Hey Everyone,

So here is the 1^st installment of what could possibly be multiple updates, though once I begin construction, I am considering doing a vlog, so will forward details on that as & when…..In the meantime, please feel free to fwd this on to anyone you think may have any interest, but initially, Charles/Claire, would you mind sending this on to Mike & Lorraine, Sean & Dawn & Mishlinka as I don’t appear to have their email.

As is usual, should you no longer wish to receive these updates, please reply to this email with the words “No Mas Senor” in the title

In the immortal words of Ice Cube, today was a GOOD day! 🙂 The reasons for this I will expand upon further down the page, but for those of you that I haven’t managed to contact since my departure from the UK, here’s a quick recap.

Leaving the UK was a nightmare – due to the deplorable service of UK Mail, the luggage scales I ordered never arrived, so I had to guess on the weight of my luggage. On arrival at Heathrow it transpires Im stronger than I expected, with the decidedly large bags feeling just about within limits, a myth the check in girl was soon to dispel. Turns out the lightest was 28kg & the heaviest 42kgs, which when informed of the Heathrow policy of no bag over 32kgs, turned out to be something of a challenge……Luckily mum provided the full “see you into the airport” taxi service, so I got a huge new suitcase as a going away present & with a bit of a reshuffle, ditched the original smaller bag & got everything within “Heavy Baggage” limits, attracting the usual stiff penalties for excessive weight, but at least I was on my way…. 🙂

Flight was pretty good, I chose not to have the fish & following a double drop of sleepy goodness, took advantage of the spare seat beside me & stretched out a whole three feet to arrive in Bogata feeling fresh, only 11 ½  short hours later. A 3hr stop over in Bogata meant I got to enjoy Colombia’s 2^nd most favourite export & relax in a pseudo-lazee-boy with some rich dark roast. Yes, whilst they are made from recycled rubber products, there are several banks of pre-reclined day beds in the departure lounge, though you do need to provide passport & boarding card details when buying the coffee, which took some old Juanita forever to enter as I nervously eyed the last remaining day bed….

Landing in Guayaquil 90mins later, Ecuadorian customs positively salivated over my luggage, but a good half hour of fully fanatical smiling & obsequious cooperation, they let me pass with all my specialised construction tools, goods & chattels with no import taxation. Yahaaay! 😀

After the 2hr bus ride to Montanita, a quick call to my contact over here & Im checked in to a cheap n cheerful hotel. At $20 its fully functional: A/c, wifi, TV, DVD etc, but it’s the small things, like no wardrobe, no handy lil dish to store your soap in the shower & no plug sockets within reach of the bedside light, but a quick rearrangement of the furnishings & creative use of duct tape, all my problems were gone 😉

…..Nothing really happened after that, I had nothing to do, no one to see, no one to share with & then everything kinda dawned on me. Expletives were muttered as I took in the enormity of what I have just done. This really was the first day of the rest of my life & I would be lying if I didn’t say I had some second thoughts, maybe even third & fourth! It felt super hot & it seemed that no matter what I did everywhere was stifling & I had what I hope will be my last ever feeling of homesickness for cold weather 😉 Luckily I awoke with renewed vigour, rolling concepts & intent around in my head like Fabreeze-ball in a tumble dryer & when the cycle finished, out popped “When everything changes, change Everything!”

So a wander around town for breakfast led me to a a great lil café, who actually serve coffee & a decent breakfast of eggs, fruit, juice & fresh sweet rolls all for a couple of bucks. I continue the wander – everyone smiles & says hello, I meet a few expats, I meet a few more, we stop for a beer & all the previous days stresses just melt away. All the initial resistance I realise Id bought with me from the UK disappears. As I start to relax, I realise Im also starting to feel cooler, the sea breeze finally registers, I remember the way I felt when I was here before & all the reasons that lead to my decision. I actually laughed out loud as I recalled the panic of the night before. This was right, I was right, I just needed to be in the right frame of mind to see it…….

