeds trenching through dirt up to my waist in some areas!
Any how! i was shown how to catch a fish with my bare hands, digging deep under the water! i caught one, but was no match for the experts it took them just under 1 hour to catch 25 fish! UNBELIEVABLE!
I heard a scream from the corner of the water! my heart was in my mouth! was it a snake grabbing the lad?
No it was a shrimp ha ha! I think the lads are flipping crazy digging their hands into the bank side, anything could bite or grab you, but the scream was a shrimp nipping the lad with its claws! A normal process to catch them so they said! 2 minutes later, another yelp! what a whopper this shrimp was must of grabbed him right on the chest!
5 shrimp in total, along with the 25 fish, not bad for an hours graft!
We then packed up and trenched back through the reeds and back to the Loors, where we then had a fish supper! Rico! delicious! was what it tasted like, but everything tastes great when it is free! wouldn't you agree?
So to conclude this post, i didn't see any snakes, learned something new and what an experience! You too can have the opportunity to do this if your brave!!!

Day at the Ranch!

 Went to my friends ranch the other day, just outside of Portoviejo,
what a place, it was about the size of Newcastle a large city back home in the UK, the place is covered with trees plants and eye catching beauty spots, this trueley was paradise,
The journey began visiting my friends family house, where they have the luxury of coconut trees mango's and other fruits right on their doorstep! who needs to go to the super market when you have all of this!
After drinking the water from a coconut refreshing by the way! it was time to head up the mountain in my truck with the Loor family!

  
The roads were very steep and narrow over looking the cliff edge! great views all the way to the top!
When we got there we said hello to the locals very warm people, i had the opportunity to hold a few wild birds before we ventured into the back of beyond!
I was amazed with the ranch as soon as we began walking through the forestry, senor Loor explained and guided me through the ranch showing me what produce he has, what has been used and what was growing now!

First i was shown the orange trees and banana trees. which we gathered a few bags of and tasted! then i was shown the coffee plants at early stages and blooming stages, very interesting as i had never seen this before,
chocolate plants were then shown to me and a demonstration which entailed sucking the outter pips thus providing us with the beans , which for the chocolate process to begin pips must be dried out in the sun,as do the coffee beans, pictures illustrating this.

COFFEE PLANT!

 CHOCOLATE PLANT!

It was quite hot up there and was parched like everyone else was, so we headed further into the forest to find a pool of water which ran from under the ground, best mineral water i had tasted and very cold!, rehydrated and feeling fresh. we headed for the sugar cain plants, ripped the bark off with a machete then sucked the sugars from the plant, there was so much more to see ,but doing all of the above had been time consuming!
Best experience of my life being able to do this mini adventure, the closest to the amazon rainforest as i will get!

we loaded up the truck with fruit we had picked and back down the mountain we went!
If ever you come to Portoviejo and are interested in having the same experience as i did we can arrange this for you, even if you are not in it for the information on products at least you will get some spectacular photos, and really appreciate where you are at that time!. My next entry will be another trip fishing in a pond SNAKE TERITORY!

Resident and Non resident Visas!!

visa in ecuador!

There are two general categories of visas:

1-Non-Resident

2- Resident (immigrant).

 Any person from any country can enter Ecuador with a 12-X visa (which is tourist visa) for a period of 90 days i did this with having my current passport, which was valid for at least 6 months along with my return ticket and a simple form you fill out on the plane! easy process upon arrival,passport gets stamped at the airport a few questions may be asked as to where you are thinking of going, just general security measures. happens to everyone so don't worry!

Resident visas!

Ok this process can be obtained in many ways, so i will try to keep this simple!

Real estate!

Real estate and securities investors who are willing to invest in Ecuador a minimum of 25,000, usd plus  500 usd for each family dependent. now for example you buy a house for 25000 dollars and thats it right? wrong! before you buy a house or business, you must get it valued as you may pay 25,000 dollars but it is only valued at 20,000 in the province that you are in! meaning you are 5k short.

so my advice is before committing, ask a lawyer or even speak to the correct department, for a value of the property you are thinking about buying!

If all works out well value being 25k +, Then Congratulations life is allot easier for you now!

If you have the cash another option is having 25k put in an Ecuadorian bank, and leave it for a year . this can give you residence also.

There are many lawyers around Ecuador,that prepare you for your required visa! but not all speak English. which can be your main problem. But there are English speaking lawyers i know, which are located in Quito, Ecuadors capital and also Manabi, which is where i am now!

I shall go into more depth with the visa scenario for other applications, but in the meantime here is the contact info of a lawyer in Manabi we know! Very friendly and happy to go through the process with you!

Visaecuador.visas@gmail.com

Abogada

Carmen Garcia Alava

Direct emails

 viviangarcia12@yahoo.es

vivigarcia12@totmail.com

 

Day out in san clemente and bahia on the quad

i always take the quad on the back of the truck, when going to the beach, its quiet during the week so  san clemente is the place to go! park outside of  Manfreds bar, a german lad who came out here 10 years ago and set up shop! have a couple of beers order some food, the fish is great! then hit the beach and have a bit fun!


http://youtu.be/fjUDl8w3MNg

Next vid is my mate first time out on the quad, in san clemente, then i went to bahia another beach next to the party zone known as CANOA
http://youtu.be/_vCsRwK-hF8

ecuador living paradise beach life with a few friends

Crucita a beach just outside of Portoviejo and Manta, where just about the whole world and his wife floods to on a weekend, a long stretch of beach  which has many restaurants and bars next to it a selection of water sports and para gliding.
You can either go there on a weekday and just chill out catch some rays and have canny swim, or on the weekend meet up with friends have a few beers and a good old laugh!
Sundays you can watch the grafters of Crucita haul in the fish,get them cleaned  up ready to sell.
A few photos of the lads i met last year had a little reunion not long back totally smashed it on the drink as you can tell ha ha, but was a good day like always, reminds me of my friends back home always up for a laugh and good company to be around always one who gets hammered too quick

                                                                  

             

  

  















     

ecuador living paradise day at the zoo

The zoo in Quito north!
Took a while to get there driving from the south of Quito, after driving round in circles getting lost for a good 2 hours we finally got there!
weather being hot allday was glad to get a helado (ice cream) the park had some exotic animals which i had never seen before aswell as your normal lions/tigers, but the animals were in great condition fit and healthy,full of life!! unlike a zoo i went to the other year in the lake district back in the uk, never the less all in all it was a great day out  plenty of pictures and yet again the views were out of this world, well worth the trip another tourist hot spot, where i met a few Americans Italians and Germans  snapping away as you do! Plenty of snack bars around the complex, but we stopped off at the next town on the way back, had a bite to eat and  a long deserved beer, then off we went on the dreaded journey back to the south of Quito

 

  

  

      

  

ecuador living paradise the market in quito sur

saturday morning about 6 am i went with my friend carlos to the market!to buy from here today would last a family well over a month, but you have got to haggle on some items, i swear everything you could possibly want was right here, fresh fish,honey,platano and  exotic fruits names i have never heard of  people offering you the fruit to taste before you decide to buy! i could walk around here allday, we filled up the car with fruit fish rice and other vegetables and was at a very reasonable price, for the money that was spent you would be lucky to get a half of this in the uk!which i still find hard to come to terms with. here are some photos of the market to give you an idea of what is on offer!