Ecuador fishing in Playa Prieta portoviejo

Ecuador fishing in Playa Prieta Portoviejo

 Fishing in the Pond 

Everyone has a fear of something, mine being sharks, but where I went this day puts a whole new spin on 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 you are used to at home, using rods etc! 

But this I found interesting: we had 4 poles with a net attached to them, stuck into the middle of the pond, then 1 guy with a small net in his hand and 4 others swimming around in the water.

It took me 30 minutes to get the balls to jump in the water, as this area was renowned for snakes, not to mention the walk to the pond, which involved walking through reeds and trenching through dirt up to my waist in some areas. 
Any how! I was shown how to catch a fish with my bare hands by digging deep under the water! I caught one, but was no match for the experts. It took them just under an 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.
 It is a normal process to catch them, so they said. Two minutes later, another yelp. What a whopper. This shrimp must have grabbed him right on the chest. 
5 shrimp with the 25 fish,not bad for an hour's effort! 
We then packed up and trenched back through the reeds and back to the Loors, where we then had a fish supper! Rico! delicious! That 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, I learned something new, and what an experience to save in the memory bank. Ecuador fishing in Playa Prieta portoviejo

Ecuador Manabi Day at the Ranch!

I went to my friend's 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 truly was paradise. 
The journey began by visiting my friend's family house, where they have the luxury of coconut trees, mango trees, and other fruits right on their doorstep! Who needs to go to the supermarket when you have all of this? 
After drinking the water from a coconut, 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, overlooking the cliff edge! Great views all the way to the top! 
When we got there, we said hello to the locals, who were very warm people. Before we ventured into the back of beyond, I had the opportunity to hold a few wild birds. 
I was amazed by the ranch as soon as we began walking through the forest. Senor Loor explained and guided me through the ranch, showing me what produce he has, what has been used and what is 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 entailed sucking the outter pips, thus providing us with the beans. For the chocolate process to begin, pips must be dried out in the sun,as do the coffee beans. Pictures illustrate this.

COFFEE PLANT!

 Cacao plant!

It was quite hot up there and I 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. It was the best mineral water I had tasted and very cold!, rehydrating and feeling fresh. We headed for the sugar cane plants, ripped the bark off with a machete, then sucked the sugar from the plant. There was so much more to see ,but doing all of the above had been time consuming!
It was the best experience of my life to be able to do this mini adventure, which brought me as close to the Amazon rainforest as I will ever get! 

We loaded up the truck with the 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 had, 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!

Ecuador visa guide and requirements for Resident and Non resident Visas!!

Ecuador visa!

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 a tourist visa) for a period of 90 days. I did this by 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! The process is easy upon arrival; once your passport gets stamped at the airport, a few questions may be asked as to where you are thinking of going, just general security measures. It 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, for a list of properties that will guarantee you residence check out my buyers guide

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!

Abogada

Carmen Garcia Alava

Direct emails

 viviangarcia12@yahoo.es

vivigarcia12@hotmail.com

 

Ecuador beaches Day out in san clemente and bahia on the quad

Ecuador beaches 

I always take the quad on the back of the truck when going to the beach. It's quiet during the week, so San Clemente is the place to go! park outside of Manfred's bar, a German lad who came out here 10 years ago and set up shop! Have a couple of beers and order some food. The fish is great! Then hit the beach and have a bit of fun!

http://youtu.be/fjUDl8w3MNg

Next video is my mate`s 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 beaches manabi Crucita beach life with a few friends

Ecuador beaches Manabi Crucita

Crucita is 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, with a selection of water sports and para gliding.

You can either go there on a weekday when it is quiet and just chill out, catch some rays and have a canny swim, or on the weekend, meet up with friends like I did and have a few beers and a good old laugh! 

On Sundays you can watch the grafters of Crucita haul in the fish and get them cleaned up ready to sell. 

A few photos of the lads I met last year. We had a little reunion not long back, totally smashed it on the drink as you can tell, but it was a good day like always. It reminds me of my friends back home, always up for a laugh and good company to be around, but there is always that one guy who gets hammered too quick.

                                                                  

             

  

  















     

Quito North Zoo Ecuador

The zoo in Quito's north! 

It 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! 

The weather being hot all day, I was glad to get a helado (ice cream). The park had some exotic animals which I had never seen before, as well as your normal lions and tigers, but the animals were in great condition, fit and healthy,full of life!! Nonetheless, it was a fantastic day out, with plenty of photo opportunities and views that were out of this world, well worth the trip. I met a few Americans, Italians, and Germans who were snapping away like you! 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.

 

  

  

      

  

Quito sur market Ecuador

Saturday morning, at about 6 am, I went with my friend Carlos to the market! The food we bought 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. I have never heard of people offering you the fruit to taste before you decide to buy! I could walk around here all day. We filled up the car with fruit, fish, rice, and other vegetables and it was at a very reasonable price. For the money that was spent, you would be lucky to get 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!