Im in a very small town/village/hamlet called Olon, just a couple of miles down the road from Montanita, the party town, so a quiet & relaxed opposite to the frenzy that is Montanita. There are a few tourists here, but aside from the locals, there are quite a number of expats, ranging from the eternal hippy, to the intrepid small business owner, through to the wizened retiree. As always, theres also a few obnoxious north Americans complaining at full volume, which as it happens also makes them quite easy to avoid, so all good. So now Im generally only eating only twice a day – healthy late breakfast after morning yoga, with alternating fish/meat as a late afternoon/early evening main meal. Somewhere in the region of 6 litres of water & no more than 2 cups of coffee a day – yes change everything, but theres also a case for baby steps 😉

So come on, why was today a good day I hear you say?! (assuming you are still reading) Well, having spent the last few days looking at apartments, ranging from $180 – $750, nothing appealed at all & yes, I got a lil despondent thinking I would have to put up with something I wasn’t comfortable with for the time it takes me to build my own place. It turns out that all of these places were Ecuadorian owned & as such were priced according to what they wanted, not what they were worth. They certainly didn’t subscribe to any base minimum for fitment, services or anything that one would normally expect from a rental. Yes there is a jump from $350 to $450 when you start to see A/c installed, but these also tended to have corrugated cement roofs with no inner ceiling, meaning it was at least 10 degrees hotter inside than out, & that’s no way to carry on!! This morning however, I signed a 6 month contract with a Canadian who clearly understands what level of service means. Its not huge by any means, but a 2 bed maisonette – lounge/bedroom upstairs & kitchen/2^nd bed/office downstairs leading out to a lovely covered outdoor seating/BBQ area. All comes with A/c, cable TV (I declined) microwave, juicer, 2 x recliners in the lounge, chilled water dispenser, washing machine/dryer with 4hr maid service a week, its 44 metres from my back gate to the beach & all for 600 bucks. He has a booking for November, but that was made last year, so if that falls through, I can stay as long as I want 😀

The small downside is that I can’t move in until April, but on returning to my hotel I changed to a family room with proper balcony etc at the same rate I was paying because Im the only resident – The day gets better! I then get an email from my solicitor – my land registration paperwork will be completed next week, so I can start prepping, clearing, cuttin down trees, wearin high heels, meeting contractors etc – Even better! Then out for lunch with my guy, he suggest we cut through a walled estate because another Canadian has been building on a plot there. So this guy has built a Polynesian style bungalow, long L shape with kitchen/diner/lounge, bedroom on the return & an offset 2^nd bedroom/snug that makes a square in the middle. With 5m thatched apex roof, this place is stunning. I didn’t have my camera with me, but he let us look around & the finish is excellent. Yes he is completely OCD, but he’s managed to make everything line up & look exceptional. Why is this part of my good day?? Well, I was getting a lil concerned that some of my expectations were a little unrealistic & I didn’t know if me knowing what I was doing was enough to produce the results I intend, but if he can do it using local talent, then so can I !! He has offered to give me all details & help out wherever he can, so yes, he will be seeing a lot of me 😉 So hey, maybe it was better than good, say a great day 😀 😀

We are averaging between 30 to 32 deg during the day & down to around 24deg at night – no need for a 20 tog duvet, but as long as the air is moving its quite comfortable & as long as Im not humping luggage around, I seldom even break sweat during the day. Its mid summer at the moment & will start to cool down from June/July, heading down to 26 to 28 deg in the winter from September. It has rained a couple of times during the night, but the only reason I know this is that the grass is wet in the morning. Everyone is still awaiting severe storms off the back of El Nino, but so far nothing has materialised……………!

Ive included a few photos, they arent really tourist shots, so no “this is me standin next to…”, but are more a pictorial reference to stuff ive said above – they should be self evident as they include the oblig views from room, also at dusk, local flora/fauna, (incl. an iguana that lives in the tree below my balcony) oh & of course what will be my walk from back gate to beach in a couple of weeks…..hahahahahha

I could prolly drivel on for a few more paragraphs, but in the spirit of leaving them wanting more, Im off to the beach for some fresh caught Cervices & a few pages of my book before a lil snooze in the shade…..

Lifes simple, lifes good, wish you all were here! J

Si x