Seven months here in Vilcabamba, Ecuador and I am learning much but not understanding a few things.

Firstly, Vilca is a small town with a population of a couple thousand or so within the city limits, just outside and around maybe like 4000 for a population, having many American ex-pats living here permanently with a host of other caucasian ex-pats from Canada, Australia and European countries, as I have been told making up about one third of the population thus making it easy not knowing the Spanish language, as many speak English.

Now Ecuador it is said to be a developing country or a third world country as in very cheap to live, but not so in Vilca, as I have been told Vilca has been coined “The Beverly Hills of Ecuador” in which it is the most expensive place to live in Ecuador apparently.

No deals here boys & girls, living here one is going to pay and pay unbelievable prices, again for a so called developing country and this is what I do not understand. Thus I am going to explain by giving costs of services, food and accommodation prices that are equal to and/or higher than in North America which to me simply does not make sense at all.

From what I can figure out it is the American ex-pats that dominate the high prices as when they come here to call this home, they also want the products and services that they are use to back home such as their Dijon mustard because French’s will not do, they simply cannot be satisfied that they can buy Coca cola here. So the stores supply certain items that are requested knowing that there will be a premium price attached and the reason given is because of importing costs.

For instance, Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar people like this product because of quality and the ‘mother’ inside, cost in the US is about $8. and in Canada $11., but here $22.US and I say wow, no way I will learn to make my own for a fraction of the price which I did.

Next I had an abundance of good quality Epsom salt available for sale to make a couple of dollars to put into the pockets, and because I am not greedy for money and like to put myself in other peoples shoes as in what would I be happy paying for such….I advertised for a very good deal being just over a dollar per pound for premium Epsom salts from Germany. Only to find out someone else wanted to sell Epsom salt for 5X as much and over Facebook I received quite the backlash for introducing low prices and at least one American was willing to pay 5X more for the Epsom salts to support the so called competitor, why….I have no idea, more money than brains I suppose. Or perhaps a very BIG EGO thing with the ex-pats showing that they have money to spend, thus premium and/or overpriced items they will pay just to show they have money and can afford it.

I am also making healthy delicious dehydrated fruit for sale, again with the same competitor he sells 4 dehydrated banana’s for $1.75 and I sell the same 10 bananas for $2.00, people buy the 4 for $1.75, he also sells a single chocolate coated banana for a dollar and again people buy, remember this banana only costs a nickel so quite the mark up and its these high profits that the American ex-pats do not mind paying thus keeping prices high and making Vilca a very expensive place to reside, again I just don’t get it.

A few years ago Vilca was a hot spot for buying real-estate, again many Americans buying land and house’s when prices were very high and now that prices are low, sales I have been told are very slow or just not happening, so again Americans like to pay premium prices, because many bought when the prices were high and not buying now when deals can be made.

One last example, I am or have been getting Spanish lessons from a young beautiful local lady that works at the post office, she runs the post office as a private business and at the post office while operating the service she offers Spanish lessons. The cost is $8.00 for a 50 minute private lesson, this works out to about $10. per/hour not bad at all,(making North American wages in a third world country where other Ecuadorians earn $2.50p/h). I met a qualified teacher in Northern Ecuador and she told me her monthly pay was $600. per month and the average pay for an Ecuadorian is $386. monthly. So this lady is indeed making very good coin teaching Spanish at her work in the Post Office, but as long as people are willing to pay I guess she is lucky to earn a high pay. Who would have thought Ecuadorians could earn pay equal to Americans.

I also know of massage therapists being caucasian and charging $25. – $55. per session and each session from 90 minutes to just about 2.5 hr, thus again for Vilca a pretty good wage I suppose, considering the Ecuadorian wage again for many is about $2.50 p/h.

One last thing I’d like to mention, is do not and I repeat do not use the Postal service here in Ecuador especially getting things shipped here from another country, as the package will be held up by customs requiring the receiver of such package to go to a Spanish only web site and register, then having to go to Loja Postal Office to pay a fee for the package and then ordered to fulfill more information required from sender of package, only to never having package ever delivered, it is a very big corrupt scam. As I ordered something online and paid for product mid January, and not received the package then reordered and again after paying the fees filling out all the required information and again 6 months later still did not receive the package and it is a mystery as to what happened to both packages shipped, as it seems the last place was always with Ecuadorian customs keeping and claiming ownership of such, so again I have heard this from many, many people living here, that it is a ‘nightmare’, it is a system that does not work and from the personal findings and experience I think it is a scam being corrupt and criminal, because since one cannot receive packages through the mail system from another country to Ecuador, there are private companies that charge $6.50 per lb to deliver the packages avoiding the postal customs thus the scam and corruption. If you want delivery of a package you will pay to have it delivered but by a private company not through the Ecuador post office. So with me where the sender states free shipping, not here to Ecuador because I need to use the private delivery service of a pool pump I bought online that will cost more to deliver than what the item is worth, pump new $180., to deliver $260. what a corrupt scam this is, only here in this country of Ecuador that I know of.