Crooked Tree

Posted on March 6, 2014 by dottieday | Leave a comment

BELIZE

Published March 16, 2014

After four days of relaxing and talking about the kids, the grand kids, the economy, retirement, health, you-name-it, we dragged our rolling bags through the sand and boarded the 6 am Richie’s bus to Belize City. After so many horrendous taxi rides, I was relieved to be on the bus.

In Belmopan we had a short potty stop, and Verda and I went to find the bathrooms. Yuck! Why can’t people in the Latino cultures ever keep anything clean? How hard is that? This place looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in 5 years! Plus you had to pay to use the toilets. After that, Verda started saying she didn’t want to take any more buses.

When we arrived in Belize City, we would have had to find a bus going to Crooked Tree, figure out how to buy tickets, fight the pushy crowds and endure another two hours on the bus. Unbeknownst to the rest of us, Ron found a taxi driver who agreed to take us all the way to the Lodge at Crooked Tree for $50 US. He must have known we were about to have a mutiny. The car was the typical wreck with no suspension at all, and no a/c of course – at this point we had learned to be grateful if the damn car could make it to our destination. So off we went.

The driver had indicated that he had been to the Crooked Tree lodge before but when he missed the turnoff, we thought that once again someone had simply told us what we wanted to hear. Finally we arrived at the causeway out to the village. In January of this year the floods were so bad they nearly wiped out the causeway. In fact, we read on Trip Advisor that our hosts had picked up visitors in a boat to transport them to the Lodge during that time. Creeping along the 2 miles at 0 mph, we finally drove into a small village with multiple trails going off in every direction. Our driver asked every person, from a middle-aged woman to a 10-year-old boy where the Crooked Tree Lodge was. Obviously, he had never been to this place before. Finally we headed down the last set of ruts toward the buildings in the distance. About 100 yards short of the main lodge, the road turned to mud and puddles. The driver was reluctant to drive into it since the car was dragging bottom even on the dry parts. We told him to stay put and we would walk ahead and see what’s what. Sure enough, we were welcomed by Mick who quickly went to help carry our luggage from the car up to the lodge. Even the crocodile in the small pond by the bridge seemed to smile and say “welcome to Crooked Tree!”

Countdown to Ecuador

Posted on July 19, 2012 by dottieday | Leave a comment

Published Jun 15, 2011

We leave for Ecuador two weeks from Father’s Day. I am getting excited to see the place that we may end up living for at least 6 months out of the year. Ecuador is the cheapest place in the world to retire, so we have heard. Property is very affordable, rents are less than $500/month, and living expenses are laughably cheap.

We are planning to spend a month in Cotacachi, in a condo we rented for $650 for the entire month and that includes utilities and internet access. Our friends Bill and Verda are joining us, so our share is just $325. Can you beat that anywhere?

We have been trying to figure out how we are going to live with a limited income once our income for taking care of two little ones comes to an end. We have researched places to retire and it appears you can live quite well on $800/month in Ecuador. So we would have enough spare cash to still travel a bit. We’ll check it out and see. I’m worried about missing the NBA playoffs, the Masters, the French Open, and the NCAA March Madness – but they have Direct TV, so maybe we can still have access to all those events that I’m addicted to.

Health care is reported to be excellent and a visit to the doctor costs $10.00. A beer is $1.00, and you can have an excellent meal in a nice restaurant for about $8.00. Sounds too good to be true.

Off to Ecuador!

Posted on July 18, 2012 by dottieday | Leave a comment

Published July 10, 2012

Sunday morning we heard the alarm on my phone jangle at 4:45 am. We hurried to get dressed, gather our luggage and grab a cup of coffee. Mike quickly spread cream cheese on two bagels for me and we threw the other snacks into a plastic bag, tossed it in my carry-on and hopped in the car for the 30 minute ride to the airport. The countdown was over; we were on our way to Sud America!

The first leg was routine. Just Phoenix to Houston. Once we landed in Houston, we had a few hours to kill, so we had lunch at Ruby’s Diner where Ron was able to get a real chocolate malt! I had some delicious fried zucchini which probably wiped out all my work on the treadmill for the past month.

The next leg was Houston to Panama City, Panama. You think the airports in the U.S. are inefficient, wait til you see Panama City. We waited for about 20 minutes for a gate to open up so the plane could park. Then it took another 20 minutes before anyone could get off the plane – never found out why.

Fortunately, the gate for our Copa Airlines flight to Quito was not too far away. Ron bought some scotch at the duty free shop so that he would have some on the final leg of the flight. We were tired by this time, but the flight to Quito was only two hours and by the time they served our sandwich and drinks, it was almost time to land. Ron complained from the time the wheels touched down til we arrived at our hotel, so I won’t go into how long it took us to get through immigration, get our luggage, get through customs, etc. But finally, there was Bill’s face and arms waving at us. Whew! He had already arranged for taxis to take us to Casa Arbolitta where we would spend the night. Details of our stay at Jenny’s place and our first day of our trip coming tomorrow. Had two glasses of wine at dinner and ready to fall asleep.

Quito

Posted on July 17, 2012 by dottieday | Leave a comment

Published July 11, 2012

My first impression of Ecuador, and of Quito, was the demeanor of the two taxi drivers that we hired to take us to our hotel, “Casa Arbolitta.” They were extremely helpful and kind, and worked together to determine where this place was. We ended up having the taxi driver call the hotel and find out for sure if we had the right place, especially since there was nothing to indicate that it was a hotel – no sign, no lights, no impressive building. He was assured that we were in the right place, and we were greeted by Patricio, a young man who spoke good English, and his mother, Jenny, who, with her husband, runs the place.

It was a lovely home, with bright colors and interesting art pieces displayed. We were warmly welcomed and shown to our rooms. Ours was bright red, extremely clean, and had a nice bathroom. Jenny made breakfast for us and we were introduced to Lauren, a student at the University of Nebraska, who is in Quito for the summer. She is an architecture student and had come to Quito to work on a project there, was offered a chance to stay for the summer and she said she loved Ecuador so much that she decided to stay. She was renting a room from Jenny and said that Jenny was like her Mom away from home. She was delightful and we felt confident after talking to her that we would enjoy our stay in the country.

Jenny hooked us up with a guy who had a van and would drive us to Cotacachi. We hired him for the day for $120 and he gave us a guided tour of Quito. We saw the cathedral, the main square, and the statue of the Virgin Mary on the top of the hill. I got some shots of the entire city. Then he took us to the “middle of the world” where the latitude is 00.00.00. There were so many amazing demonstrations of the coriolis effect. Will post photos sometime in the future. I have found that I can easily write notes on my iPad. My problem is that I don’t have time! Tomorrow, a report about Cotacachi.

Pre-school Visit

Posted on July 15, 2012 by dottieday | Leave a comment

July, 2012

Yesterday we went with Micky, Yolanda, Pamela, and Darla to the Morales Chupa pre-school. The kids were, as someone put it, Ecuadorable, and I was in charge of taking pictures. I took shots of the parts of the school that have been repaired and shots of the classroom and of the deplorable state of some of the equipment they have to use. Wish we could donate a crib – the one they have is awful. We are going to go shopping and buy diapers, a garbage can, soap, and scissors. Maybe we can find something for them to play with.

Later, there was a gathering of ex-pats at the Remax office for 4th of July. We met a lot of people, all of whom were very friendly and had nothing but good things to say about Ecuador. Then, Verda and I were invited to go to the shaman and have a cleansing. It was a very interesting experience. He used some very sweet-smelling plants, various liquids, sacred stones, and candles. We didn’t learn anything about ourselves; he wasn’t a healer per se, but he just worked balancing our energy. He did different things to each of us, and it seemed he spent the least time with me, but that may just be my impression. Anyway, it was a “cultural experience.” Pam is definitely a woo-woo people. She told me that they had definitely proven that the first stone laid on the pyramid was the topmost stone, leading one to assume that it was built upside-down and then turned over??? Today we are going to Panguche to see the waterfall. Panguche is also famous for its weavings. I am going to buy a tablecloth for home. And maybe a poncho if they have them there.

Sunday Market

Posted on July 14, 2012 by dottieday | Leave a comment

Published July 10, 2011

Today we went to the fruit and veggie market here in Cotacachi. It was fabulous. We were offered 3 pineapples for $1.00. We bought 4 bananas for $.25. We ended up with tomatoes, potatoes, a pineapple, strawberries, bananas, and an avocado, and we might have spent $5.00. They also had a lot of food being cooked that was for sale, but we didn’t try any of that.

We are preparing most of our food at home, or eating at Serendipity, a great restaurant run by Nancy, an ex-pat from Naples, Florida. I actually had a nap today. Had to pause the Wimbledon final til I woke up. Then we went to dinner at Nancy’s and I had a delicious chicken pot pie, and Ron and I shared a piece of apple pie. My dinner cost $3.50, and the pie was $2.00. Tomorrow we are going to Ibarra.

Celebration in Cotacachi

Posted on July 13, 2012 by dottieday | Leave a comment

Published July, 2011

Today we relaxed a bit in the morning. Verda’s tummy was acting up, so Ron, Bill and I went out to find a bakery. As we unlocked the gate, we saw a large group of high school age kids with instruments waiting to march in the parade. This week is the 150th anniversary of the founding of Cotacachi, so there was a big parade and music in the square til later at night.

After breakfast we walked to the church square and caught a bus to Otavalo. When we got off there was a building that turned out to be a taxi dispatcher. We arranged for a taxi to take us to Lago Cuycotchi for $5.00. After our experience the day before with having to pay the driver $30.00 because he waited for us at the falls and took us to Panguche, we had a guy up at the lake who had a cab take us back to Otavalo for a bus home. The buses are so easy to use and cost $.50 for the two of us! We bought the makings for spaghetti and ate in. Watched some tv and went to bed.

Otavalo

Posted on July 12, 2012 by dottieday | Leave a comment

Published July 13, 2011

Today we rode the bus for the first time. We walked to the square and it was easy to find the bus to Otavalo. When we got off the bus there was a taxi dispatcher and we simply told him that we wanted to go to the Panguche Falls. Quick as a wink a taxi was there. We hopped in and in about 5 minutes we arrived at the falls area. It was a lovely spot, the smell of eucalyptus in the air, and the soothing sound of the stream running just off the path. The falls were quite nice-not as impressive as Glacier, but can there be a lousy waterfall?

We made the mistake of agreeing to let the driver wait for us. We thought it was really nice of him to offer; we would pay for it later. After we saw the falls the driver took us into Panguche, a community known for its weavers. He stopped in front of this little shop and we stepped into a shop filled with beautiful wall hangings, sweaters, scarves, tablecloths, wallets, socks, tons of stuff. Downstairs were 5 looms and other equipment. I will post a video on Facebook of the young man weaving. I bought a tablecloth and two wallets.

After the weavers shop we had the driver take us to Otavalo for lunch. He stopped at the square, The Plaza of Ponchos, in front of a restaurant. Bill and Ron asked him how much we owed him, and he said $30! We were not prepared for that. Next time we will know better. Got to learn, I guess. We had a good lunch – shrimp for Ron, and rice with vegetables for me, Bill and Verda shared a “tipica” plate with steak, pork, chicken, potatoes, and some sort of corn. Afterwards we went shopping in the market. Ron bought an alpaca sweater, I bought an alpaca poncho, Verda bought a zip front sweater and a beautiful alpaca blanket. Oh, and I also bought a pair of slippers for these cold tile floors. Finally, we headed for the bus station and found a bus going back to Otavalo. By the time we got home we were all ready for a drink and some tv time.

New Shoes

Posted on July 11, 2012 by dottieday | Leave a comment

Published July 12, 2011

Today Ron and I walked down Leather Street to see if we could find a wallet for me and sandals for him. A few blocks from our square Ron found a shop selling huaraches which he liked better than the other leather sandals. The guy told him they were $42, so he came outside to find me. I was in another shop looking at wallets. I found a green one for me and a purple one for Sylvia. Ron wanted me to go back to look at the shoes and see what I thought. I told him he should buy them, so he made the guy an offer of (he thought) $35. The guy grabbed his calculator and typed in $25! So Ron snapped them up. When we got home, Bill and Verda were about to go out shopping, too. So Ron and I both took naps. For dinner Verda made eggplant parm, and we finished up the salad from the night before. We went to bed early, so we could get up at 6 for our trip to the coast. Our plan is to go to Puerto Lopez and go to the “poor man’s Galapagos.”